Social Media Bootcamp for Wedding Professionals

1. Social Media Bootcamp for Wedding Professionals

2. Things I’ve Learnedfrom 4 years of Business Blogging… …and being married to a Tech-Geek!

3. Blogging is fun… AND HARD WORK! • Who are you doing it for? • Why are you doing it? • What will motivate you? • How will you know if you’re “succeeding?”

4. Who is YOUR bride? • Where does she live? • When does she book your services? • How much does she spend on her wedding? • What makes you the right fit for YOUR bride?

5. Todays bride is social & connected! 77% of brides will use online resources to plan their wedding

6. They spend more hours on the internet each month than they do on television, radio or print… …COMBINED

7. The Benefits of Blogging

8. 1. The person behind the business • Personable & conversational • Passion & excitement

9. 2. Establish yourself as an expert • Blog what you know • Establish trust

10. 3. Easier Sales • Educate brides before the “sale” • Consultations are bride-focused, less sales • Save consultation time

11. 4. Search Engine Visibility • Brides are shopping online • Search engine rank is important • More eyes on your business & website

12. Types of Blog Platforms • Wordpress • Blogger • Tumbler • TypePad

13. Blogs 101 • Header • Menu Bar • Posts • Comments • Pages • Contact Form • Archives • RSS Feed/Subscription

14. Posting 101 Getting to your admin panel: www.stellaeventdesign.com/workshop/wp-admin Or scroll to bottom of page and click SITE ADMIN under Meta section Username: admin Password: bootcamp

15. Crediting Blog Posts • Always include photographer credit and link to their website, blog, or the photo location • Link to any sources, even if it’s another blog. If you’re not sure if you should…you probably should! • Blogs are a community

16. SEO • Search Engine Optimization • The practice of using techniques to make your site more search-engine friendly. • Goal = come up higher in searches

17. GOOGLE FOR DUMMIES • You put your website or blog online • Google “crawls” your site • Determines relativity & ranks site • The words you use are important

18. Putting SEO to work • IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CONTENT! • Titles • Body text • Focus on keywords! • Exercise: Make a list of 10-15 search terms that a bride may type into Google when planning her wedding. Specifically, when looking for more • info on a business such as yours.

19. SEO-friendly Content • Good: Sarah and Steve had a beautiful wedding in St. Joseph last Saturday. • Better: Sarah and Steve’s wedding took place at The Veranda at the Whitcomb in St. Joseph on Saturday. • Best: Sarah and Steve’s beautiful outdoor wedding took place at The Veranda at the Whitcomb, a gorgeous venue overlooking Lake Michigan in St. Joseph.

21. Putting SEO to work • Outbound links • Link when necessary and appropriate • Giving away power • Link within when possible • Tagging & Categories • Use variations of your keywords • Don’t show on posts if you include long lists of tags • New content • The more you update, the more you get crawled

22. CONTENT • Length: less than 500 words • What do you have to say? • How do you want to say it? • How much detail do you want to go into? • Voice • Conversational • Choose an approach and stick with it • Write as if you’re speaking to one person…”you may want to consider cupcakes instead of cake” NOT “brides may want to consider cupcakes…”

23. Relevance • Is your post timely? • Is it something people will care about? • Is it a topic appropriate for your audience? • Formatting • Keep things consistent • Consider your overall brand • Grammar and spelling • Topics • What will you write about? • How much do you know about the topic?

24. Finding Inspiration • Day-to-day tasks • Bridal magazines • How-to articles • Current Events • Tips & Tricks • Frequently Asked Questions • Show your work • Educate • Guest bloggers

25. Am I giving away too much info? SHARING IS CARING!

26. Benefits of Educating brides • Branded as an expert • How your business works, what they can expect • Address common concerns • Press opportunities

27. BREAKOUT SESSION • Create a list of 20 potential blog post topics

28. Day-to-day tasks • Bridal magazines • How-to articles • Current Events • Tips & Tricks • Frequently Asked Questions • Show your work • Educate • Common misconceptions • Trends • Behind the Scenes

29. Make your blogging easier • Set a blogging schedule • How often & what days • Create themes • Tuesday Shoesday, A-Z Flowers, Tuesday Etsy Love • Schedule your posts ahead of time • Choose one day to blog each week

30. 7 Deadly Sins of Business Blogging

31. 1. Using your blog as your press center How to Avoid this: • Just don’t do it! • Present information in an interesting, conversational tone

32. 2. Not blogging regularly • Stagnant content is noticed by Google • Readers are aware • Regular posting turns readers into fans How to Avoid this: • Schedule posts • Post on predicable days (T-Th, M-W-F) • Enlist the help of others

33. 3. Not enabling conversation • Your blog should be a conversation, encourage commenting • Address comments and questions • If you choose to “bury” a negative comment, consider reaching out to that person privately

34. 4. Making new content hard to discover • Don’t make visitors search for your blog • Additional posts should be easy to find How to Avoid this: • Prominent link on website • Use FB & Twitter to promote blog posts • Setup an RSS feed or subscription option

35. 5. Expecting too much, too soon • Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint • It takes time to build leadership • Interactive community How to Avoid this: • Don’t be frustrated by no comments • Use analytics to keep you motivated • Blogging can be fun if you make it manageable for yourself

36. 6. Copying Content • Google notices this, and assumes you’re a scraper • Flags you as a spammer, brings down credibility How to Avoid this: • Post new content • If you recycle a post, change wording & titles • Ask guest bloggers to post original content

37. 7. Mixing business & personal • Geared towards your potential clients • Do not share your frustrations or struggles on the blog How to Avoid this: • Show personality, but keep it positive • Do not share horror stories • If you want to address the inner workings of your business, start a separate blog

38. Business Blogging Etiquette • Draw a line between personal and professional • Always credit photos, and link to resources • DO repost comments or feedback you receive, and respond to all comments, when possible • Do not sign up your readers to email lists or newsletters without their permission---NOT COOL!

39. Don’t Steal! • Where are you getting your photos from? • Are you showing photos of your own work? • If you’re showing photos of someone else’s work is it going to be mistakenly seen as your work? • Consider how you would feel If you saw a photo of a bouquet YOU created, posted on another florists blog post, would it bother you?

40. Advanced Tips & Tricks • Setting up Contributors & Authors in Wordpress • Adding Tags and Categories • Commenting on blogs • Adding links to Facebook & Twitter • Track your keywords

42. Google Analytics • Dashboard • Visitors • Referring sites v. search v. direct traffic • Map Overlay • When are they visiting? • Where are they coming from • Keyword searches • Time spent on site • Top content