Are You Prepared for Engagement Season?
Roughly 1/3 of all engagements happen between the Thanksgiving and New Years holidays…guys, this is NOW. This is EXCITING…there is money to be made and you should start to see your inquiries increase during these months. If you haven’t already, here are some important things to think about as you prepare for engagement season:
1. Dust off your print marketing materials and consider giving them a facelift – if you have an image from 2009 on a brochure, it’s time to freshen things up. If your business cards could use an overhaul, take the time to work with a designer to spruce them up. You’re going to be competing against other professionals, so it’s important that your marketing materials you give potential clients during a consultation are fresh, polished, and enticing to these newly engaged couples. The materials you give them set the stage for your brand, your image, and could make the difference between whether they hire you or your competition.
2. Freshen up your website – when girls return to their office that Monday morning after getting engaged, what do you think they’re working on? Unfortunately for their employers, they’re not doing much work – statistics show that the highest online traffic for wedding industry websites occurs on Monday mornings. You have 3 seconds to make an initial impression with your website – if you have pictures of burlap and lace weddings on your website, but you’re trying to attract a modern, art deco bride in 2014 then you MUST make sure your website has images that art deco bride will resonate with. If she sees burlap and lace she’s likely to click off your website immediately.
3. Evaluate your pricing – most of you should be increasing your pricing for 2014 events. If you are a Photographer and were charging $3500 for your base package this year, and for the most part your clients gave you no pushback, it’s time to increase your pricing. If you increase that price by 10% your new base price would be $3850 – that’s a significant increase for you, but most people wouldn’t even worry about a $350 price increase when they REALLY want you. Keep in mind that you’re valuable to these clients and they’re willing to pay more for you. You’re WORTH it. We have a Pricing Test & Sales Plan that I highly recommend to help you test your pricing – it’s just $10 and is an excel spreadsheet you can use to play with your numbers. This spreadsheet has seriously been life-changing for so many businesses because it reveals how many weddings you need to do to break-even based on your pricing, how many weddings you need in order to be profitable, etc. Most everyone realizes they HAVE to increase their pricing after using this spreadsheet, if they want to be a sustainable business.
So, let’s all take one day this week (even if it’s 2 hours) to focus ON your business – to get ready for this engagement season, and to prepare to have your best year yet in 2014! Go get ’em! 🙂