There are millions of sites on the web, and hundreds of new ones popping up each day. Which sites should you care about? Which can help you grow your business? Each month we will highlight some of our favorite sites on the web and show how they can help you run your business more efficiently. This month we feature Mashable, iStock Photo and Wufoo.
- Mashable: Wondering how Twitter appeared out of nowhere? Or maybe what new online sites can help you grow your business? Are you looking to keep up with the latest trends on the internet? Mashable is one of the largest blogs dedicated to social media and it is one of our favorite sites to stay on top of today’s online trends. You’ll find the latest news about Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, the iPhone and much more. Mashable allows you to easily become a tech guru!
- iStock Photo: Are you looking to find high quality wedding photos? Want to make sure you own the rights to the photos? iStock Photo is the largest royalty-free stock photo destination on the internet. The site boasts over 4 million different images, and each file can be purchased for as little as $1 and then used as often as you’d like. If you’re looking to update marketing materials or any of your bridal images, take a look at the variety of images iStock Photo has to offer.
- WuFoo: Don’t let the funny name fool you, Wufoo is one of the easiest ways to collect information over the internet. The site allows you to easily create contact forms, online surveys and invitations so that you can collect data, registrations and even online payments. What’s best, is that you don’t need to be a web developer to create the forms! So whether you have an upcoming event or want to do some market research, Wufoo allows you to create forms easily and the first 3 are free.
Searching for an easier way to manage your business Twitter account (s)? Here at WeddingWire we are big fans of HootSuite. HootSuite is a great Twitter toolbox, in which you can manage multiple Twitter profiles, add numerous editors, track your success and even schedule tweets in advance - all from one easy-to-use interface. It’s a great way to stay on top of your Twitter accounts, allow multiple staff members to contribute as editors, and stay up-to-date on your tweets even on your busiest days. When using Twitter for a business, it’s important to see what captures the interest of your followers. In using the HootSuite ow.ly URL shortener, you can track click-throughs on your tweeted links, which will help you monitor messages and see which capture the interest of your followers.
Sign-up is simple. Create your free HootSuite account, add a profile for each Twitter account you have, and start managing.
And that’s not all…HootSuite offers users the option to add the HootSuite Hootlet to your bookmark toolbar so that you can quickly tweet the pages you are browsing. When using the Hootlet, the page title, the name of the site, and the ow.ly shortened link is automatically created in a pop-up window for you. From here you can submit the tweet or schedule it for later. Its features like this that really help simplify the overall Twitter process!
Visit www.HootSuite.com today to get started!
What is the foundation of social media? A simple question with multiple ways to respond, but I found a great post this morning that discusses the 5 C’s that make up the foundation of social media marketing.
- Conversation: Go where the conversations are taking place - Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, YouTube, etc. Establish accounts and create your identity. Stay up-to-date with your accounts and participate often. Really get to know your followers and audience so you can actively participate.
- Community: Seize the opportunity to not only join and participate in conversations, but add your own value. This is how you create a community, which you must work to maintain and earn the trust of your followers. A good site for community building (in addition to the ones mentioned above) is Ning. Ning allows its users to create their own social websites and social networks. It’s a good place to create a form or community around your product, which in return can produce useful user feedback.
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In follow-up to yesterday’s historical Presidential Inauguration, I thought I would focus on something fun today….like word clouds! By definition a word cloud or tag cloud is a visual depiction of the word content or user-generated tags of a site (Wikipedia). Word clouds are a great way of showcasing the words most commonly used throughout websites, blog posts, speeches, etc.
So wondering what words were used most often in President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address compared to past Presidents? Check out these word clouds I found:
President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address - 2009
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Check out the results of a survey, summarized in eMarketer and Mashable yesterday, that outlines the benefits of embracing social media marketing. Respondents were from the Marketing Executives Networking Group.
Customer engagement took first place, with 85% of surveyed executives citing it as the main benefit of using social media marketing. Only 21% of executives, however, think that it is a “great lead generation source”. That means most of those surveyed do not think social media directly impacts sales.
Regardless, the majority of respondents agreed that there are numerous benefits to engaging in social media marketing, given it is low in cost, it can be used a source of feedback and results, and it allows for direct customer communication.
Although this was a small survey, I think the take away message is that it would be beneficial to utilize social media marketing as one of your marketing mediums for 2009.
What do you think the benefits are for using social media marketing? Do you plan to incorporate more of it in 2009?
Wishing you good health, happiness, and success in the New Year!
Best Wishes,
The WeddingWire Team
With over 1/3 of all engagements projected to happen over the holidays and the New Year quickly approaching, now is the time for you to hone in on your marketing efforts! Over the next few days I will cover some different ways to help you do this. Today, let’s take a look at email marketing.
Emails can work as a means of advertisement. According to a recent MediaPost blog, email marketing is still the highest ROI channel and earning $45+ ROI for every dollar invested (DMA, 2008).
As mentioned in the blog, the key to email marketing is there is a right and wrong way to approach it. The wrong way involves sending the same email, multiple times. This tends to increase your list churn and drive readers away, making it very hard to earn back their respect.
The right way is to make sure that each email counts. Here is my take on a few good tips from the MediaPost blog that you can use to help you do this:
- Get the tone right - Position your products and services so that they meet the need of your customers during the realities of our time (i.e. down economy, low budgets, etc.)
- Realize that discounts are not the only motivator - Although discount emails can sometimes work, they tend to fall into the “wrong way” category if they are repeated too many times. Try providing helpful tips, value information, and timely offers in your emails. These can boost your response and protect your margin.
- Integrate online channels - Use emails to spark a conversation that will continue to other social mediums, such as facebook, twitter, etc.
- Ask for feedback in each email and every source of contact with your customers - It is key for you to monitor customer feedback and experience. Make sure you listen to what the customers are saying and communicate back with them. This is only going to benefit you in the long run!
- Thank your customers - Send helpful tips and special offers to good customers and new buyers. This is a great chance for you to encourage your customers to tell their friends about you!
These tips and others listed in the MediaPost blog can help you become a smarter marketer and assist you in crafting your emails the right way!
Feel free to share any other email marketing tips you have personally had success with!
Christine Tremoulet Photography and Ashley K Photography, both featured vendors on the WeddingWire Network, recently joined services with other local vendors to help Team Rachael Ray throw a once-in-a-lifetime “Rescue Wedding” for victims of Hurricane Ike in Houston.
Thirty-three couples’ dreams of getting married were shattered earlier this year when they learned their venues had shut down after Hurricane Ike swept through Texas. With their locations lost and their money gone, the couples sadly had to put their dreams of getting married on hold. Thanks to the Rachael Ray Show and the generous local vendors, the couples were thrown a dream wedding at Minute Maid Park in just one week! Visit the Rachael Ray Show site for all the details!
Congratulations Christine, Ashley, and Team Rachael Ray for making so many dreams come true!
Pictures are a very important addition to building your storefront on the WeddingWire network (and not just for photographers)! They serve as a means to showcase your business to today’s wired brides, establishing a connection with them beyond words. Therefore, it is key to make sure they look good! I found this great list of the top online photo editing sites that you can use to edit your photos and even spice them up with different backgrounds or effects. And if you are a novice like me when it comes to photo editing, you might find these sites very helpful!
Here’s a few of my top choices:
- DrPic.com- Upload your images to this free image editor, utilize the numerous tools and then save your work to a disk or to the Web in whatever format you choose.
- FlauntR.com - This site is big on backgrounds, self-created magazine covers and basic editing tools. You can even purchase prints of any of your designs.
- FotoFlexer.com - A completely free editor with numerous tools such as distortions, layers, effects, smart scissors and much more.
