Before your wedding planning business starts making a profit, you might need to find some ways to market and advertise free.
Question
How do I start attracting brides? I want to advertise my business online but I don’t have money to pay for a website or for anything else.
Answer
There are many ways you can market online free including having a website.
Here are 5 suggestions for getting visible online (I am not affiliated with any websites mentioned below):
1) Try a free website
There are companies on the Internet that offer free websites and give you design tools so you can create one yourself. I’m not a big fan of these because they have limited features, are difficult for your readers to navigate and most feature advertising which is distracting and a clear sign to brides that you are new and not yet a professional. However, if you feel you must have a website, search the Internet for “free websites” and you will find many choices.
2) Start a blog instead of a website
Brides don’t consider it unprofessional when you use a free blog like they do when you use a free website. There are several blogging platforms that are free and have templates you can easily use to personalize your blog in the color and style that you wish and make it look like a website. Blogs are easy to maintain on your own, without the help of a webmaster, and they often get picked up by search engines more quickly than a website would. Examples of free blogging platforms are Blogger.com and WordPress.com.
3) Use social media
Open accounts on social media sites that you will use only for your business, not for personal messages. Start a business page on Facebook and start sharing photos, tips, and trends. Get a business account on Pinterest and pin photos that represent the types of weddings you plan. Have a Twitter account in which you tweet wedding information and engage in conversations with other wedding professionals and brides. Use Instagram to post photos of weddings you have planned.
Be sure you have a link to your website or blog on your social media accounts so brides can easily go to your site and find out more about you.
4) Write and post articles
If you write blog posts and tip sheets, turn them into articles and post them on article sites such as ezinearticles.com or goarticles.com. These sites are popular with search engines, will give you exposure to a wide audience and help establish you as an expert.
5) Make videos
If you have a webcam on your laptop or a tablet with a front facing camera, consider making videos of yourself offering wedding tips and post them on your website or blog and on YouTube. Videos will allow brides to see you and get to know you.
There are also wedding websites that will allow you to list your business free but you may not attract the attention you want unless you purchase advertising that will give you more exposure to brides who use the sites.
I can certainly understand a need to save money and get things free right now, but you will need to invest some money in your business for marketing, membership in business and wedding planner associations and legal and accounting assistance, in order to have a professional business that is successful for a long period of time.
And if you have a pressing question about starting or running your wedding planning business, you can send me an email at [email protected]. I will answer them on this blog or in my ezine, “Wedding Planner Tips,” which you can subscribe to here.
