By Meghan Ely, OFD Consulting
With wedding budgets consistently on the rise, it’s a good time to be in the industry. However, with the boost comes the inevitable inundation of new wedding professionals that are bursting onto the scene with flashy websites, high hopes, and lower prices.
Now more than ever, in order to grow your business, you need to establish yourself as an expert in your field. This will not only help to attract the clients you want, but also better focus your marketing and PR.
Let’s take a look at some of my tips for getting out there and showing everyone what an expert you are.
Didn’t You Know? You’re an Expert
In a lot of cases, you’re the last one to know that you’re an expert because you’ve just been hard at work getting things done. However, if you sit down and ask yourself, what is it you find colleagues and other wedding pros asking for your advice on? What specialties garner you the most accolades? Do you find that you’re specializing in certain types of niches, like LGBTQ or destination weddings? You should be able to quickly find the answer.
Put Yourself Out There
After figuring out your expertise, it’s time to put yourself out there and show everyone that you’re an expert. Initially, it’s easier to go through your own channels, like writing regular blog posts sharing tips and tricks and promoting via your preferred social media outlets.
Once you’re ready to take the next step, start reaching out to the pros you already know and trust in your region and see if they would be interested in featuring you as a guest blogger- from venues to planners, many businesses are looking for relevant material to share.
Submit Your Weddings
One of the most effective ways you can put yourself on the map as someone who is great at what they do is simply by getting your weddings featured on blogs. Take some time to research which outlets are the best fit for you, and then dig through your weddings over the last year and choose a few of your favorites that really reflect what you do and are a good fit for the chosen outlet(s). Make sure you follow the submission guidelines to the letter and promote it like crazy when you get featured.
Talk About It
This may not be for everyone, but developing a speaking platform is a great way to impress the market. Speaking allows you to get your brand and expertise out to a larger and more diverse audience. While you’re not likely to start out at a national conference on your first try, talk to your local groups and associations that have speakers at their meetings- they would probably love to hear your point of view. Local universities are also usually looking for professionals to speak in classes – consider looking into events and/or hospitality departments to reach out. From there, work your way up to more national engagements and you may eventually find yourself traveling the globe!
Standing out in this industry is a huge part of your business’ success. You may be the best at what you do, but if no one knows about it, it may not be enough. By using these tips, those competitors will quickly become a distant memory.
Meghan Ely is the owner of wedding PR and wedding marketing firm OFD Consulting. Ely is a sought-after speaker, adjunct professor in the field of public relations, and a self-professed royal wedding enthusiast.