ADVERTISER REMINDERS
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We have continued our partnership with The Wedding Report. Advertisers in good standing can receive a free subscription. Contact Jaime for the new offer code.
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PWG has arranged special subscription pricing for our vendors to Wedlock Magazine
http://www.wedlockmag.com/cmd.php?af=1203875
Contact Jaime for the 15% discount coupon code.
Our customers will receive a 15% discount off the first issue of Wedlock. This also comes with "Bridal Traffic," the 5 hour bonus DVD which our IT team has reviewed. According to Rick, VP Technology, this should be "required viewing for everyone in our industry." We look forward to this each month. | |
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| PWG ADVERTISER
AUGUST
BIRTHDAYS |  | |
8/2 Catherine Chauvin
The Empire Room
8/19 Chris Robel
Good Vibrations Mobile Music
If you are a PWG Advertiser and do not think we have your Birthday please send it to Jaime@pwg.com. Date and month only.
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| KIND WORDS | |
It was great to meet you as well! Thank you both so much for hosting such great luncheons. I've never been to a networking event that ran so smoothly, and really got the chance to speak with others. I was a little nervous to go without really knowing anyone, but it was so well worth it.
Anna Varnedoe
Anna Paschal Photography
First and foremost let me start by saying Thank You to "You"...for allowing me to be a part of your organization the other day! It was exciting and it was informing. I look forward to becoming a regular...(smile)...anytime you guys need desserts just let me know...!!! Thanks and I look forward to seeing you again soon...
Sincerely and with best regards,
SEBASTIAN CAKE BOSS
I had a great time at the event today! Everything about this event was wonderful. Thanks so much!
Gail Thrift
Gaillyn Photography
I just wanted to tell you again how pleased we were with the show yesterday at A&T Alumni Event Center and that we'd like to reserve a booth at the show in November.
S.K., Carolina's Finest Catering, Greensboro
Thanks for providing a platform to showcase our business. It is appreciated. I like the motivation (of the free trip). It motivates the brides to visit each booth, giving us an opportunity to speak with them. I also like that the show is not over crowded. I do feel like we will book business.
S.S., Sharpe Pursuits, Sedalia
BRIDES FROM JULY SHOW
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Almost all of my wedding vendors will come from this show.
C. Boston 7/10 | |
Everything can be found in one area! The show was awesome.
A. Seibert 7/10 | |
I liked that a lot of vendors brought samples of food! It was a very nice setup and I enjoyed speaking to everyone.
A. Moore 7/10 | |
I'm trying to organize in 100 days so this event was great!
S. Melesky 7/10 | |
I loved meeting the vendors so you know what you are getting for your wedding. I will book 3 from the show.
B. Hayneswroth 7/10 | |
I loved the variety and enjoyed myself completely.
J. Graham 7/10 | |
This is a great place to start getting ideas and plans.
R. Bridges 7/10 | |
So many nice vendors. I will book 4 or 5. Great job!
J. Hafshejani 7/10 | |
There were a lot of really nice choices and vendors. The Idea Showcase was fantastic. I will book 6 vendors from today and I will be back!
T. Terry 7/10 | |
There were many vendors I was very happy to see.
A. Gonzalez 7/10 | |
The show was very organized. Great ideas - loved the eco friendly wedding design. Well done!
J. Diaz 7/10 | |
I am new to NC so I know nothing about anyone and I'm happy to have the local wedding information.
A. Williams 7/10 | |
I liked the dresses and models from Bridal Mart.
B. Surgeon 7/10 | |
The Idea Showcase was fabulous, exciting, realistic!
D. Jones 7/10 | |
I liked that all the vendors were very pleasant and very helpful. They gave great information and new ideas. Great show!
D. Vejar 7/10 |
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LEADS
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199 leads went into the PWG database in July.
Through our complete marketing campaign which includes print, internet, leads and networking, Perfect Wedding Guide offers multiple platforms for you to connect to brides everyday.
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About PWG
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Perfect Wedding Guide (perfectweddingguide.com), the leader in wedding media resources, is the oldest and most reliable wedding planning company in the United States. For almost 20 years, they have been dedicated to creating innovative wedding planning solutions for brides of all budgets. Their company offers couples a number of fun, useful, and FREE products to help make wedding planning less of a chore and more of a treat. Their local guides and bridal shows are available coast-to-coast in over 60 markets, showcasing some of the country's top wedding vendors who work right in the bride's backyard. Their national Website, PerfectWeddingGuide.com, is full of fresh planning tips and wedding ideas, an extensive photo gallery for inspiration, easy-to-use wedding planning tools, as well as a wedding blog community hosted by their national wedding planning expert.
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| CONTACT US |
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Greetings!
Happy August! Jaime and I, at the Perfect Wedding Guide, use our monthly newsletter to keep you updated on opportunities to improve your business and to grow your revenue. If you know other wedding professionals who might be interested in this information please feel free to forward our newsletters to them. They can join our newsletter mailings at the bottom of this email. If there are topics you would like to see covered in future emails or anything we can do for your business, please don't hesitate to contact us anytime.
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Special thanks to Ralph Fennell, Julie Melikpor and the entire team at NC A&T Alumni-Foundation Event Center in Greensboro for hosting our July PWG Bridal Show. We had a packed house of brides and a terrific group of wedding professionals who did a wonderful job meeting with brides-to-be and creating beautiful booths.
Congratulations to Dewey's Bakery for winning the Vendor's Choice Award. Honorable mentions went to Create-A-Cake Catering at the Emerald Event Center and Sharpe Pursuits.
Pictured above from left to right are Jaime Gilliam (PWG), Roberta Pearson (Create-A-Cake Catering at the Emerald Event Center), Katy Hites (Dewey's Bakery) Desmond and Shayla Sharpe (Sharpe Pursuits) and me, Gail Galloway (PWG)
You can see more show pictures here, from Lisa Miller with Simply Southern Photography.
Special thank you's to Ray Essa and Linda Greene with Cafe Pasta and Diane Tighe and Beth Pendergrass with The Washington Duke Inn for hosting our July Triad and Triangle Professional Wedding Guild Luncheons. To learn about up coming luncheons please check the calendar of events. All the best!
Gail Galloway
Publisher
P.S. If you would like free admission tickets to any of our upcoming PWG Bridal Shows for yourself or your brides please let us know. We would be happy to provide them to you. The show dates and locations are:
9/12 Durham, Marriott Convention Center
11/7 Greensboro, Empire & Regency Ballrooms |
Price vs Product
| By Brandi Zrallack, PWG Market Manager
It's amazing to me that I still hear people talking about what other vendors are charging for their services and products. While it's great that they know what their competition is charging and what they're offering, as a professional in business, we can't control our competitors (as much as we would like to).
In order to survive in business, you have two options. You can sell your price or you can sell your product. If you can't sell either, you'll soon be out of business. If you can sell both, you are running the most successful company possible.
At Perfect Wedding Guide, we have our competitors too. Many of them, in this economy, are selling price. Why? Because they can't sell their product! If results are down, traffic is down or their ability to put vendors in front of brides is lacking, they have nothing to sell but low price. You've seen it! Print, internet and leads from $100. What? Yeah, it sounds great and many vendors take them up on what sounds too good to be true, but what are you truly getting for $100 a month? Are their leads databases as comprehensive and sophisticated? Does their web site receive traffic and if so, how much? How many places do they distribute their print product and how many copies will wind up in the hands of brides? You can't buy print, internet and leads for $100 without knowing that you're getting far less in the response of brides.
The same is true for wedding professionals. Often times, those that are selling at rock bottom prices are either new to the business (we've all been there), they're trying to build their client base (we've all been there too), or they've peaked and are simply trying to recapture their market share after stepping away from the game for too long.
If you are at your peak, you are charging above the average for your product and/or service. Is this okay? Absolutely... if you have the product and/or service to back up the higher prices. However, you can't fault those that don't have your quality or your market presence and have to sell their products at lower prices to stay in the game.
If you book 20 weddings at $5000 each and they book 50 at $2000, you're both making the same money, but one of you is working much harder for that money. And, isn't that why you raised your prices to begin with? To work less? You can't have it both ways! There will always be someone undercutting your pricing. There will always be someone offering, on the surface, what you offer for less.
Your job? Step up and market your product while your competition markets their price. If you're going to charge more, you have to market the value of what you're selling. If you're continuously losing jobs to someone that is charging less, there are business decisions that will need to be made. You can't control your competition; you can control your business decisions! Step up your advertising and marketing. Improve your marketing pieces. Put more into your web site. Educate to sell more effectively against price. Position your company based on what you're commanding for your pricing.
Business is about supply and demand. The more demand there is, pricing goes up. When supply goes up, pricing goes down. It's the way of the world! You can continue to make business decisions based on how you feel or you can make decisions based on what you actually know, so educate yourself and run your business on sound business decisions, not on pride, ego or your desire to control the marketplace. There is enough business out there for those that go after it effectively and consistently! Happy selling!
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| Wedding Cost Q1-2 2010 |
WE tv Networks Wedding Report
In the first half of 2010 the average cost of a wedding increased 21.9% from $19,581 (2009) to $23,867. 45 product and services saw gains in spending while 26 saw declines. Planner/Consultant A La Carte Services (up 84.2% at $1,171), Gift/s for the Bride (up 53.1% at $253), and Planner/Consultant For Getting Started (up 50.4% at $920) saw the biggest gain in spending. Other Jewelry (down 61.7% at $304), Reception Accessories (down 55.3% at $200), and Ceremony Accessories (down 49.7% at $207) saw the biggest decline in spending.
The biggest difference was the increase in demand for products and services. 53 products and services saw gains in demand, 4 saw no change, while 13 saw declines. Other Travel/Transportation (up 178.6%), Musician/s, Soloist, or Ensemble (up 66.7%), and Other Jewelry (up 65.2%) saw the biggest gain in demand. Facial (down 15.2%), Manicure & Pedicure (down 8.4%), and Teeth Whitening (down 8.1%) saw the biggest decline in demand.
Full details and downloads are located here: http://goo.gl/bX33 |
| Triad Education Event | |
Intro to Social Media and Why It's Important to Your Business
"So what's with the Facebook like button thing? And should I care?" Facebook is on track to outrank Google, so listen up.
Just got started with social media and have no idea how to begin effectively marketing your business? Join us for an education event with Angel Guerrero III, owner of AS Web Pros and expert on social media marketing. He'll cover the basics of Facebook and Linked In and how they can help your business grow. Bring your laptop for this working session. If you don't have a laptop, no worries, you can follow along.
Tuesday, August 10, 5:30-7:30 pm
Emerald Event Center
2000 Wendover Avenue East
Greensboro, NC 27405
Only $6 per person. Chicken wraps, veggie pasta and tea from Create A Cake Catering. Cake from My Beautiful Wedding.
Register here
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Give Thanks
| Word of mouth referrals can make or break your business. No company should ever rely solely on word of mouth, but these referrals can give your bottom line a big boost!
With that in mind, many business owners simply don't remember to give back or give thanks for those that send business their way. From wedding planners to catering managers to photographers, hair and makeup people and more, the wedding industry is a community of wedding professionals. If there is someone that is sending you business or that refers you on a regular basis, don't forget to give thanks to that person or persons.
Below are some ideas on how to give back:
*Hand-written thank you notes. While emails are fast and easy, taking the time to handwrite a note is more personal and shows that you've taken the time to truly reflect on your appreciation.
*A gift card. Either with a hand written note or not, showing a gift for their continued business partnership is a great way to show that you appreciate what they've done to put money in YOUR pocket.
*A special treat. A trip to a spa or tickets to a show or a weekend getaway can be a way to elevate your level of gratitude to someone who has referred you over an extended period of time.
*A reciprocal referral. If someone sends you a lot of business, try to send business back to them. It may be that the other person has the upper hand and is able to refer more business to you and if that's the case, refer back to some of the other options listed here, but when you can, send business back to them.
*Holiday gifts. Don't forget to show your appreciation around the holidays. This is a great time to thank someone for everything they've done throughout the year for you.
Again, I never suggest relying solely on referrals as I truly believe the more diversified you are, the more return you will see, but referrals and word of mouth can be one of your sources of income. When it is, don't forget to let those people know that you appreciate them. Who knows? It may help those referrals come in longer over time!
If there is anything we, at Perfect Wedding Guide, can do for you, please don't hesitate to contact us anytime. We're happy to give back! |
Gain Exposure By Writing An Article For Us
| You have the answers to bride's questions! Show your area of expertise to brides while gaining free exposure on PerfectWeddingGuide.com and BridalShowNC.com.
Congrats to Katy Hites, her article was chosen by our content editor to be featured on our national blog.
Ask A PWG Wedding Pro: Deweys Bakery
This is open to all wedding professionals. Contact Jaime for a release form, specific guidelines and subject ideas. We'd love to feature an article by you! We have many ideas, but here are a few to get you started.
Showers & Parties
Unique shower ideas for local brides (venues, activities, etc.)
Elegant bridal shower venues
Engagement party venues
Wedding Decorations
Décor trends for 2010
Wedding Diet
Spotlight on area fitness experts and services geared toward brides.
Wedding Photographers
Tips from a local photojournalist
Photo shoot locations for great engagement photos
Invitations and Gifts
Wedding invitation trends
Let your invitation spotlight your location
Bridal party gifts
Local boutiques with great wedding favors
Using a calligrapher (tips from local calligraphers)
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Badges are Available
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Determine which badge(s) you would like to use and click here to access the HTML tags you can use on your website.Then, preview the badge and paste the HTML to your web site.
You can let brides know you are a PWG advertiser, bridal show vendor or give her links to tools to make her wedding plans easier.
If you have any questions please contact Jaime.
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| Happenings in the Industry | |
Loco for Coco has moved! They are now located at 2415 C Lawndale Drive in Greensboro in the Target shopping center near Southern Lights. Check out their new location along with their new truffle flavors this month. 7/21/10
Congratulations to Danielle Jenks Cottrell of Gardens at Gray Gables on the birth of her son Patrick Kyle. He was born July 16th weighing 7.9 pds and is 19 in long. 7/16/10
Note Worthy Fine Paper and Gifts has moved! They are now located in the Thruway Shopping Center near Talbots. Their new phone number is (336) 724-1430. Check out their new location! 7/12/10
PWG will be collecting donations during the August Triad/Triangle Guild luncheons to support local schools. For needed items visit the Teacher Supply Warehouse for Guilford County Schools and the Crayons 2 Calculators website for Durham County Schools.
Triad Luncheon:
August 4 - Level Two, Greensboro
Triangle Luncheons:
August 25 - R. David Thomas Hotel & Conference Center, Durham
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