Free Marketing?

In a world of give and take it is hard to find good options for getting your name out there without having to pay a lot of money. This is especially hard when you are just starting out. We are a small company and doing all we can by word of mouth and our friends. We also have our website, and craigslist (which can look so cheap), and we now Bridal Tweet (yay!). But just wondering if anyone had any other good suggestions for two eager wedding videographers and a photographer trying to get some gigs and their name out there?

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Permalink Reply by Sweet T Studios on January 2, 2010 at 10:03pm

I really love those ideas, we are also thinking of putting together an auction package and getting ourselves out there by creating some gift certificates that we can distribute, so we can get some word of mouth out there. We also have come up with new avenues to use our videography for others and will be making some interesting samples, because we want to have a little bit more of a range than just weddings to open up our market a little bit.

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Permalink Reply by Wendy C. Photography on January 4, 2010 at 12:06pm

One thing that has caught my attention on Twitter is the fact that a lot of the local wedding vendors in my area use a specific search term that they include in their tweets. I use Tweetdeck for my twitter, so I am able to keep that search term pulled up at all times, so that anytime a tweet contains that term... I will see it.

The good thing about this is that many of the local vendors plan an outing once a month to meet up for dinner and maybe even a game of bowling or such. This allows local vendors to get to know each other on a personal level... which is important since "word of mouth" is the best form of getting your name out there.

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Permalink Reply by Molly Burling on November 14, 2010 at 9:44pm

You can do this with Google too. You just type in the keywords you want Google to search for and you will get daily e-mails containing the keywords you specified. You can get engagement information, blog updates, websites and everything in between!

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Permalink Reply by Little Borrowed Dress on December 14, 2010 at 1:16pm

Hi Molly - how do you do this exactly? Can you post the link for where on google you can find this?

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Permalink Reply by Caren Jeanty on January 4, 2010 at 12:50pm

You can also register your business for free at the websites listed below:
wedding-online.com
wedshare.com
wedspace.com
wedalert.com

Good luck

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Permalink Reply by VIVIAN NG on April 25, 2012 at 8:49pm

These are great!!! :)

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Permalink Reply by Tanya Porter on January 4, 2010 at 4:18pm

Hi Candis,

It is hard to research and find the good sites to associate yourself with. Pull up the "Top 100 Wedding Sites" and check them out. Many have free listings.

Also, contact local planners and let them know about you. I don't list vendors on my website because I like to match my clients to vendors who will meet their criteria, thus saving both a lot of time and needless phone calls. Where are you located? I'd be happy to look at your work.

NETWORK! Always have business cards with you. This is something that you never should leave home without! You never know when an opportunity will arise that if you have a business card to give, you might have a new client.

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Permalink Reply by Sweet T Studios on January 4, 2010 at 5:13pm

We are located in Southern California, and we are looking for more wedding planners who would be interested in keeping us in mind!!! And we have been trying to be more concious of the business card usage for sure. The other day we had a photoshoot in a park and made sure we had lots of business cards in our camera bags, but sadly noone was around...

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Permalink Reply by Soulful Engagements on January 5, 2010 at 11:48am

An additional avenue to try, Soulful Engagements. We're extending our website as a platform for vendors to promote their wedding related services free of charge.

Soulful Engagements is a comprehensive wedding planning blog that offers a fresh voice for brides of color looking for advice and inspiration throughout the planning process. We are dedicated to connecting our brides with vendors that are owned and operated by people of color as well as vendors that provide products and services that cater to the needs of brides of color. To learn more about our complimentary marketing services please click here.

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Permalink Reply by five ACCESSORIES on January 5, 2010 at 11:50am

ShesConnected.com
TheWorkAtHomeWoman.com
MompreneursCafe.com
MommiesCafe.com
WECAI.org
http://www.womensmediasummit.com/101-was-to-promote-yourself/

These are not wedding specifie, but it would get you in front of a different audience and everyone knows of someone getting married etc. so you might want to try these. Most of them offer at least a free basic business directory, except the last one, which is an audio of 101 ways to promote yourself. It is still free though.

Hope that helps,
Theresa
www.fiveACCESSORIES.com

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Permalink Reply by Sweet T Studios on January 5, 2010 at 12:09pm

Thank you so much!!! That is very helpful. We aren't just videeographers for brides and we had just come up with an amazing idea for something called a keepsake video. It's for mom's who are busy but want to remember their kids at certain ages. We are going to shoot a sample soon. So excited about looking into those! You all have been so helpful!!!

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Taylor on January 5, 2010 at 12:13pm

Have you tried contacting wedding and event planners in your area? They are a great resource to you! Try calling them up and asking them to coffee to chat and view your work.