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 The Green Hanger Shop on January 5, 2010 at 1:03pm

There are some great suggestions here and some I will be adding, but definitely there are lots of free directories out there and I try to use them all. One I didn't see mentioned is merchantcircle.com It's sort of an online yellow pages type of thing, but you get a good bit for free. Facebook is certainly up and coming, but I would stick to just a fan page to start as opposed to paid ads with them, unless you have lots of money. There is a 'suggest page to friends' link under your profile pic you need to be sure to use. I agree with all the others that weddingwire is terrific. Definitely make friends with your competitors. When we were searching for our daughters' photographers, we asked the ones who were too booked for their recommendations and checked all those first. Good luck! I'm right there with ya!

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Permalink Reply by Rt. Rev. Dr. Ronald Turcot on January 5, 2010 at 1:09pm

Posted by Rev. Dr. Ronald Turcot www.tampaweddingofficiants.com

The following free wedding oriented websites will help you a lot.

The GatheringGuide.com - Join them & upgrade your listing = excellent results
Eventective.com - JOIN ! Upgrade tp "Premiere Level" get excellent leads almost daily & they are dependable.
Decideo.com _ Good leads
WeddingWire.com
That's good for starters.

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Permalink Reply by Robbie Hickman Photography on January 5, 2010 at 2:22pm

I would also contact other vendors & offer to do some photos for them. Example...approach the well known cake person & offer to photograph the cakes, put together a soft cover, inexpensive book with your name inside. They'll have the book and of course a stack of your cards as well. Wedding shows...offer to do a video of the show in exchange for a table. Organize a group of vendors and offer an all inclusive package. That way you can do co-op advertising which can greatly reduce the cost. A group of us did just that and now it's taken off like crazy. We all reduced our prices to make the "introductory offer" more attractive and wow...definitely worked. But dont forget....dont give up. Just keep pushing & never throw in the towel. People will keep getting engaged, weddings will continue to take place & they ALL need us at some point.
Good luck to ya!

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Permalink Reply by Brenda on December 18, 2010 at 4:01pm

Organize a group of vendors and offer an all inclusive package. That way you can do co-op advertising which can greatly reduce the cost. A group of us did just that and now it's taken off like crazy. We all reduced our prices to make the "introductory offer" more attractive and wow...definitely worked.

With this would you mind sharing how much you reduced your prices? Thank you so much for sharing.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Alice Andrews on August 23, 2011 at 4:50am

HI Robbie,

I love your advice - never give up - people will keep on getting engaged! How true.. Awesome to hear from such positive people in this business!

Sarah

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Permalink Reply by Capricorn Soap Company on January 5, 2010 at 4:20pm

Congrats! It can be quite exhilarating and frustrating at the same time to start your own business. Word of mouth certainly works well, and social media outlets are priceless, too. But we also started going door to door - I visited wedding planners in my area, left my business card and some samples (since we provide wedding favors, this wasn't difficult, but may be a bit more difficult for your line of work). The samples are always a hit, and that's what got us going. It doesn't have to be expensive - but it does need to be personal. Especially in this industry!

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Permalink Reply by Sweet T Studios on January 5, 2010 at 8:13pm

I really loved the wedding show video idea! and the group rate, although might be a little hard until we make some contacts we really love right now. But we have a friend who does wedding planning so maybe we can work something out with her and her recommended vendors.

And I wish it were easier to give a sample of our work, but maybe we can work something out about that, and my business partner and I are definitely thinking of doing some in person calls to local vendors.

You all have been so supportive and helpful. Really encouraging for us just starting out. Thank you so much!!!

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Permalink Reply by Crystal J. Molina on January 5, 2010 at 5:15pm

Facebook is a great way to market yourself without costing anything. Look up David Jay. If you don't already know who he is, he is a photography and marketing guru. He just came out with an email with tons of free marketing tips and directions for how to embed your website into your facebook page. Really awesome and creative stuff. He is great to follow. Here is a link to his "Power of Free" marketing video.

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Permalink Reply by Carol J. Merletti on January 5, 2010 at 10:01pm

I agree with the others. I can't recommend WeddingWire.com enough. I love them! I use them for all of my reviews from the couples that I have married.

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Permalink Reply by Wendi Hroncich on January 6, 2010 at 4:48pm

Hi Candis,

Congratulations on the start of your business! The other vendors comment's are right on! I actually found them really helpful to my business as well. The only thing that I found missing from the other's are all free places to list your business. They are not just wedding related, but I have found them to be a huge resource for me spreading the word about my wedding coordination business in Seattle. All of them are free to join:
Google local
Google Maps
Yahoo local
Bing
Yelp
City Search
I'm sure that there are more, that is all that I can think of off the top of my head. You sign up in the business center and create a page for your business. Like I said it is free to use these services, which is the best part! They really should help you gain a larger presence on the web! I hope this helps. Best of luck to you!

Wendi Hroncich
Ethereal Events
Seattle, WA
www.etherealevents.com
blog: www.weddingplanningwithetherealevents.blogspot.com

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Permalink Reply by Sweet T Studios on January 6, 2010 at 5:37pm

I didn't know that you could join those for free...

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Permalink Reply by Dessy Group on January 7, 2010 at 7:42pm

I agree with Capcatchers, Twitter and Facebook are great free resources to do fantastic networking and marketing. Sign up to twitter and then go to www.twellow.com -it is the yellow pages for Twitter. Here you can search for people in your niche and get connected right away. Good Luck!