Category: Marketing and Social Media
The best modern SEO strategy for Australian weddin...
Posted by Josh Withers | Aug 14, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Instagram mythbusting for wedding creators
Posted by Josh Withers | Jun 15, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Insights from the SBS Insights episode on weddings...
Posted by Josh Withers | May 11, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Are you prepared to lose your Facebook, Meta, Goog...
Posted by Josh Withers | May 10, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Science proves: quick reply means a positive impre...
Posted by Josh Withers | Mar 12, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
The five laws of sales your celebrant website needs to respect
by Josh Withers | Sep 16, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
When you’re building your celebrant website, you’re crafting the digital front door to your...
Read MoreWhen someone gets engaged, what’s on their mind?
by Josh Withers | Sep 8, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
The best marketing in the world meets the target market where they’re at. Whether...
Read MoreThe best modern SEO strategy for Australian wedding celebrants
by Josh Withers | Aug 14, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
If you’re a wedding celebrant looking to improve your online presence and attract more...
Read MoreInstagram Mythbusters for Insights Members
by Josh Withers | Jul 3, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
This week members can rewatch the webinar recording of Josh Withers and Edwin from The Social...
Read MoreWhere should I advertise as a celebrant?
by Josh Withers | Jun 22, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
Amanda asks about social media and marketing: Hi, I’ve been registered since March 2024....
Read MoreInstagram mythbusting for wedding creators
by Josh Withers | Jun 15, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Are you ready to take your Instagram game to the next level? Join us for an exclusive online event, the Instagram Mythbusters event, featuring the incredible Edwin Smith from The Social Sandwich and hosted by me (Josh Withers).
Read MoreHow Sharon and Adam chose Tim Maddren to be their celebrant and MC
by Josh Withers | May 14, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Come dive into Sharon and Adam’s wedding in the picturesque Douglas Vale Historic Vineyard...
Read MoreInsights from the SBS Insights episode on weddings and the Wedding Grinch
by Josh Withers | May 11, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
The wedding industry in Australia is vibrant and evolving, despite the shifting societal views on...
Read MoreAre you prepared to lose your Facebook, Meta, Google, access?
by Josh Withers | May 10, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
This week saw the 28th user of Instagram – that’s right, he’s been using...
Read MoreSarah-Louise’s trip to the wedding trail and her Maleny wedding
by Josh Withers | May 3, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
This Insights podcast episode is with Josh and Sarah-Louise Anderson, who is planning her wedding...
Read MoreKim & Zac’s Cronulla wedding
by Josh Withers | Apr 27, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Kim and Zac married in Cronulla and they always knew that Tania Marsh was going to be their...
Read MoreMarketing yourself as a new celebrant
by Josh Withers | Mar 29, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 4 |
Silvia asks: I really want to find out how to start a website when you haven’t done any...
Read MoreScience proves: quick reply means a positive impression
by Josh Withers | Mar 12, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
A new study finds that the later we meet someone in a sequence, the more negatively we describe...
Read MoreThe state of the wedding industry, according to the 2024 Easy Weddings survey
by Josh Withers | Mar 11, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
The Easy Weddings 2024 Australian Wedding Industry Report provides an overview of the state of the...
Read MoreLearn from WeddingWire’s annual report WeddingPro report
by Josh Withers | Mar 11, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
The 2023 WeddingPro Benchmarking Report offers a comprehensive look into the current state of the...
Read MoreCharissa and Scott got up real high in their wedding
by Josh Withers | Mar 10, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
In this episode of the Insights podcast episode – Insights level members can listen here...
Read MoreTake payments directly on your phone – no card reader!
by Josh Withers | Mar 9, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media, The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
A Celebrant Institute member was asking a question of us this week and mentioned taking payment in...
Read MoreWhat return did I see from a $20k advertising investment last year?
by Josh Withers | Feb 27, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 6 |
Coming back into full-time celebrancy in 2023 I knew that the industry had changed, the celebrant population had changed, and the couples booking weddings were not just different but they had different means and ways of identifying which celebrant was the best for them, so I spent $20,000 on marketing.
Read MoreCreate a rabbit hole for your couples to “fall” down
by Josh Withers | Jan 8, 2024 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Create a rabbit hole for your couples to fall down so they fall in love with you!
Read MoreSocial networking is getting small while social media is going big time
by Josh Withers | Dec 31, 2023 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
The digital era is witnessing a significant transformation in how we connect, communicate, and...
Read MoreBlogging is coming back!
by Josh Withers | Dec 31, 2023 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
In 1997 the term “web log” was shortened to blog and ever since common people like you and I have had the power to write and publish on the internet. For the longest time it was the only way you shared your mission, your life, your opinion, your story.
Read MoreCollecting email addresses at a wedding fair with a QR code and ChatGPT
by Josh Withers | Sep 18, 2023 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Luke emailed me yesterday as I was about to solve for myself the problem he identified: What software would you recommend to use for a marketing list? Again are there any zaps or workflows in setting up the marketing list?
Great question Luke! I’ve been toying around in this realm for a while and have regrettably landed on the most expensive solution around: Active Campaign. I’m going to show you how I created a Zapier zap to collect email addresses at a wedding fair and get ChatGPT to send each person an email instantly after they scanned the QR code and entered their email address. It was such a smooth and professional workflow, I’m really happy with it. But before I show you how I created that I want to talk about email marketing for a moment. Email marketing is amazing and horrible. It’s amazing because people who identify with you and how you roll can and will give you their email address, and you have the opportunity to bring value back to their inbox via marketing emails. It’s horrible because trying to land in someone’s actual email inbox and not their spam folder is an arduous exercise that even yours truly finds hard, and tiring, and annoying. So you’ll try the cheaper products, then you’ll try MailChimp, and the rest of them, and marketing folklore tells us that if you are serious about this you end up on Active Campaign. so that’s where I am. Whenever someone enquires with me, books with me, or if I interact with them at an open day or wedding fair, that email address heads into my Active Campaign contacts list and I try my hardest to bring them immense value and joy. Not spam. So let’s have a look at this zap to collect emails at a wedding fair.
Read MoreSix AI chat prompts celebrants can use to make fresh content today
by Josh Withers | Jun 5, 2023 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Want to start playing with AI chat in a way that will make sense to your celebrancy practice and business? Here’s five prompts you can ask to get a unique insight into your business today.
Read More16 Growth ideas for wedding celebrants
by Josh Withers | Mar 21, 2023 | Marketing and Social Media | 4 |
A celebrant friend was complaining to me recently about the market, we’ve all had the same conversation, either us being whined at, or us doing the whining. The truth is that we are not owed our next enquiry or booking, we need to work for it. So here’s some ideas on how to work for it how to grow your business. Take any of these ideas and deploy in an authentic and meaningful way for you.
Read MoreBeing found is the new advertising
by Josh Withers | Nov 3, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
There are a few different kinds of marketing and advertising, but they can be mostly wrapped up...
Read MoreMarket your celebrant services like Apple markets the iPhone
by Josh Withers | Oct 7, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Jano le Roux, a copywriter, has done a deep dive on the marketing surrounding the new...
Read MoreUtilise the power of the “Zero Price Effect”
by Josh Withers | Aug 25, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Communicating value, selling your services, and convincing couples you’re worth your fee, is...
Read MoreThe law of social proof and celebrancy
by Josh Withers | Apr 11, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
When unsure how to act, people copy others, outsourcing their own decisions to others. Not only is this true when choosing a shop, or a cafe, but in weddings as well.
Read MoreDo I need more than one domain name for my website?
by Josh Withers | Mar 29, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 5 |
Elaine asks: When I obtained my Domain Name of domainname.com.au from Melbourne IT when I first...
Read MoreThere’s Gold In Them Thar Questions
by Josh Withers | Feb 18, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
There’s gold in the questions you get asked by other celebrants, people in the wedding industry, our clients, friends, and social media followers. Do you know what to do with them?
Read MoreHow to spy on other people’s Facebook Ads
by Josh Withers | Feb 18, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
If you’ve been wanting a way to spy on what other people in the wedding industry are doing with their Facebook Ads, here’s a very easy, open, and regulated way to do so.
Read MoreHow to start taking better photos at your weddings
by Josh Withers | Sep 27, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
An element of my social media content strategy I’m quite proud of is that I’ve really worked hard at making better photos, photos that I have made – and therefore own – so that I have photos and video for my own social media channels and blog. If you’re interested in pursuing that art as well, Josh Rose has written a really good guide that I think would help you. It’s aimed at taking better holiday photos, but the advice translates directly to weddings as well.
Read MoreThe secret to having people share your social media posts
by Josh Withers | Sep 8, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
When you hear of social media posts going viral, it simply means people are sharing it....
Read MoreBuild my own website or pay a pro? Build a business brand or a personal brand?
by Josh Withers | Aug 30, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Suzanne asks: “Looking for advice on professional web design v. self design. Objective to attract biz, be good return on investment and not rubber-stamp like. Also some good advice on logo vs personal service brand.” Two important questions here and they’re both worth addressing.
Read MoreWriting prompts for social media and blogging
by Josh Withers | Aug 29, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
The Copywriting Course’s subject line generator might be just the gold mine you need to start writring that next blog posts, social media post, or recording that vlog or podcast.
Read MoreBe vulnerable about your growth intentions to actually grow
by Josh Withers | Aug 24, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
A study has found that adding copy to a new app’s website around the lines of “we...
Read MoreThe thing about all of your social media followers
by Josh Withers | Jul 1, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Sign in or become a...
Read More7 days of content prompts for your social media
by Josh Withers | Jun 14, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
If you’re feeling a bit stuck on what to post on your blog, or social media, or both, here’s seven content ideas you can easily write right now. Then schedule them up to drop every day, and watch your online personal brand grow!
Read More“The truth is most of your followers won’t see what you share” on Instagram
by Josh Withers | Jun 9, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Instagram has shared a post today about how and why people see what they see on Instagram. I’m not going to speculate on how much of this is smoke and mirrors, or politics, or conspiracy theories. Instead, lets take them at their word and believe what they say.
You can read the whole report here, and I’ll share some excerpts and thoughts on it below.
Read MoreHow to be “out there” and trust the process
by Josh Withers | Apr 13, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Krystal asks: “I seek perhaps some advice on how I continue to be “out there” without sailing into the boring seas or moving into sharing content on social media that isn’t relevant. Maybe I need to be patient with the process, once my first wedding is over and I’ll feed my future marketing off that.”
Read MoreWhen Facebook shuts you down, are you ready?
by Josh Withers | Feb 18, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
Your Facebook page, Instagram page, Google My Business account, your LinkedIn, and god forbid any of you have a Parler account, but they’re all not your property. Running your business on the back of those properties is like going to your local cafe and setting up shop at a table. Putting up a little sign with Married By John Citizen on it, and accepting meetings and enquiries there. It might be ok for the longest period of time (thanks for hosting me, Sisterhood Coffee), but at any time that business owner can ask you to leave and not come back.
Read MoreWhat if Google didn’t exist?
by Josh Withers | Jan 22, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
Google, in light of legislation being introduced in Australia, has threatened to pull out of the Australian market. I’m sure they won’t, if only because they won’t walk away and leave $59 billion of income on the table and destroy the trust in their brand over a couple of dollars being paid to news organisations.
Read MoreHow to name your celebrant business
by Josh Withers | Dec 5, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 4 |
David Placek is the branding genius behind some of the biggest names in the technology world. The words Sonos, Intel Pentium, Apple PowerBook, Blackberry, Gimlet podcasts (home of Reply All), and the Impossible burger, all came from David’s branding company, Lexicon Branding. In 2014 Placek released a book which I’d love to read – but can’t find for purchase. Luckily for me, and for you, Om Malik recapped the book in his blog recently.
Read MoreDo our social media challenge
by Josh Withers | Sep 15, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media, Social Media Content Challenge | 0 |
I’m writing a social media challenge for Celebrant Institute members to see out 2020…
Read MoreWhere should we get clients to review us?
by Josh Withers | Aug 14, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
Gail asks: Sooo… your couple love you and want to leave a review! Where is the best place/s for them leave this review to really market your business and what links would you send them?
Read MoreReplying to new wedding enquiries with Bonjoro
by Josh Withers | Aug 12, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
A Celebrant Institute member was listening to back catalogue episodes of the Celebrant Talk Show...
Read MoreWhat does Instagram Reels’ launch mean for the wedding industry?
by Josh Withers | Aug 4, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Instagram’s latest feature ‘Reels’ is in addition to it’s existing product suite of regular Instagram news feed posts, Stories, and IGTV. This is a deep dive into how celebrants and people in the wedding industry can take advantage of Instagram Reels.
Read MoreHow to be your own publicist
by Josh Withers | Aug 2, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
A solid foundation of my business success as a celebrant has lay in the realm of good publicity. Good publicity can’t make a filling business profitable, or an unskilled celebrant, talented, but if you’re already rocking a good business operating system, and your ceremonies are resonating with people and getting good reviews, publicity is the cream on top that helps more couples find you, and book you. In this article I wanted to lay out a few tools that I have used in the past, and continue to use today, to “get my name out there” but in a very deliberate and meaningful way.
Read MoreHow to make a wedding expo work for you
by Josh Withers | Jul 19, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
10 ways to make wedding fairs, wedding directories, wedding blogs, wedding magazines, expos, and virtual wedding fairs, work for you.
Read MoreHow to become a travelling celebrant
by Josh Withers | Jun 5, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
Alinta asks: I am going to take up the gypsy/not-yet-too-grey nomad life for a year or so and I wonder if it would be possible to be a sort of travelling celebrant? We will be travelling in a substantial caravan and aren’t intending to be too structured about our timing so that we can follow our hearts and interests… Any thoughts or suggestions on if this would work?
Read MoreWhen you are not different even Google is against you
by Josh Withers | Apr 17, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
A really powerful way for you to spend your time and energy whilst weddings are essentially furloughed, is to evaluate, reevaluate, and evaluate even more, your current business systems and marketing strategies. I like to view my marketing strategy as a journey, and the end of that journey is when someone “walks into my store” and makes a purchasing decision, and my “store” is my website. On a recent Google Office Hours webinar, Google’s Webmaster Trends Analyst, John Mueller, made this comment on being different to a webmaster who has a ringtones website who was complaining of traffic dropping and their search engine position dropping …
Read MoreMoving town as a celebrant
by Josh Withers | Feb 26, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media, The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Kath asks: Hey Josh, Just wondering if you have any advice on what I should be doing in preparation to “move/expand” a celebrant biz interstate. I am moving to Hobart mid year and would like to make a start on some marketing now which will in turn affect my bookings for the end or the year and the beginning of next. Apart from reaching out to some lovely local celebs in the area to say hello and booking in to attend an expo, do you have any ideas on what I should or could be doing online (website copy, SEO, blogging, google listing, marketing, back end kind of stuff) while I am in this early transition stage.
Read MoreWhen you’ve got an odd name pronunciation
by Josh Withers | Jan 10, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
I married a couple recently and the bride had one of those names where there was a few different ways it could possibly be pronounced. In that situation, when we first meet, I introduce myself with my name, and expect the same in return, I’ll then note how they pronounce their own name. But she didn’t!
I feel the same way about business.
Read MoreA modern day version of the busy cafe getting busier
by Josh Withers | Jan 9, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
If you’re not already familiar with the reason why, when faced with two cafes next to each other most of us will choose the busier cafe, the reason is social proof.
Read MoreYour price is part of your story
by Josh Withers | Dec 22, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
I thought I’d share a quick and small story about a wedding I didn’t get booked for.
Read MoreWhen wanting to be featured or talked about, know this one thing
by Josh Withers | Dec 14, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
A favourite read of mine is the regular Susbtack email from Ariel Stalling. You might know her name from a little blog called Offbeat Bride. In this week’s mailout, Ariel tells the story of how someone a little bit like her was covered in the New York Times.
Before I actually read the words in the piece I thought Ariel was telling the story about how she was covered in the New York Times which would’ve been kind of cool, but then when you sit down and read it you realise that someone slightly similar to her with a really good publicist was covered in the Times instead.
Read MoreWhat are the ABIA awards? A guide for celebrants
by Josh Withers | Dec 12, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
A reader asks: “I’ve noticed the ABIA awards presentation nights have been occurring but what is the ABIA awards and how do people win the ABIA awards? What is the scoring based on? I see these marks of 99.93 etc.” I’ll answer this question on behalf of ABIA, then with my own opinion, which may or may not include the now famous, Billockery Awards, the celebrancy industry’s most favourable fictionalised awards system.
Read MorePlease put the (sales) gun down!
by Josh Withers | Dec 7, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
A quick Saturday morning flick through the social media feeds showed me six celebrants doing a bad thing on social media.
They’re not breaking the law, and in their minds they’re not doing a bad or evil thing. Many people would see the same thing I did and think it’s perfectly fine.
But my advice would be to stop.
Read MoreOne of the greatest voids in the world today is original content
by Josh Withers | Nov 28, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
A repetitive theme in my writing is the encouragement for you to create your own content. I really do believe that creating original, helpful, relevant, personal, content is a majorly easy way for you to have a win today.
Read MorePeople hate ads
by Josh Withers | Nov 22, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
I’m eventually going to start sounding like a broken record, but we all need to get it into our head: ads as we used to know them no longer work. People hate ads.
Read MoreMaking customer journeys easier, and inclusive, like Sephora
by Josh Withers | Nov 21, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
Sephora has identified that not every customer desires the same journey, so they created a fork in the road to cater for two different personality types.
Read MoreOnline advertising just doesn’t work the way we hope
by Josh Withers | Nov 12, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
There is a fascinating article on The Correspondent today about the next “dot com bubble” being online advertising. The link is a long, but easy, and really (seriously) interesting read, but for the benefit of CI blog readers, I’ll quote a few sections here.
Read MoreIt’s time to wean ourselves off this teat
by Josh Withers | Oct 18, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
The most popular question I’m asked in person by my wedding industry colleagues, and here on the Celebrant Institute, is which website do I advertise on or which directory do I list in that works?
Somewhere along the way, wedding vendors have gotten really comfortable being fed off the teat of wedding blogs, directories, websites, and magazines.
Read MoreJosh’s plan for posting on social media
by Josh Withers | Sep 20, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
When I post on social media, I’ve got one plan in mind. Not to sell, not to do a deal, not to whinge or complain. I want to be known. So when people that like me make a decision about a celebrant, I’m who they think of. When I saw this recent meme about the mortifying ordeal of being known and loved it resonated with me so much I had to work it into a talk for our recent conference.
Read MoreHow to get more wedding enquiries
by Josh Withers | Sep 19, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Liene at Think Splendid shares five powerfully simple ways to get more enquiries to your wedding celebrant business today. They’re so simple that you are hopefully already doing them, or if you’re not, this is a quick and swift reminder.
Read MoreFive easy SEO hacks you can do that are driven by research
by Josh Withers | Jul 22, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
Everyone knows a guy who knows a guy who can get you on the front page of Google. I’d argue that you might not want to be on the front page of Google for everything, but it doesn’t hurt for the right people to be able to find you.
In this article I’m not going to add to the SEO noise, you can read a million articles about SEO practises and there are even more people willing to take your cash to make it work for you.
But if you don’t mind kicking around the shed that is your website, here’s a check list of things you can change or improve on, and they’re backed up with good research. As opposed to the standard old wives tale SEO advice that most people’s parent’s next-door neighbours are dishing out.
Read MoreThe stories you’re forgetting to tell on social media
by Josh Withers | Jun 21, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 4 |
Your stories are more powerful than you think. This article is about sharing the stories about you and your celebrancy that you’ve forgotten to share.
Read MoreHow to change what address appears on your AG Register listing
by Sarah Aird | Jun 19, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media, Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
As a follow-up to my recent post about a super easy and free advertising platform for Australian celebrants, this is how you can change which address is displayed in your listing. As mentioned in that post, I only display the...
Read MoreThe easiest and cheapest advertising platform for Australian celebrants
by Sarah Aird | Jun 17, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 6 |
I’m staggered how many celebrants are not accessing this simple and completely free advertising platform!
Read MoreWould you follow you?
by Josh Withers | Jun 3, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Would you follow yourself on social media? If you saw that a friend of yours commented on one of your posts so it floated up to your news feed, and you clicked through to your profile, would you follow it?
Read MoreAn example of finding your ‘Almost Nobody’
by Josh Withers | Jun 1, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
In a post yesterday I described the hard work of finding your ‘Almost Nobody’. This, I argue, is your life’s work, and something that will forever be changing. A good example of me doing that work in my own business is by filtering out the ‘Everybody’ and making room for the ‘Almost Nobody’ to feel comfortable on my social media.
Read MoreWhat should I do at a wedding expo?
by Josh Withers | Apr 27, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 4 |
Hi, I am a new country celebrant with three weddings booked late this year, early next year but none performed so far. I am attending a wedding expo soon ( in the country) and am not sure what to do. I have collaborated with a supplier to use an arbor, have my logo enlarged to easel size and have business cards. But wondering what else I need. I dont have photos of me officiating yet obviously. What information type material should I have with me, what questions do you usually get asked, do I just stand there and smile, “have chockies to reel them in”? Please help!!
Read MoreDo you really want that exposure?
by Josh Withers | Feb 11, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
On a road near my house there’s a billboard that promises to expose my business to many thousands of people. A similar promise has been made by the producers of Married at First Sight and other TV shows. Everyone wants to sell us exposure. I would argue that exposure is the last thing we need.
Read MoreHow to become the celebrant in the know
by Josh Withers | Jan 17, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 4 |
Anka asks: I’m wanting to start blogging this year and making myself known as the “celebrant in the know” within my area with some personality thrown in as well but I’m not sure exactly how to start? Any suggestions or topics?
Read MoreMarketing: if I was starting today
by Josh Withers | Dec 27, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 17 |
If I was starting as a celebrant today I would do so many things differently. This article is...
Read MoreOld marketing versus new marketing, example 503,000,091
by Josh Withers | Oct 12, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Old marketing would put the right message in the right place so the right people would find it. The celebrant would advertise in the wedding magazine because people having weddings bought wedding magazines. The tools were at the tool shop so people who needed tools would know where to buy them. The cheap services were advertised where cheap people shopped, and expensive services were advertised where people with too much money shopped…
Read MoreThe art of differentiation
by Josh Withers | Oct 6, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 3 |
“Differentiation starts with the choice to do one thing well” says Bernadette at The Story of Telling blog. I wanted to break that powerful statement down and offer up some food of thought for celebrants today.
Read MoreWhich directories should we advertise in?
by Josh Withers | Aug 22, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 5 |
Sarita asks: I’m a relatively new celebrant and just after some advice on the world of wedding directories. There seem to be loads. Apart from the obvious ones like easyweddings, ABIA, there’s lots of smaller ones like polka dot bride, wedding guide, celebrant society, etc etc & a huge variation on how much it costs to list with them. Have you any tips, recommendations on where to go and where not to go. I feel like I should be listing somewhere (shouldn’t I?) but where to go!
Read MoreHow to publish Facebook ads that work
by Josh Withers | Aug 7, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
I don’t know.
If there’s anything you can expect from me today and into the future is that I’m not going to talk BS. The good news is that I know as much about Facebook advertising as most marketers and advertisers do, and they don’t know either, because there is no one perfect ad that will close all the deals and make all the bookings. So as much as I don’t know how to publish Facebook ads that work, I do know how to publish Facebook ads that work for me, so I’ll take you through that process and also weave in some professional best practises and see if we can’t help you.
Read MoreHow to network in the wedding industry today
by Josh Withers | Aug 5, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Networking amongst your industry colleagues, other wedding people, like photographers, venue co-ordinators, planners, and others, is a vital part of being an active member of the wedding industry. For the longest time...
Read MoreThe Facebook opportunity
by Josh Withers | Aug 5, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
Facebook, owner of Facebook but also Instagram and WhatsApp, is pushing hard to get more advertisers on its platform. In last week’s earnings call they made two statements which stood out to me: “When we think about...
Read MoreWhat should we do on social media? Part 3
by Josh Withers | Aug 3, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
A member asks: When chatting with celebrants recently I heard again and again that most celebrants aren’t really that interested in following the general Instagram “best practice” advice that you see on social media blogs/podcasts. Most people a) don’t want to invest the time and energy to go down the Pinterest-style heavily-curated aesthetically-pleasing path, and b) think it’s bullshit anyway. They don’t want to follow a posting schedule, they may not even post very regularly. I think most celebrants just want to post photos that they like, when they have them – but want to maximize the appeal/reach of those posts and spend the least amount of time on them. Can you share any practical little hacks to shave a few minutes and a few headaches off your posting/planning time.
Read MoreYou don’t know what ‘word of mouth’ looks like
by Josh Withers | Aug 2, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
I wanted to share a story straight from my inbox today, to show you how word of mouth actually works and how your marketing efforts today pay off for years:
Read MoreWhat should we do on social media? Part 2
by Josh Withers | Aug 1, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
A member asks: When chatting with celebrants recently I heard again and again that most celebrants aren’t really that interested in following the general Instagram “best practice” advice that you see on social media blogs/podcasts. Most people a) don’t want to invest the time and energy to go down the Pinterest-style heavily-curated aesthetically-pleasing path, and b) think it’s bullshit anyway. They don’t want to follow a posting schedule, they may not even post very regularly. I think most celebrants just want to post photos that they like, when they have them – but want to maximize the appeal/reach of those posts and spend the least amount of time on them. Can you share any practical little hacks to shave a few minutes and a few headaches off your posting/planning time. There’s a reason Facebook and Instagram have personal and business accounts. There’s a place for you to post what you like, and a place for you to post content that has a positive on your business.
Read MoreWhat should we do on social media? Part 1
by Josh Withers | Jul 30, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
A member asks: When chatting with celebrants recently I heard again and again that most celebrants aren’t really that interested in following the general Instagram “best practice” advice that you see on social media blogs/podcasts. Most people a) don’t want to invest the time and energy to go down the Pinterest-style heavily-curated aesthetically-pleasing path, and b) think it’s bullshit anyway. They don’t want to follow a posting schedule, they may not even post very regularly. I think most celebrants just want to post photos that they like, when they have them – but want to maximize the appeal/reach of those posts and spend the least amount of time on them. Can you share any practical little hacks to shave a few minutes and a few headaches off your posting/planning time.
Read MoreA simple upgrade to your website and social media
by Josh Withers | Jul 28, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
A quick and easy weekend exercise for everyone today: read the front page of your website and your about page. Look at your recent social media posts and your bios on the networks. Are you talking about the product or the user?
Read MoreThe do’s and don’ts of email marketing
by Josh Withers | Jul 26, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
A pertinent question about building and maintain an email list today: For anyone looking to follow your example of maintaining “an email list of all couples I meet at expos, fairs, open days, along with all who enquire with me” and sending them a weekly newsletter – are there any legal considerations or permission issues (opt in/opt out) we need to consider? Is it fine to just add any email address to a newsletter database or is there particular wording we need to use in sourcing those addresses for that purpose? Cheers.
Read MoreHow to get professional photos to share on your socials
by Josh Withers | Jul 19, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 3 |
A common conversation amongst everyone in the wedding industry who is not a wedding photographer is asking photographers for photos.
It’s great when you get them, it means your social media feeds have a professional feel over an iPhone photo feel, and it’s literally their job to make art out of events so their photos are always going to be better than yours.
Read MoreGet testimonies that matter
by Josh Withers | Jul 5, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 3 |
Celebrants offer such a personal service, your service is very different to mine, to every other member of this website, and the thousands of other celebrants available. We can communicate our differences in text and photos on our website, through blog and social content, and by meeting people but meeting every single enquirer can become tiresome.
So, let me introduce you to a secret warrior in my sales toolkit: testimonies.
Read MoreThe only thing you can rely on in the wedding business
by Josh Withers | Jun 30, 2018 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
This afternoon a couple got engaged and they have never heard of you, they’ve not made any decisions about their wedding, and it’s highly likely they don’t know anything about the wedding industry, how it works, what things cost, and who does what.
The only thing you can rely on in the wedding industry is that today a couple got engaged and all of your previous branding, marketing, advertising, and godowill in the market means nothing.
Read MoreYour account
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