Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Could Guides for Brides work for you? Interview with Nikita Thorne

Transcript

Could Guides for Brides work for you? Interview with Nikita Thorne · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

0:00
Nikita: They find a business on our website.
0:02
They then maybe save them in their wedding planner that they've got with us.
0:05
And then they'll spend time looking at that listing, looking at their social
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media, looking at their website, looking at their reviews, making sure they
0:13
are a hundred percent happy that that business is genuine and reputable
0:18
before they even start the conversation.
0:22
Becca: I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert,
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speaker and blogger, and you're listening to the wedding pros
0:27
who are ready to grow podcast.
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I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
0:33
examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
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If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
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and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you
0:43
love, then you're in the right place.
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Let's get going with today's episode.
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Over the last year, I've had the privilege of speaking at the national wedding
0:52
show up and down the country, as well as meeting incredible couples and suppliers.
0:56
I've also got to speak alongside some amazing educators, including today's
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guest until recently, for me, guides for brides was a faceless wedding
1:03
directory, but that will change.
1:05
Once I met today's guest Nikita.
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Now I can see the heart and the message behind the company, and I'm hoping she
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can share some of that with you today.
1:12
Nikita is great to have you.
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Why don't you introduce yourself to.
1:16
Nikita: Thanks so much, Becca.
1:18
Hi everyone.
1:18
I'm Nikita.
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I'm the head of strategy at Guides for Brides.
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So I lead the marketing department at the company and I'm responsible for brand
1:27
partnerships, um, ensuring our website and our tools are always developing.
1:32
Um, and that's for the benefit of both businesses, um, and couples
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who use our websites, and I also attend the wedding industry shows and
1:40
conferences and speak alongside Becca.
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I see each other don't we?
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So we always bump into each other.
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It always ends up being a bit of a cocktail evening afterwards as well.
1:49
Absolutely.
1:50
Becca: And that's why it's so much fun.
1:52
So, so for anyone who maybe doesn't know what guys for brides is, or has only
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recently come across you, do you want to just explain to everyone who you are?
2:01
What it's all about.
2:02
Nikita: Sure.
2:03
So Guides for Brides is essentially all about connecting
2:06
couples with wedding businesses.
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We've been established since 1995, and we began as these
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paper guides in local areas.
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And those that have been with us for, I think even five years
2:19
ago, will remember the local guides that we still had in print.
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So since the pandemic, those have stopped and we've gone fully online.
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But I think since the early two thousands we've been online anyway, so now we've got
2:30
this huge, huge online wedding directory, a wedding blog, a large social media
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following of over 170,000, a repertoire of planning tools for couples and a
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B2C podcast, which I'm the host of.
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And we get to work with brilliant brands and businesses
2:45
across the country and abroad.
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Our website is used by 1.6 million people every year.
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So that's couples and their families and friends who are helping them plan.
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And you're based
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Becca: here in the UK,
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Nikita: aren't you?
2:57
Yes, we are based in Oxfordshire.
3:00
Becca: And do you cover just the UK or do you cover any of the rest of the
3:03
Nikita: world too, so we do have an abroad section and we have, um,
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sister brands called, uh, we've got sister brand called beyond weddings,
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which is a luxury destination, website, but we mainly have a UK.
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Becca: So your wedding directory, you're trying to link up
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couples to the suppliers.
3:19
So how do the couples find the suppliers in the first
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Nikita: place?
3:23
So they'll come onto our website and they can use our tools like our wedding
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venue finder, uh, they can use our website to find specific suppliers
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like florists, cake, makers, whatever they're needing at that moment in time.
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Stage, they are in the planning process.
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Some of them will come in and they will use our wedding planning tools first and
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foremost, which then helps them to have a checklist of what they need to do.
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So for example, they might join and go right.
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This is the first thing I'm doing.
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I'm just gonna join the website.
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And I'm going to look at, um, my wedding venue.
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So from that point, they'll have chosen their wedding venue and
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they go, the checklist goes, right.
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Next thing you need to do is find your photographer and they'll then
4:00
go and find their photographer.
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What they'll do is they'll use all the different aspects
4:05
of searching on our website.
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So whether they're wanting to find a specific, special.
4:11
Or search by date availability, or just find people in the local area to
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their wedding venue or to themselves.
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They can do all of that on the website.
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They've got lots of different avenues to find businesses.
4:23
Well, that's really
4:24
Becca: interesting.
4:24
So can supplies put their date availability straight into your site then?
4:28
Yeah.
4:29
Nikita: So we've got a date availability search, which is 18 months in advance.
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It relies on a business who is listed on our website to update their availability.
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And you can do that with limited availability.
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If you know, you're speaking to couples and they might book, you can
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mark that as limited availability so that you're still able to be found in
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searches, but say, I am a couple and I'm planning my wedding for October 20, 24.
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Um, or no, that's a bad example.
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Uh, maybe October 20, 23.
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Um, I then go.
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I'm looking for a wedding photographer in Essex in October, 2023, or even on
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a Friday in October in 20 to 23 or on a specific date in October, in times 23.
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And anyone that has that availability, marketers limited or available
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will come up in that search
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Becca: so if you're listening to this and you've got your guides for brides
5:21
listing, I think you should definitely be updating your availability,
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especially if it's last minute.
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Cause I know right now there's lots of people posting all over these Facebook
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groups all the time saying I need a last minute videographer for two weeks time.
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Nikita: Absolutely.
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We've got we've ever since the pandemic, but that availability search, which
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used to actually be called the late availability search, we extended it up
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to 18 months because of the pandemic.
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It was originally six months in advance.
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Um, so.
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18 months.
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And that's, that is where people go.
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I think January 20, 21, when I looked at the stats, I was absolutely in
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shock because that tool went up by, in usage by 4000% year on year.
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And that was like, Wow.
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So yeah, if you're, if you're, if you're listed on our site and, uh,
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have availability in the next sort of six to 12 months and make sure
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you're marking it because couples are looking for late availability.
6:15
Becca: Yeah.
6:15
And that definitely works just to give an example of someone
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using late availability.
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Just yesterday.
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I saw one of my wedding suppliers post on their Instagram last minute availability
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for the 25th of June unexpectedly.
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And then I suddenly saw another post looking for that kind of supplier for the
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25th of June and I linked them together.
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So it really does.
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To tell people, people think, oh, well, why does anyone care?
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But actually if they're getting married on that day and they're looking for whatever
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you do, and they're going for guys for brides or your social media or whatever
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it is then having that late availability opens people is really, really important.
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So we talked about trends pre and post pandemic a little bit
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there about how people are using that late availability tool.
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What other trends?
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Obviously you have a huge amount of data as guys for brides, with
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so many people using your website.
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So what other trends are you seeing, which would help the
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wedding pros who are listening?
7:04
Nikita: So I think it's important to remember that trends are forever changing
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and as a business, you need to be looking at your own trends and not just relying
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on the information I'm about to give.
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So for example, in January, this year, we noticed that where couples
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were previously inquiring mostly on a Sunday, there's been a slight shift.
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So.
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Still using our website on a Sunday.
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So actually Sunday evenings are the busiest time for our website, but most
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couples are actually doing a little bit of investigation into those businesses
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before they send their first inquiry.
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So we're actually seeing the most inquiries being sent
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on a Monday or a Tuesday.
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And the way I'm thinking of it is people are doing their planning on
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their sort of quiet Sunday afternoon.
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They've had their Sunday lunch, they're just sitting down
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and now they're gone right.
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Need to get the wedding planning.
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They find a business on our website.
7:55
They then maybe save them in their wedding planner that they've got with us.
7:58
And then they'll spend time looking at that listing, looking at their
8:02
social media, looking at their website, looking at their reviews, making sure
8:06
they are a hundred percent happy that that business is genuine and reputable
8:11
before they even start the conversation.
8:13
Um, so that's another way that our website is being used as a tool.
8:18
You know, they're looking at it like an extension of your portfolio.
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They are, they need to find your social media, they need to find your website.
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They need to find, uh, images of what you've done in the past.
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All of that is available to them in one place.
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So they're using that to sort of look at all the aspects of your
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business marketing before they then start to have a conversation.
8:39
That's
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Becca: a really interesting stat.
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So they're kind of using Guides for Brides as a launch pad.
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So they're finding the supplies on there, but then they're kind of launching
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out into their social media platforms.
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So again, if you're listening to this, this is why it's so important.
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Number one, to keep your listing up-to-date, but number two, to make
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sure your social media handles.
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And the name of your business and the images match across all the platforms,
9:01
because what happens otherwise is they go from Guides for Brides or
9:04
wherever it is onto your social media.
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And then they're not sure if they're in the right place.
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And if there's any like unsure ness, if that's a word shortness in their mind,
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they're just going to go to someone else.
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So you need to make sure your branding and your messaging and
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your imagery is consistent across your directory listings, across your
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social media, across your website.
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Everywhere else.
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So would you say people are going to Instagram, Facebook websites.
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Where do you think they do their research?
9:29
I think
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Nikita: they do it everywhere.
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To be honest with you, Becca, I think they, so they don't, first
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of all, they don't know where to start, so it's a natural starting
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point for them to look on Google and look on wedding websites like ours.
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So we did some research in 2021 and we asked couples two key questions.
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Where do you plan your wedding and how many different wedding
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planning platforms do you use?
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The first question, where do you plan your wedding?
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Wedding directories came up as only second to Google.
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So where would you start your wedding planning?
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You'd probably go to Google because you don't know where to start.
10:00
Right.
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And then you'll find the wedding directories on Google.
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So those were the two key places and they were well, well above social media,
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wedding fairs, all of that kind of.
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When we ask them, which one wedding planning websites they use, the
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data showed that at least 50% of the people that answered were using
10:18
three or more wedding planning websites to do their research.
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So it's not just about being on one directory.
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It's about being on multiple because they are using multiple
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directories to do their research.
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They want to have that wide variety of, um, places to go to look for things
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and do their sort of window shopping before they send the initial inquiries.
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In terms of where, where they're looking, the benefit of a listing is that
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you've got links to your social media.
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You've got links to your website, you've got links to videos, you've got images.
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You've got the ability to put information into your listing about your business.
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So all of that stuff that they are looking for and all of the places they want
11:01
to look can be found in one key place.
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You know, I think they're looking at multiple places, but they're
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finding it in that sort of initial wedding directory stage
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Becca: yeah.
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And that is really important to note because one thing that people
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say to me all the time is Becca, I just don't get enough inquiries.
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I just don't have enough people knowing I exist.
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How do I get in front of more people?
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Well, that's why these platforms work because you're basically putting your
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business in front of all the people they're doing the work on the SEO for
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you Guides for Brides are working hard to make sure they come up high on Google.
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They're spending the money on those things to help you get in front of the.
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Well, which is why it's worth paying attention to these
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Nikita: platforms.
11:41
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
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Can I just add to that as well?
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Cause I think.
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One of the key things of advice, I would say about a listing and with
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you mentioning SEO is that it's apps.
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You will be surprised as to how many businesses forget to put the word
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wedding in their copy for their listing.
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And they also forget to put the counties that they cover.
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So if you want to appear in people's Google searches.
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Please make sure you got the key, those keywords in your listing
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because you know, you might be a fantastic photographer with 25 years
12:13
experience, but do you do weddings?
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Yes.
12:16
You're on a wedding planning platform, but you need to have
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the word wedding in your listing.
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Copy.
12:21
Becca: That is so important.
12:22
Okay.
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Everyone, who's got a listing on any directory.
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Your first job after listening to this podcast is to go and make sure
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your, your listing has the right.
12:31
In it, because it's easy to neglect that kind of thing.
12:34
So in terms of booking trends Nikita, are you seeing, uh,
12:36
people booking last minute, they booking really far in advance.
12:40
What are you seeing coming through?
12:41
I think
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Nikita: it's a bit of a mix of both because you've still got
12:43
that pandemic backlog that people are trying to work through.
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So there is a slight, I don't want to call it panic on the couples front.
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I think that's the best word I can come up with is that they are looking very,
12:55
very far in advance at the moment.
12:57
And some venues I've heard of some venues opening their books
13:01
for like 20, 25, 20, 26 already.
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So that's half of the sort of audience that we're seeing are.
13:09
Going looking far in advance.
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That doesn't mean you should be booking so far in advance.
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You know, I'm not going to say that you should do that.
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That's your own business decision, but that is, that is a key
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trend that we're seeing is that it's very, very far in advance.
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But on the flip side, we are seeing people needing that late availability and they
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are also looking on that late availability search because they're thinking, you know
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what, we've had two years of pandemic.
13:34
We just want to get this done and we want to have a really great time.
13:38
Let's see what we can do.
13:40
Becca: Okay.
13:40
Okay.
13:41
Let's move on then and think about the guys for brides listings that you offer.
13:45
So is it, am I right in saying that you have a free listing option
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and a paid-for listing option?
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How does that.
13:51
So
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Nikita: the free listing is very, very basic.
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It's just there if you are wanting to be found on those multiple platforms,
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but you're having to prioritize which one you want to advertise on,
14:02
we have got a free, basic option.
14:05
And by basic it is so basic.
14:07
It's got your business name, it's got a profile image and it's got
14:11
text and it's got the ability to have one review showing at all times.
14:17
Then you go into the enhanced listing.
14:19
So they're the paid for versions.
14:21
They appear obviously above all of the basic listings and your peer
14:25
above basic listings and search.
14:27
And there are three levels to that.
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So we've got the standard, the featured and the spotlight listing.
14:32
The key difference is the featured and spotlight listings come with additional
14:36
sort of social media marketing from our.
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The ability to be featured in blog posts.
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So if the team are writing, I don't know, you say amazing
14:44
wedding venues in Oxfordshire.
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If you've got a featured or a spotlight listing, you're more
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likely to be picked for those blogs.
14:53
And then of course they appear higher.
14:55
So standard listings appear above the basics.
14:57
Featured listings appear above the standards and the spotlight listings
15:01
are limited and appear in the first sort of top part of the listings.
15:07
Becca: You would be surprised Nikita, about the amount of
15:09
wedding suppliers that I look at.
15:11
So when people work with me one to one, or do one of my courses quite often,
15:14
I'll go and research where I can find them from a customer's perspective.
15:18
And so many of them don't even have the free listing.
15:21
And the first thing I say to them is it's free.
15:24
Like the free version, at least appear in the search in case
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people are looking for you.
15:30
So another task for you to do, if you're listening to this, if you don't yet
15:34
even have a free listing on Guides for Brides, go and set that up immediately.
15:38
Yes.
15:38
It's not going to be as good as more of the enhanced and paid for
15:41
options, but don't have nothing at least have the free option and then
15:45
work out where you go from there.
15:47
So if people are thinking about having a listing or perhaps even have a
15:51
listing already, and don't feel like it's working for them, have you got
15:55
any tips for people around how they can make the most of that listing?
15:58
Nikita: Okay.
15:59
So I would first say double-check whether it's a basic or a paid listing, because
16:04
you know, I know some other platforms do do basic listing as well, and it
16:08
can be difficult at times when you, when you don't know the site, like the
16:11
back of your hand, it can be difficult to know whether you're having, whether
16:14
you've got a paid listing versus a versus a basic, so just make sure.
16:19
Like which one you've got, because obviously then you're limited if you've
16:22
got basic listing and what tools you have available to you, the next thing
16:26
I would then do is make sure I'm using every tool that is available to me.
16:31
So the example of the late availability set.
16:35
It's obviously increased in, uh, since the pandemic of how many
16:38
people are using that search tool.
16:40
But if you are not using the calendar feature that you pay for,
16:43
with your listing, you are not going to appear in that search.
16:47
And that's just one example.
16:48
The same goes for, um, our offers search.
16:51
The same goes for, if you haven't ticked a filter.
16:55
But if you're a country house wedding venue, and you haven't ticked that your
16:59
country house, wedding venue, you're not going to appear in that search.
17:02
So make sure you ticked all those filters and make sure you've got videos.
17:05
Make sure you've got imagery.
17:07
Make sure you're using everything that's available to you.
17:10
If that then fails, I would then pick up the phone to actually speak to someone.
17:14
So.
17:16
I can only speak for Guides for Brides, but our team are so, so
17:19
dedicated to their customers.
17:21
And it's literally the whole point of them being that they want you to be successful.
17:25
They don't just want to sell you a listing and then leave you to it.
17:28
You know, they want you to be successful in your business.
17:31
They want it to work for you.
17:33
So they're more than happy to advise on what needs to be done.
17:36
They're happy to have a look at your listing and see other
17:38
things need to happen, or whether you're, you're struggling to find
17:41
a specific tool that you can use.
17:44
Are you using it?
17:44
They can check everything for you now for some clients, we find that having a
17:49
relationship with the marketing team works better than just the listing as well.
17:52
So that's another thing that the team can do.
17:54
If you're finding that your listing is not working, we can find ways for.
17:59
That to work for you.
18:00
So we can, for example, instead of you paying for a spotlight listing and that
18:04
not working, you might pay for a standard listing and then have the marketing
18:08
team using the rest of that budget to really push you out to the audience.
18:11
So, you know, you might find that certain things work for one business
18:15
and things don't work for another.
18:17
So that's the kind of thing I would say is, is to actually speak to people
18:21
and build a relationship with them because they really want to help you.
18:25
They're not.
18:26
They're not just going to leave you to it.
18:27
You know, they want you to, they want you to be successful
18:30
and that's the main point.
18:32
Becca: I think that's really important to note.
18:34
So if that is you and you've already got a listing with with Guides for
18:37
Brides or one of these directories, don't wait till the end of the year,
18:40
when you're about to renew to decide whether it's not working or not kind of
18:44
get three months in, use all the tools.
18:46
And if you're not happy with how it's going.
18:47
Exactly like Nikita said, pick up the.
18:49
Ask the question because they're there to help you and they're there
18:52
to make sure it does work for you.
18:54
So don't be afraid to do that.
18:55
Just pick up the phone and say, I love the site I'm on here, but it's
18:59
just not getting me any inquiries.
19:01
Now for most of you listening, you probably only need one booking from
19:05
one of these platforms to pay for the.
19:07
Yeah, if that, so that's achievable for every single one of you, you
19:11
should be getting at least one booking from these platforms.
19:13
And if you're not, and you're not even getting the inquiries, then pick up the
19:16
phone and try and find out why, because it may be that just a couple of small
19:20
changes to the way you list yourself could make all of the difference.
19:24
Now, some people Nikita, say to me, oh, directories aren't for me because
19:27
my kind of couples don't use them.
19:30
Do you have any information about the kind of couples, the kind of budgets
19:33
people have that use your site.
19:36
Nikita: Um, so I think it depends, it varies across the board.
19:40
So I think what you need to do is research into the directories and decide
19:43
which one is right for you or which set are right for you based on, um, based
19:48
on the kind of couple they attract.
19:50
So.
19:52
There's one directory, for example, that really attracts the alternative couple
19:56
there's directories like ours, that attract sort of the majority markets.
20:01
Um, and then there are others that are a bit more niche.
20:03
So you need to do your research and sort of figure out, cause I know,
20:07
you know, I would say advertise on every single directory, but
20:10
that's not going to work for you.
20:10
You need to make sure it works with your brand in terms of budgets, the
20:14
typical wedding budget in the UK.
20:17
It's about 17 and a half thousand pounds.
20:19
So that's what we're kind of finding on our site.
20:22
The majority of the couples that use us are in the sort
20:25
of 12 to 20,000 pound region.
20:28
But that doesn't mean that they're not in the higher budgets.
20:31
either, we have got a luxury wedding section.
20:33
I've had some clients success stories that have told me that,
20:36
you know, they they're a caterer.
20:38
They paid 595 pounds for an annual listing with us.
20:42
And they got 10,000 pound booking just from that.
20:45
And, you know, that's a big catering budget.
20:47
So, you know, that's, that's one way I would say, you know, don't discount that
20:52
there will be outliers even if the typical budget is around 17 and a half, thousand
20:57
Becca: so people are on the site and they're getting inquiries.
21:01
The other thing that people say to me all the time is they get some
21:04
inquiries, they get kind of standard inquiries with the standard message,
21:07
whether it seems like they're just contacting everyone from your site and
21:10
then they never hear from them again.
21:12
Have you got any tips for people around trying to avoid that ghosting
21:15
situation or how they should be responding or the speed of response?
21:19
Nikita: So I would say that.
21:23
Think about it from the couple's point of view, a lot of these
21:26
people have never done this before.
21:29
They don't know what to say in an inquiry that that's why
21:32
we have this sort of standard.
21:34
Email, you know, I found you on guides for brides.
21:38
I'm interested in your services, please.
21:40
Can you give me a quote?
21:41
Well, please, can you give me a brochure?
21:42
That kind of thing is what they don't know what to ask.
21:46
So that's, that's why we've got that there so that they can, you know, inquire
21:50
without feeling like they need to give all of this information that actually
21:54
is not useful to you as a business.
21:57
What I will say is check your.
22:01
You'll find all your inquiries when you log into your listing backend.
22:05
Anyway.
22:06
So if you're finding that you're not getting inquiries, check your spam folder,
22:09
check your check, your listing backend, because you might find that they're just
22:14
not reaching you or the email that you've given is misspelt or something like that.
22:19
You know, there could be a simple explanation for it.
22:22
The next thing I would do is go, send a personalized email,
22:28
but send it proactively.
22:30
So if you are, and I know it's very easy to say because we're about to hit well,
22:35
we're in a very, very busy wedding season where people are away from their desks.
22:40
What I will say is have an out of office that keeps you open.
22:44
So, you know, the phrase I'm working at weddings all weekend,
22:48
so I won't be at my desk.
22:50
Isn't going to cut it.
22:51
You need to make them feel really happy that you've, they've inquired
22:55
to you while letting them know that you might not respond immediately.
22:58
So you can sort of have an out of office that says I'm probably
23:01
working a wedding right now, but thank you so much for your inquiry.
23:04
Congratulations on your engagement.
23:06
I will be in touch within the next 24 to 48 hours.
23:10
Um, with a response, you know, something that keeps you open is better than
23:14
sort of shutting the door immediately.
23:17
The next thing I would say is on your initial response, personalize it.
23:22
So even if you need to work with a template, make sure you have the
23:27
ability to put their name in, ask them a question about their wedding.
23:31
That's going to sort of make them want to respond to you.
23:35
If you are a hair and beauty artist, say to them, What color are your
23:40
bridesmaid's dresses or how many bridesmaids are you having that kind
23:44
of sort of noncommittal question that shows an interest in their wedding.
23:49
It's going to help you have more of a conversation with them rather than do you
23:52
want to book me, you know, because a lot of the time they are using directories
23:57
and they're making inquiries because they are deciding between different businesses
24:01
and they want to make sure that your business fits one, what they want in
24:05
their wedding to, within their budget and three, that they're going to like you, and
24:10
that they're going to want to work with.
24:13
Becca: So keep it short, keep it conversational.
24:15
Don't send the masses and masses of information and loads of big
24:19
attachments, keep it short and friendly.
24:21
And I think the template idea is really helpful.
24:24
Personalizing a template, have something on your phone if you're out and about
24:27
all the time, save something in the notes section of your phone that you
24:30
can just copy and paste and just change the first couple of sentences each time.
24:34
Save you so much time, but speed is definitely of the essence.
24:37
I don't know if you find this Nikita, but I know from wedding fairs, for example,
24:41
often the first suppliers to go back are the ones that get the bookings.
24:45
Do you think that's the same with the directories?
24:47
Nikita: Yeah, I think, I think it's in most cases, I would say that the
24:53
person that responds the fastest is the one that's most likely to get the.
24:58
So if you have a personal assistant or a virtual PA that is helping you
25:03
with your admin, for example, make sure that they know that this is,
25:06
that, you know, January to March is my busiest time for an inquiry.
25:10
So please, can you make sure that you're keeping up to date with that,
25:13
or if you're doing that yourself, make sure that you are keeping an eye on
25:18
things, have that, as you say, on your phone, the template on your phone so
25:21
that you can quickly respond to them.
25:23
It's not in every case.
25:24
You know, people understand that.
25:27
I think you've got a busy life.
25:28
I'm not saying you need to sit at your computer at 2:00 AM and
25:31
wait for the inquiries to come in.
25:32
That's that's not what I'm saying, but you know, having that out of
25:37
office that keeps you open sort of conversational, makes you feel very
25:41
open and friendly and that you're very interested in their inquiry and.
25:46
You know, I'm actually, I'm actually on holiday at the moment,
25:48
but I am checking my emails.
25:50
So I will hopefully be able to respond to you within the next 24 to 48 hours
25:53
so that they can expect that response rather than feeling left in the dark.
25:57
Because I think a lot of couples do feel like they've also been
26:01
ghosted, you know, and I think that.
26:05
That's not the relationship start that you want.
26:08
Becca: Definitely.
26:08
I am right now in this situation myself.
26:11
So I'm organizing an event.
26:12
I'm trying to find a caterer for it.
26:14
I've been given this caterers information and oh my goodness, are they ignoring me?
26:17
It's so frustrating.
26:19
I've contacted them on Instagram.
26:20
I've left them an answer phone message.
26:22
I want to give them some money and they are just ignoring me.
26:25
And if I could just at least get a text to say, we've got your message.
26:28
We're on holiday.
26:29
We're doing this, but we'll get back to you tomorrow.
26:31
I would know.
26:32
But otherwise, right now I'm thinking well I better go to someone else, because
26:34
they're obviously not interested in me.
26:36
And you don't want your potential customers to be feeling that
26:39
way because it doesn't exactly get you off to a good, start.
26:42
Nikita: No.
26:43
And the thing is, you know, when you're a business owner and especially
26:46
a sole trader, you are on your own.
26:49
In most cases, you know, your, you have the support of everyone around
26:53
you, but actually it's you, that has to take responsibility for answering that.
26:58
And.
27:00
You need a life as, you know, make sure you've got some work-life
27:04
balance, but I think has you've, you've just got to be aware that couples
27:10
are wary of being ghosted as well.
27:12
We're in a world now, and especially this generation of couple where
27:16
responses are instant, you know, they DMS instant messaging.
27:22
This is something that they can get immediately and they want
27:26
the information immediately.
27:29
Not saying you have to give it to them that quickly.
27:31
But again, going back to that out of office, even attaching a
27:35
brochure to your out of office or a link to your portfolio is going
27:39
to give them something rather than.
27:43
You know, making them wait for it because unfortunately people's
27:46
patience is not brilliant these days.
27:49
Becca: No, it's not.
27:49
And again, I'm the same.
27:50
If I want to get in touch with a help desk or something, I get annoyed when they're
27:54
not open at eight o'clock at night.
27:55
And then I realize,
27:57
Nikita: oh, I totally agree.
27:58
I totally agree.
27:58
I don't know how I'm supposed to work a nine to five and go to a
28:02
doctor's that's only like open 19.
28:05
Like, how are you supposed to do that?
28:06
You know, it's very annoying.
28:08
It's very frustrating.
28:09
I don't have time.
28:10
I don't have time to go to the shop immediately after work.
28:14
I don't want to do that.
28:15
So it's is it's really frustrating, isn't it?
28:19
Becca: It really is.
28:20
Okay.
28:20
So talking about being short of time, if some of the wedding pros listening
28:24
right now are thinking, right, I need to go and update my listings.
28:27
Where would you get them to start?
28:28
What's the most important thing for them to get, right?
28:31
When it comes to changing or updating their existing.
28:35
Nikita: I think the important thing to remember is that we can put you in front
28:38
of the couple, but we can't make them inquire and you know, your customer best.
28:44
So if your customer responds really well to a chatty tone, make sure you've
28:48
got a chatty tone in your listing.
28:51
Copy.
28:52
Make sure you've got great photos.
28:54
I know that one key frustration for the marketing team on our side for
28:58
example, is making sure that the images on a, on a listing are attractive
29:04
to a couple, if you are a hair artist showing the bride's hair from
29:10
the front, but not from the back.
29:12
And that really detailed thing, you're going that having loads of photos from
29:16
the front, you're not makeup artist, you're hair artist show the hair.
29:20
Obvious thing.
29:21
I know they sound really obvious, but it's often the obvious
29:25
things that are overlooked.
29:26
So.
29:27
Actually approach your listing as if you are your target, couple, you
29:31
know them better than anyone else, you know, who, who inquires with you,
29:35
you know what they're looking for.
29:37
So does the copy match what they're looking for?
29:39
Do the images match what they're looking for?
29:42
Have you got links to your social media, just going through that checklist and
29:46
thinking about what your couple wants.
29:48
is I think the place to start.
29:51
Becca: And if someone doesn't have a listing at the moment, but they're
29:53
listening to our chat and they're thinking, I need to find out a bit
29:55
more about guides for brides, or maybe I need to get onto this directory.
29:59
What's the best place for them to go.
30:02
Nikita: So I would, first of all, go to guidesforbrides.co.uk/advertise.
30:07
There.
30:08
You'll be able to find all the key information about advertising.
30:11
Um, what the listings come, uh, come with.
30:14
The next thing to do is.
30:16
Interested is to speak to a member of the team.
30:19
So you can give us a call or the information is on our site.
30:22
Uh, oh 1, 2, 3, 5, double seven, double 0 7, 8.
30:26
Oh, I'll knock that in there Becca, but just speak to a member of our team because
30:30
they're really friendly and they'll be able to walk through everything for you.
30:33
That's that's what they're there for.
30:35
That's, you know, they want to help you.
30:36
They want to make sure that this listing is going to work for you.
30:40
Speak to them, ask them the questions, speak to them about your concerns.
30:44
Maybe you've had listings in the past and they've not worked.
30:47
Ask them about what's changed because things change very quickly.
30:50
We've got a brand new site in the works, you know, it's been
30:54
in the works for two years.
30:55
These things take time, but we're at the final testing
30:58
stages now on sign off stages.
31:00
So we've got a brand new website coming.
31:01
It's going to be really exciting.
31:04
Ask them what's coming up.
31:06
What can I expect?
31:07
You know, what, what's different.
31:09
What's changed from five years ago when I last listed with X or Y that kind of.
31:15
Becca: So pick up the phone have the conversation and share your
31:20
concerns and I'll make sure I link to that link that you mentioned as
31:23
well in the show notes of the show.
31:25
Now Nikita, before I let you go, there's two final things I want to ask you
31:28
about the first one is something that you have as part of Guides for Brides.
31:33
And the last time I spoke about it, we accidentally broke your website.
31:36
So we're going to give you a pre warning this time before we talk about it.
31:40
But tell us a little bit about Wedding Safe.
31:43
Nikita: So wedding safe is a platform that we created to help couples
31:49
find businesses that they can trust.
31:51
Because during the pandemic, we all know you really couldn't get great
31:56
wedding insurance and it was a big,
31:59
I wouldn't, it was something that put couples off a little bit from booking.
32:04
And so in order to boost their confidence, we created wedding safe, which is
32:08
somewhere that a business can list themselves, show where they're listed.
32:13
So which directories they are listed on where couples can read reviews,
32:17
show that they've got public liability insurance show that the sort of template
32:21
contracts they might use so that.
32:23
Couples can immediately see that they'll have a contract.
32:26
You can show that you understand all the sort of COVID safety advice.
32:32
You can show all of these things that just going to help them tick that trust box.
32:38
If that makes sense.
32:39
So it's wedding safe.co.uk.
32:41
It's totally free for businesses to sign up and sort of showcase that they
32:46
are trustworthy business on there.
32:49
And yeah, last time Becca mentioned it.
32:51
It completely broke because we weren't expecting so many people to jump on there.
32:56
Uh, so I will mention it to the team and make sure all is well
33:00
and good before this goes out.
33:02
Becca: Amazing.
33:03
So wedding safe.
33:04
I am.
33:05
Advocate for this because in the work that I do, I see all sorts of different
33:09
wedding businesses all of the time.
33:10
And we know that there's lots of people who just randomly set up a business
33:14
out of their kitchen or whatever.
33:15
And don't have all the paperwork that makes it a business, the insurance and
33:19
the food hygiene and all those things.
33:21
So if you are out there and you are a reputable business, you need to make
33:25
sure you're standing out from the crowd.
33:26
So whatever you do once you've sorted your directory listings that we've already
33:30
talked about, make sure you go and get that wedding safe tick, and be proud of
33:34
it, showcase it on your website, showcase it on your social media and say, look,
33:38
this shows that I'm a reputable business and the more people we can get with this
33:41
wedding safe mark is just going to bring up the overall standards of our industry,
33:46
which is why I'll keep talking about it.
33:47
Keep breaking Nikita's website, and get you guys on there
33:50
because I think it's a really.
33:52
Thing for the standards in our industry to make sure that people
33:55
are getting all those pieces of paper, those insurances, et cetera in
33:59
Nikita: place.
34:00
Absolutely.
34:01
We want to make sure there is a standard in place for cause you know, people
34:06
that are listening to this podcast are going to be repeatable businesses.
34:08
You're investing in your education.
34:10
You're investing in your business, make sure you're showcasing.
34:14
Becca: Yeah, definitely.
34:15
So do make sure you go and get that wedding safe, mark.
34:17
And once you've got it and you've got the check box, tag me or Nikita
34:20
in it on social media tag guys, surprise and show it off because I'd
34:24
love to see that you are reputable and that you've got it going on.
34:28
Okay.
34:28
Before you finish, I always finish with the same question, which is what's
34:33
one final piece of advice that you have for people out there who own a
34:37
wedding business, that they need to know wherever they are on their journey.
34:42
Nikita: You've got to be proactive.
34:44
Everything you do to market your business works together.
34:48
Hand-in-hand whether that be advertising social media, your own
34:51
website, you wouldn't go to a wedding.
34:55
You wouldn't pay for a stand at a wedding fair, and then not show.
34:58
You know, you've got to be proactive.
35:00
You've got to be constantly looking at your, your website trends, your social
35:06
media, keeping up with that algorithm.
35:09
You know, making sure that you're being proactive with your marketing
35:12
and even at your busiest time, because you don't want that to fall
35:17
off the, off the, off the wagon.
35:19
Just be proactive with everything you do for your marketing and
35:23
make sure that it works for you because there will be a solution.
35:27
Becca: Yes.
35:27
I'm so on board with that being proactive is so important.
35:30
What's the point of learning?
35:32
If you don't take action, like I always say we're not Netflix.
35:35
We're not here to just sit back and listen and be entertained.
35:39
We're here to help you promote your wedding business.
35:41
So you can't just listen to the advice you've got to go out there and actually.
35:45
Nikita.
35:46
Thank you.
35:46
It's been an absolute pleasure to have you thank you for bringing
35:49
Guides for brides to life for us and becoming the face of the brand.
35:52
So we know the heart and the message behind what you're all about.
35:56
I know lots of people have enjoyed this conversation if they want to
35:58
find you or Guides for Brides where can they find you on social media?
36:02
Nikita: So if you follow us on @ guides for brides.
36:05
So G U I D E S F O R B R I D E S.
36:11
And that we're at guide for brides on all social media platforms.
36:14
Becca: Amazing go and follow them, go and check them out.
36:17
And if you do join, Guides for Brides and set up your listing, why not
36:20
send it to me or post it on social media so I can take a look as well.
36:23
Nikita.
36:24
I hope to see you at an event for a cocktail very soon.
36:27
Nikita: I'm sure we will see you back.
36:30
Becca: I hope you enjoyed the conversation with Nikita as much as I did.
36:33
Isn't she just, the loveliest person it's such a pleasure to speak with
36:37
her at some of these big events.
36:39
If you go ahead and get a guide for brides listing, or perhaps you've already
36:42
had some success with the platform, why not share with me and the rest of
36:45
the community over in my free Facebook group, wedding pros, we're ready to grow.
36:49
I'll see you soon.
36:54
One thing I love about the wedding industry is the other amazing
36:57
people you get to work with.
36:58
If you want to meet like-minded wedding pros, just like you, then why
37:02
not join my free Facebook community wedding pros and we're ready to grow.
37:06
Come meet some new connections, hang out with me and hopefully learn some new
37:10
things too just search for us on Facebook.