The Bridal Industry Today

Here’s a useful snapshot of the bridal world in the U.S.

With the popularity of wedding reality shows on networks like TLC and Style, weddings are in the spotlight more than ever. Here’s a brief overview of bridal stats gathered from theknot.com, Brides Magazine 2012 American Wedding Study, and weddingstats.com:

• September is the most popular month for weddings; June is second. 20% of couples get engaged in December.
• The average age of a bride is 27 and the groom is 29.
• An average guest count is 140 and the length of engagement is fourteen months.
• Blue, purple, and green are the biggest wedding colors.
• 69% of couples had there own personal wedding website. 59% of brides used Pinterest to generate and organize wedding ideas.
• The average cost of an American wedding is $27,000. New York City boasted the largest average cost of more than $65k, and Chicago was second at $53k per wedding.
• Venue accounts for approximately 50% of a wedding’s budget.
• The average cost of a bridal gown is $1355, and bridesmaids’ dresses average $145.
• In this economy–exporting may be the way to expand your products.

To sum it all up, get yourself into Pinterest, focus on September and June themes, look into exporting into China and move to New York! Okay, maybe you should stay put –where you are–and use these stats to make the most of your business. For more great resources on the wedding biz, check out my site: EvansSalesSolutions.com or BridalMarketingConcierge.com

Have a great week, and do a little of your own research on wedding trends. It can only help propel you forward. As I always say, “Knowledge plus implementation equals power.”

Sincerely,

Chris Evans

P.S. Join us at the BRIDAL BUSINESS ACADEMY in Santa Monica on December 4 or get more information on the EASTERN SEABOARD Academy next May! 

Bridal Business Academy Comes To Southern California

The Bridal Business Academy is an intensive course in bridal business management, where wedding industry entrepreneurs gain hands-on familiarity with the fundamental skills needed in a successful business from the novice to the experienced.

The Bridal Business Academy features an intensive education program designed to strengthen the business acumen of wedding industry leaders. The workshop is designed for owners, managers, staff leaders and those looking to advance their wedding business.  Attendees range from the novice to the experienced as the Academy provides a strong foundation for wedding professionals who enjoy perfecting their trade.

Featured Trainer & Business Motivator, Chris Evans -Top Wedding Industry Specialist will be on hand to help you learn how to improve your business and grow your sales.

Additional top bridal business trainers will  teach information which focuses on practical concepts and tools to strengthen leadership capabilities in your wedding business.
Trainers include: Wedding Planner Alice Goetschel of Memorable Occasions, Susan Tellem, Owner of Tellem Worldwide Communications, Nick DiLello, Owner & Operator of the Phoenix Bridal Show and Daryl Bryant, Business Motivator & Owner of Total Entertainment.

As a bonus,  Wedding Coordinators/Planners can get a complimentary registration courtesy of the Sheraton Delfina Hotel.  Discount registrations are available for those in the Wedding Industry wanting to attend!

• DATE:  December 4, 2012
• TIME: 11:00-5:00 (Academy) 5:30-7:30 (Soiree’)
• LOCATION:  Sheraton Delfina, Santa Monica

Call 805-322-4446 to reserve your seat (limited) or email to: Academy@EvansSalesSolutions.com   Go to: www.EvansSalesSolutions.com or www.BridalMarketingConcierge.com

Are you leading or just managing your wedding company?

Leadership is about taking risks and overcoming obstacles.  When Chris Evans, top speaker in the wedding circuit, left the wedding industry as a major bridal show producer, he decided to use his skills and teach wedding merchants ‘how to sell’ through workshops, seminars and more. However, there were a lot of obstacles in his way.  This included a massive brick-and-mortar system of getting the word out to those in the wedding industry via direct mail and advertising costs.  But he left his safe job and founded ‘Evans Sales Solutions, LLC,’ and stepped into the training and speaking circuit, changing the way many in this industry look at ‘sales and marketing.’

What is the key to assessing big decisions and overcoming obstacles that he used?  He didn’t want to waste his ‘God-given talent’ of teaching and then regret not doing it.  He would have regretted not joining the ‘speaking circuit,’ where he has met and trained thousands in the wedding industry to grow their businesses.

He had a clear vision of what he wanted to do, he knew the obstacles involved, set out to overcome them, knowing the whole time that there was a high failure risk.  He didn’t want to be 80 years old and regret what he could have done for this industry.   His theme every morning?  ‘It’s a Bright New Day Filled with Possibilities!’

Will you look back with regret at what could have been in your wedding organization?  Maybe you’ve owned your bridal business for a long time or been in an executive position for a few years, but are you leading or managing?

Leadership is about making the hard choices and living with the outcomes, good or bad.  Managing is more about ‘not doing the hard things-keeping all running smoothly’ thus making sure employees, vendors and customers are all happy.

Sometimes though, the path to a greater success requires you to ‘rock the boat,’ to the point of tipping it over.

The first step is to:  Know where you are going in this industry.   Too many bridal companies start with a ‘passionate idea,’ and then ‘just survive the ride.’  They are not plotting their growth plan; they are doing what they’ve always done, hoping that it’s enough to get by for another day.  If you are a leader, you won’t go for that.

Second step: Make a list of how you are going to make it happen!  List the easy steps, and list the obstacles.  By listing the obstacles, you can then go around them, through them, over them or simply get rid of them.  Most obstacles are going to fall into the category of people, products or the structure you have in place.    Ask yourself: Is this the right management team to get you where you want your company to be? Is your product on the ‘edge’ of what 18-36 year old brides are looking for?  Is your company structured to handle the challenges that lie ahead (yes, they are there) on your path to growth?

This is where leadership comes in.  Do you have the DISCIPLINE (consistency plus perseverance) or SELF CONTROL (the ability in the heat of the moment to take a specific action in the right direction) and COURAGE (Strength of purpose, to do your best and not swerve from your path) to grow your business?

None of these changes are easy.  But that’s the difference between a leader and a manager.  A leader says, ‘we are going a different direction and that means things are going to have to change.’  Your other option is to leave things alone and play it safe.  But get ready, Chris won’t be standing next to you at 80, when you declare, ‘I could have done so much more!!’

Evans Sales Solutions/ Bridal Marketing Concierge, leaders in the wedding industry with support products, business training, sales & marketing techniques to grow your business.  As a solutions-based and results-driven concierge we create opportunities to grow your bridal business sales and increase your profitability.  Reach us by calling: 805-322-4446 or go to:  www.BridalMarketingConcierge.com 

Bridal Business Boot Camp

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Next Bridal Business Boot Camp set for DETROIT -Hilton Garden Inn on August 27! Join other wedding professionals to learn more on growing your business. http://www.EvansSalesSolutions.com

Resources To Grow Your Wedding Business

At the ‘Bridal Business Boot Camp,’ which takes place all over the country, or as the speaker at a wedding business conference, Chris Evans, wedding business guru, shares top secret techniques to support the growth of your company. 

The resource page on the website:  www.EvansSalesSolutions.com is set up to give you ideas (mostly free) to be the best in the wedding industry that your company can be.

The first selection by Chris to support your company is:

Aweber Autoresponder:  This autoresponder puts an online OR offline business on Auto-Pilot, by sending emails to your mailing lists.  It is used to automate my response to my mailing list, saving your company valuable time.

An auto responder is a very cool software program that allows you to enter a series of newsletters, e-mails or informational snippets, and then it delivers that information in whatever order and schedule you choose.  Autoresponders have helped many businesses is that it simplifies the follow-up of its mailing list members, even just to remind its members of their products or services. 

Evans Sales Solutions uses the Aweber Autoresponder, to send out messages every few days.  When someone subscribes to our website, they will get an immediate response, after they have subscribed. Then it is set up to reach out to those interested at an interval of 2 to 7 days.

Within months of having our Facebook up, we have over 1000+ members.  Our blog is starting to ‘multiple’ by reaching out with the autoresponder to help branch out with our services.

It is used to remind our clients of our latest posts as well as to remind them of my offers of products and services, such as the new ‘BizEBride Mobile app, or the Wedding Watch Newsletter.’  Our team at Evans Sales Solutions, uses it to guide my 1000+ clients to the right resources that they want.

Aweber Autoresponder has been advertising for me, tirelessly, 24 hours a day / 7 days a week/ 365 days a year. It is always on Auto-Pilot.

The first step is to contract with an auto-responder service and set up an account. You can do that by clicking the link below.

Example: Once your account is set up (a five-minute process), you can begin creating a series of e-mails to send to the bride after the show. It’s best to keep each e-mail short and to provide some information about your company. Always close the e-mail by providing a way for the bride to link to you, call you, or register on your page. You will want to create 10 separate e-mails that will be sent to the bride after the show.

My experience shows it’s best to schedule your e-mails as follows:

• One      each day for five days
• One      every other day for the next six days
• One      e-mail 15 days after the show
• One      final e-mail 20 days after the show

When you meet a bride at the show, part of the registration process will be to record her e-mail address. On your registration form you should have an opt-in box where the bride can give you permission to send her e-mails. Be sure to keep these registration forms on file in the event that there is a question later. There are specific laws that govern sending e-mails to lists. The auto-responder service you choose will provide all the information you need, and by following its guidelines you will be in compliance with the laws.

After the show, simply enter the brides’ e-mail addresses into the system and they will receive the e-mails you set on the schedule you created. The final e-mail in the schedule should tell the bride-to-be that it is the final message she will receive. It’s amazing, but many times that’s enough to stimulate the bride-to-be to respond.

There are many different Autoresponder companies, however, we like Aweber best.  Aweber’s user-friendly user interface works well for newbies and even the experienced marketer. It is easy to maneuver between the options.

If you get your Aweber now, you will be able to:

set up unlimited campaigns
unlimited messages
spam checker
text or html-based messages
manage your subscribers

As an added bonus, Aweber has a referral compensation program as well, so you can benefit by promoting your Aweber, so when you sign up use Evans Sales Solutions, or CLICK LINK BELOW: 
1. Identify a target group you want to market to

2. Come up with at least 10 follow-ups emails

3. The first email is always to welcome your subscriber and with the download of freebies e.g. free report or e-Book

4. Write down the time intervals you want to send these emails

5. Once you got your Aweber account, copy and paste the emails into the message boxes

6. Remember to on the “click-tracking” so that you can know how many of your members have clicked on the links

7. Let it run and you go to sleep

Be sure to use the Chris Evans Link below and check it out for yourself or go to http://www.evanssalessolutions.com/Resources.html 

https://www.aweber.com/login.htm

Wedding Business Expert given mission ‘Bridal Business IMPOSSIBLE’ in Chicago on June 18

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Wedding Business Expert-Author, Speaker, Trainer–Chris Evans in Chicago-O’Hare!  Chris will teach you how to ‘Double Your Wedding Business in 12 Months’ at the Bridal Business Boot Camp!  Join us on Monday, June 18 @ the Hampton Inn Airport Hotel.

www.EvansSalesSolutions.com

May 30, 2012-Chicago:  Chris Evans, America’s foremost Wedding Business Expert, is given the “mission” of making the impossible-possible by teaching, training and motivating local wedding industry businesses to take their businesses to the next level on June 18, 2012 at the Hampton Inn-Chicago, O’Hare International.

Chris Evans, speaker, author, business coach and master presenter uses the 30 years in the bridal industry to help thousands of wedding businesses, grow their companies—even in these uncertain times. On June 18-Chicago will hear speaker, author, business coach and master presenter, Chris Evans, who uses the 30 years in the bridal industry to help thousands of wedding businesses, grow their companies—even in these uncertain times.

The full day Bridal Business Boot Camp was created to help those in the bridal industry to learn skills to increase their bottom line.  Wedding Professionals will learn:

• How to stop chasing the bride and have them chase you with Attraction Marketing!

• Why Social Networking doesn’t work-and what to do about it!

• ‘There’s an App for that!’ Websites and techniques that save you time and money!

• Mission Impossible?  How to remake your bridal business for the new economy!

Chris Evans is a fearless entrepreneur and top sales trainer. He’s never met a challenge he wouldn’t take. Chris’ new mission: fix America’s most desperate bridal businesses…. ready to change & grow…..Is it a Bridal Business: Impossible?  Never!

His background in the wedding industry includes top wedding entrepreneur, author, sales trainer and key note speaker and Chris entertains and trains companies with a hint of comedy from writing for the ‘Jay Leno’ show.

Chris created the wildly successful Bridal Business Boot Camp in 2008, training thousands of wedding professionals to exceed their expectations in sales, grow their companies and learn valuable business techniques.’ This intense business workout, will take them to the next level in sales and more!  Chris is also the Author of, ‘How to Double Your Wedding Business in 12 Months!’ and, ‘The Secret of Sales Success.’

The Bridal Business Boot Camp is a full day event at:

Hampton Inn Hotel, Chicago-O’Hare International

3939 N. Mannheim Road

Schiller Park, IL 60176

June 18, 2012, Monday

9:00 am -3:45 pm

Registration is available by going to: http://www.EvansSalesSolutions.com  or call 805-428-3851. Tickets increase in price after: June 15, 2012, Seating is limited!

Check out success stories!

Book ‘Em

DJs Are Employing a New Set of Tools to Market to Brides at Wedding Shows. But Sometimes, the Best Techniques Are the Tried & True

By Jeff Stiles

The annual events are held in nearly every market, typically in the springtime:

Bridal shows sponsored by local radio stations, bridal vendors and reception halls, designed to draw in young ladies anticipating the Big Question being popped very soon—along with those having already been asked.

Wisconsin’s Jake Riniker last year met a mother with two daughters who were both getting married. He introduced himself to them at a bridal show in The Badger State, and soon thereafter ended up signing up both sisters for receptions in 2012.

Two for the price of one, you might say.

“I think the main tactic that sets me apart is that I don’t pressure-sell,” says

the owner of Riniker Rhythm. “My take is that when mobile DJs offer big discounts if brides sign up right away, that just makes their service look gimmicky.

“I usually don’t get actual bookings until the following week or even at the next show. In this case, the mother and daughters had time to ‘shop around’ and then find me at the next show. I liked that, because I knew they had made an intelligent decision instead of just making an impulse buy.”

There’s a wide variety of opinions within the mobile-DJ industry today about the importance or even relevance of spending the marketing dollars necessary to appear at a bridal show. The more experienced jocks seem to depend solely on referrals, while multi-system owners and the relatively younger guys like to use these expos to further their name recognition.

In 2012, as brides become savvier via social networks, how can a DJ maximize one’s presence at a bridal show?

Day by Day-Steps to Growing Your Business

What would your business look like if you made even minor changes to how you think and do business so that you can grow your business? It’s not how much you do in your day, it’s what you do in that day that can make or break your business.

Growing your business can be broken down into easy, doable, bite-sized activities. It’s simply about focusing on what matters.   Do you rely on your ‘self-control,’ so that you choose the correct activity or can you ‘discipline’ yourself to make the correct choices?