Own Your Business

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Websites are big projects to tackle. Templates, branding, copy, image selection, site design/customization, blog migration, portfolio updates…and so. much. more. What parts take how long? What comes first: Copy or Design? What slows down the process? And how can you speed it up so the project doesn’t drag out for a year or more? Karley Kiker of Writefully Said (the designers we work with most on our copywriting projects) joins me in this episode of Own Your Business to discuss: - Common misconceptions about copywriting and design - How much time a website project takes to complete - What you can do to speed it up – and still get great results - Quick tips to improve your current site

Owning a successful business means you meet your goals on a regular basis. But what if you don’t have any goals? Or they aren’t broken down into milestones that show you’re on the right path at the right pace? It’s absolutely necessary – and quite simple – to set a destination and create a road map for your revenue. In this week’s episode of Own Your Business, I’ll share with you: - Two common pitfalls I see when setting revenue goals - Why many sales and pricing plans aren’t realistic - A simple reframe on how many weddings you want to book – and why it makes all the difference

Here’s a good rule of thumb for referrals: For every year you’ve been serving couples, 10% of your booked business should come from past and current clients. Each season builds on top of the next, and eventually, most of your couples will come on recommendation from those they trust most, and who also know your services the best. If you’re not seeing enough referrals from clients, tune into this episode of Own Your Business, where I’ll share: - Why client referrals always trump vendor referrals - The difference between a sales funnel and a referral flywheel - 5 specific strategies you can put into practice today to get more inquiries from your most qualified buyers

Remember, the key to sales success is to provide the right information at the right time in the right way. Those who do will unlock the opportunity for your business grow. But if you screen your couples too much you may prevent unidentified but still ideal clients from getting into your inbox, or all the way through to contract. In this week’s episode of Own Your Business, I talk about: -      4 reasons couples struggle to book the right vendors -      3 areas to focus on if you want to book more clients at higher prices -      14 ways you’re making it hard for couples to make progress in the buyer’s journey -      8 tactics you can use to make it easier to say “yes” to your services

We all want to like the people we work with. But have you spent much time thinking about it from the couples’ perspective. Remember: They want to like the people they work with too. It’s not just about how well you can meet their needs on the wedding day. They need to know you every day until then will be worth it too. In this episode of Own Your Business, I’ll introduce you to: - Mirror neurons and sales mirroring - Why they help humans to survive - How they’ll help your business thrive - 5 specific tactics you can use to mirror couples during the sales process

What’s the best way to present your pricing and packages to potential clients? I see a range of approaches in the wedding industry, from one option to a la carte, and the most popular: base-plus-a-la-carte. But research shows these ways can create push-back and analysis paralysis, among other issues. Tune in this week to learn: - How many options for your couples is ideal? - Why “framing” works? - How to make expensive options look more affordable? - When to split up the sale – and how to do it?

A massive challenge every wedding pro faces when selling your services is when and how to share what you do for couples. Sales success comes when you offer the right information at the right time in the right way. The problem is, how do you know what’s the right thing to share and when? In this episode, I’m going to walk you through: -     5 stages of awareness to make purchase choices -     How to tell where your couples are in the process -     What you should be sharing on social media -     What you should be targeting on your website -     How to use your proposal more effectively

Creating an effective website isn’t as easy as picking a pretty template and then filling in the boxes with photos, videos and copy. In fact, “pretty” isn’t the only factor to consider when you pick the template or layout your site. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and what looks and feels amazing for one person is hard to navigate or overwhelming for another. In today’s episode, Katy Taylor Jacobson, wedding sales expert and conversion copywriter, shares insights into how to layout a website based on our four buyer types, including quick changes you can make to your site today. - Four different buyer types in the wedding world - How each likes to experience your website - 3-5 must-dos on your site for each buyer type

Couples come to you with what they want. But your job – if you want to book more couples at higher prices – is to know how to trigger what they really need. They may not know it themselves, which is why you’ll be a step ahead of everyone else if you learn how to identify what core motivation is driving the couple’s decision. In this episode you’ll learn - How to sell from the intersection of sales and psychology - 9 core desires pushing consumer purchases - 4 most common triggers for couples - How to incorporate these into your marketing and sales efforts