Tips on Using Facebook for Business

Since last Fall, I have been talking about how Facebook would not be as hugely popular with its original user group by the end of this year as it has been over the past couple of years.  My assertions on this were based on studying the patterns of past social media sites that were widely popular and then not so much in what seemed a matter of minutes.  As you can imagine, this hypothesis has not made me the most popular person in the room as many people who have spent a lot of time focusing their business marketing on Facebook don't want to switch gears so easily.  At Engage!09, someone even remarked that my forecast on the future of this tool during my panel session was "doom and gloom". 

Today, some statistical data was released that shows my predictions are on track.  The largest group of Facebook users now fall between the ages of 35-54.  On top of that, the younger crowds are decreasing.  While some of you may be targeting couples who are older than 35, that is a very niche market within the wedding industry, and the majority of you have clients who are in their twenties and early thirties. 

Facebook was - and still can be - a very useful marketing tool; the danger comes with putting all of your marketing efforts in that one basket, which is what many wedding professionals have done.  If you're on there already, I wouldn't advise jumping ship just because the demographics are changing.  There are still uses that can benefit you.  Here are some ways to use Facebook to your advantage:

*If you have a fanpage or a group, it should drive people to your site and/or blog.  If you have a blog, allow a partial feed into Facebook instead of a full one.  While you can track metrics for your blog visitors and subscribers who read via Google reader, you can only track limited statistical data within Facebook itself.  Allowing a partial feed will bring readers to your site where they can then subscribe and allow you to collect metrics. 

*Use your Facebook page to encourage fans to sign up for your newsletter list.  This gives you a permission-driven database to contact in the future and again, allows you access to the data that if only limited to Facebook, people couldn't see.

*If you have a video or photos that you want to make exclusive to "special fans", post them on your blog under a password protected post (you can create these with a wordpress plug-in).  You can then post the special password to these posts in your newsletters (encouraging people to sign up), or on Twitter, Facebook, etc.  Again, hosting them on your own blog gives you the metrics to track instead of the full data being inaccessible by solely using Facebook.

It may seem as though I am big on being able to track your own metrics and, well, I am.  Some of the best business advice I ever received was to treat your company as though you will eventually sell it, whether you intend to or not.  By acting as though you are going to sell your company, you will constantly seek out ways to add value to your business, making it stronger and more resilient.  By hosting everything on Facebook and not cross-promoting it with your own site or blog, you are building value for them - not for you.  Even if you have name recognition from your fan page, if you can't quantify anything or have the necessary metrics to back it up, it is going to make you a tough sale. 

I will never be the one who says everyone should be on Facebook and/or Twitter or that no one should be on MySpace anymore or that everyone should jump on the bandwagon of the next big thing to come along.  Anyone who tells you those things doesn't understand online media.  It is the conversation, not the tool, that defines social media.  Knowing how to best interact and implement your own business strategy into the medium is what is important.  Social media never has been and never will be one size fits all. 

Engage!09 Wedding Business Conference Recap

This past week I spoke at a wedding business conference called Engage!09 in Grand Cayman. I know, my job takes me to really difficult places, but hey, somebody has to do it.  Engage!09 is a conference for wedding professionals who work in the luxury bridal market and brings together the best of the best for education and networking.  As usual, I am terrible at remembering to pull out a camera (or even bring one), so here are some photos of this year's event as seen through the lens of some of the other people there:

Harmony Walton, founder of the Bridal Bar and I in front of the welcome banner Rebecca and Kathryn had arranged to have at the airport as everyone arrived.  Harmony and I only get to see each a couple of times a year, so it was fun being able to catch up with her on our flight from Houston to the islands:

On Sunday evening, there was a welcome party on the beach so that everyone could meet and greet before the sessions began on Monday.  The party was designed by the uber talented and incredibly down-to-earth Michelle Rago. It was the perfect mix of chic and casual. Here is part of the set up before:

And with people enjoying it. I was so excited when Heather Crabtree and Jennifer Thinnes of Outstanding Occasions (facing the camera) and Teresa Wilson (in pink) from Camelback Flowershop decided to attend this year and it was fun bonding with them and staying up chatting by the pool until 3 am . . . .

On Monday I had lunch with Laura Novak, a photographer and brilliant business woman (we've decided it is now our tradition to eat lunch together at every Engage! event) who spoke on a panel on Tuesday and Darcy Miller from Martha Stewart. No photos of our lunch, but here is a shot of Darcy speaking:

Celebrity Eventiste Marcy Blum spoke on "Everything but the Wedding", but perhaps the most interesting part of her talk was the question and answer session when the topic of kickbacks and commissions came up.  Bottom line: you can make a lot of money taking kickbacks in the short term, but they hurt you in the long run. It's best just to avoid the situation all together.  Sean Low wrote a great post about the compromises wedding professionals may be tempted to make here.

Here is another shot of Marcy to better show off her yellow stilettos. I have no idea how she walked in heels that high:

I don't have any photos yet of the second day or of my sessions.  The attendees were split into four groups and rotated to four different sessions, which meant that I, along with my fellow panelists Bee Kim of Weddingbee and Lara Casey of Southern Weddings, spoke four times in a row. It was interesting to see the varying dynamics of each group and how that shaped the questions asked (which were quite different each time).

On Tuesday afternoon we had the afternoon off and what was meant as a short twenty minute swim may have turned into five hours of ocean time chatting with new and old friends. The beach is totally my zen-like happy place and quality time is my love language, so I am so grateful that I was able to have that afternoon to combine both.

That evening, Jo-Anne Brown and her team from Celebrations Ltd turned the main ballroom at the Ritz into an island themed glam party. They used draping to cover the four large chandeliers that would have detracted from the look they were going for and to also create a natural flow in the room for the food stations and lounge areas for everyone to relax in:

Here is a photo of the lovely Stacey Kane, a photographer from Maine (and the person responsible for all the photos in this post, minus my mediocre iphone shot at the top) and Linda Murray, a fellow Pink Initiative board member:

Here is a video that Bee Kim from Weddingbee took of cake designer Sylvia Weinstock and Randy Fenoli, from TLC's Say Yes to the Dress fame and fashion director at Kleinfeld Bridal busting a move on the dance floor . . . at the beginning of the night:

Engage 09 Party Time!

On Wednesday, Sylvia spent about twenty minutes trying to talk me into using match.com because, and I quote, "where else are you going to meet anyone these days? I buy my groceries online from Whole Foods and they deliver them right to my door. You can get anything on the Internet today, even a husband." Thanks, Sylvia, I'll keep that in mind. You can now follow Sylvia and all of her wit and wisdom on Twitter here.

And here are the brains behind the Engage! events - Rebecca Grinnals (right) and Katherine Arce (left) of Engaging Concepts doing introductions on Monday morning:

These two ladies are quite possibly some of my favorites in the entire industry and I will forever be indebted to their foresight and on a personal note, their faith in me and my vision for my companies.  I owe much of my career thus far to Rebecca as she opened doors for me that would have been near impossible otherwise.  They have shaped much of the wedding industry as we know it today and have done so quietly from behind the scenes (Disney's Fairytale Weddings, anyone? Rebecca co-founded it).  Of anyone in the industry who deserves to have an ego - it's them, and yet they don't.  They are gracious, humble, and are truly people to learn from and admire. If you are a wedding professional and ever have an opportunity to work with them or to attend an Engage! conference, please don't hesitate to do so.  They are worth every penny.



Photos by Stacey Kane; top photo provided by my phone (Stacey better watch out, she may have competition soon); video from Weddingbee

Blogging Workshop in Los Angeles

The Blogging Bootcamp in Los Angeles is now open for registration! The workshop will be held at Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach and lunch is included. You can sign up here. Hope to see you there!

Focusing Your Energy

The other day I posted this observation to Twitter:

One of the most toxic things is trying to justify other people's success. Just do your thing and let them do theirs.

I am as guilty of this as the next person: "Jane can accomplish that because she has x, y, and z - whereas I only have y and z."  Cut it out. This way of thinking and living is debilitating.  What could you accomplish if you channeled even a tenth of the energy you spend on being bitter towards someone else because they were seemingly dealt a better hand, or because others "don't know what Jane is really like"?  What could you create with that 10% of energy if it were focused on making YOU better?

Turn Off Your Computer and Go Eat

Social media should not be your entire networking plan when it comes to meeting and getting to know the other wedding professionals in your area.  While it is a useful tool to stay in touch between meetings, it is in your best interest to actually turn off your computer and get out of the office for a while in order to connect with people in person.

During my first year of business, I had lunch or drinks with other vendors at least twice a week. Yes, online media played a large part of marketing my business, but so did getting to know other professionals one on one or in small group settings.  I'm actually quite shy by nature, so these small meetings were (and still are) easier for me to handle than the large networking parties hosted by the local wedding associations.

Have lunch with another wedding professional in your area this week.  If you can't steal away for lunch, meet up with a few colleagues for happy hour.  It will help to unplug from your routine, refresh your spirit, and after all, everyone needs to eat.