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| Original Message Added : 13 Jul 2010 - (Edited : 13 Jul 2010) I get a regular number of hits per week, but no enquiries are received from this. I really want to turn this into my full time business, but am not sure how to go about this. What advice could you give me to help improve the number of hits I get and to be able to turn this into customers? |
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| Reply : 13 Jul 2010 - (Edited : 13 Jul 2010) Google's keyword research tool suggests that your service isn't in much demand locally. Only a few searches every month. At the same time, searching for 'wedding planner bristol' gives loads of search results - so 'supply' looks high. I can't see you in the search results. In short, the local supply/demand equation according to Google isn't very favourable. Nationally (UK) the demand is of the order of 10,000 searches per month for wedding planners - but if you divide that between the major cities, there's not much left for your area. London gets about a tenth of the total. There's more than one way to crack an egg, but these results would make me think twice if I was you. Hope that helps. --- www.AdWordsManagement.pro |
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| Reply : 14 Jul 2010 If only 10,000 people are searching for wedding planners on Google then traffic volumes are low. Bear in mind that on average only 1% of traffic to a site will convert (some people get much higher and many get only a handful) then only 100 people will convert to an enquiry. They might get three quotes and that means only this traffic is split between three people in terms of getting a contract. OK these figures are rough and ready but do indicate how hard it is to get business. Look at wedding photographers .. it is a tough business with loads of people setting up when made redundant. Good photographers are highly skilled .. but anyone with a digital camera can take decent snaps ... only when the bride gets her pictures does she realise that hers is a snapper and not a pro. Unfortunately anyone can set up as a wedding planner .... and hence your dilemma. Aspiring to be a wedding planner is excellent. You perhaps need to consider the numbers of people employing a planner and who you are competing against. Your research via your website is an indication of the real world so before spending too much on improving your site I suggest you do some more research on volumes of work available ... perhaps the people running the course you went on only ran it because there wasn't much work for their wedding planner business! |
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| Reply : 14 Jul 2010 I think 'phrase matching' gives a better picture than the 'exact matching' I used last night. Phrase matching gives the figures for monthly searches that include the phrase 'wedding planner'. Wedding planner -> 110,000 in the UK Wedding photographer -> 201,000 in the UK However, if you add 'bristol' to the phrase and look at the search volumes again: Wedding planner bristol -> - (no result) Wedding photographer bristol -> 1900 Have a play with Googles keyword tool and see if you can find sufficient demand. Good luck. --- www.AdWordsManagement.pro |
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| Reply : 14 Jul 2010 - (Edited : 14 Jul 2010) Welcome to the wedding planning industry, Like yourself, I became a wedding planner over a year ago, once I had qualified and earned my diploma in Event management and Wedding planning. I set up my own company http://www.ardleyweddings.co.uk It can take up to 5 years or more to become an established wedding planner, I just wanted to give you some advice as to what I did to gain business. Advertise on as many free sites as you can, put your website address as a signature in your emails, See if there are any local wedding fairs and shows where you can exhibit, put up flyer's and posters in your area, shops, newsagents etc. Most of the advertising is word of mouth, so you will need to network with suppliers etc. Don't give up, you will get there in the end, if you get booked for 1 event more will follow from that. If I can be of anymore help or you just want to chat, give me an email. Amanda Ardley Ardley Weddings & Events Ltd
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| Reply : 14 Jul 2010 I will be doing my first bridal fair in August, so hopefully this will get me started |
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| Reply : 14 Jul 2010 amanda |
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| Reply : 14 Jul 2010 Now is the time to get your business off the ground and I could give you a dozen reasons why. However, back to first point. Thanks to Ardley Weddings and Events Ltd in London [I'll bookmark you for your upbeat reply]. Why not Elaine, give them a call and ask if you can go down to visit, have a chat and get to know how their business runs. They are not directly competing, at least not in your area, and most business owners understand the importance of maintaining relations with competitors, so it's not unusual to approach them. Get back to freeindex - advice is always free
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| Reply : 15 Jul 2010 - (Edited : 15 Jul 2010) --- www.AdWordsManagement.pro |
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| Reply : 15 Jul 2010 I dont want to be like that, I want to help other wedding planners if they ask, as I feel we are all in the same business and if I had a client ask me for planning and I was already booked for that day, I would want to be able to reccommend another planner, so I think its wise, and friendly to help others in the same business as myself. Amanda Ardley Weddings & Events Ltd |
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| Reply : 15 Jul 2010 I would be grateful if you know of anyone that would be willing for me to shadow them |
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| Reply : 15 Jul 2010 There is a loverly lady who runs 1 day courses, she is called Tammy at magic dust. http://www.magic-dust.co.uk/ have a look at her courses etc and give her an email she may be able to help also the UK Alliance of Wedding planners may be able to help. http://www.ukawp.com/ hope these help hunnie. Amanda Ardley Weddings & Events ltd
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| Reply : 15 Jul 2010 Please explain why you think Google search volumes aren't representative of demand. Or why you think demand is irrelevant. Answer: Foolhardy to base any business decision on such a narrow set of statistics. There was life before google. |
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| Reply : 15 Jul 2010 - (Edited : 15 Jul 2010) --- www.AdWordsManagement.pro |
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| Reply : 15 Jul 2010 |
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| Reply : 16 Jul 2010 Word of mouth is obviously important but my findings working with wedding photographers is that people search online AND ask a friend ....... so Google stats are important. Elaine go for it .. but be cautious and don't give up the day job without having enough work to support your new business. I see loads of people chasing dreams each year and loads fail. Often it is because they haven't researched enough. So certainly take some of the positive advice given, meet other similar businesses ..... but don't ignore stats just because they don't suit what you want to believe .... put them into the mix and be influenced by the aggregated information you gather.
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Reply : 16 Jul 2010
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| Reply : 19 Jul 2010 What i am trying to get at is that off line advertising was her main area that brought in work. I wish you every sucess in the future.
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| Reply : 19 Jul 2010 |
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| Reply : 7 Aug 2010 On a given Spend..ie Spend £500+ get £500. worth of Vouchers..or whatever.. Follow the Masters, look at ALL the major Supermarkets..they offer Loyality Cards..etc.. |
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| Reply : 23 Aug 2010 There have been a number of good posts about gaining more hits/prospective customers, but to help the conversion of those prospective customers to paying customers you could offer some free downloadable advice/information. This will then allow you to capture prospective customer contact details which you can use to market to. Email marketing (opt in) is extremely cost effective and helps build brand and customer loyalty. Feel free to contact me at www.frogemail.co.uk to discuss email marketing specifically for small businesses or to have a look at a 30 day free trial. Kind regards Paul |
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