Worried that you aren’t receiving enough client inquiries to book your services this year? We’ve all been there and have some solutions to offer! In this episode of the Brands that Book, I’m chatting with Davey Jones of daveyandkrista.com about increasing client inquiries for your wedding and creative business using gifts, vendor relationships, networking, content creation, and paid advertising!
“Everyone has an ecosystem of vendors or clients that they can reach out to…”
In this podcast we chat about….
If you are worried about the number of inquiries you have received so far this year, there are some quick changes you can make today to insure more inquiries tomorrow! We spend a majority of the podcast talking about vendor relationships with the types of clients that you want to work with and how you can improve your networking relationships to get more inquiries from already booked businesses AND preferred vendors. Here are the 5 tips for increasing inquiries quickly…
Tip 1: REACH OUT TO VENDORS YOU’VE WORKED WITH IN THE PAST OR HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH
If you are hoping to get referrals from others in your industry, be sure to reach out to vendors who are likely to recommend your work! You can do this through gifting, notes, or even offering gifted services, like free headshots.
Tip 2: START BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE YOU’D LIKE TO WORK WITH IN THE FUTURE.
If you are feeling stuck in a lower market and ready to up-level to a luxury market, then you should be building relationships with vendors who represent where you want to go! Again, through gifting, or even live conferences, you can get to know vendors who might recommend your services in the future.
tip 3: REACH OUT TO ALL FORMER CLIENTS (THAT YOU ENJOYED WORKING WITH).
Did you get to work with a dreamy client this year? Be sure to make it easy to refer them by sending notes, anniversary gifts, and even holiday cards to stay top of mind so that they can think of and refer you to other friends!
Tip 4. BLOGging, Pinterest, and SEO
Don’t forget to have an active and alive web presence by blogging about what you do, how you do it, and your favorite client experiences (or how you got them results). By blogging, you can establish know, like, trust and show future clients that you are exactly the service provider they are looking for (hint: use Pinterest and good SEO tactics to get more visitors to your website).
Tip 5: ADVERTISE (WISELY)
Lastly, consider paid advertising through Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest ads. If you’ve had success with a blog post or campaign organically, then backing it up with advertising dollars could be a good idea!
Find it Quickly:
4:50 – How to know if you actually have an ‘inquiry problem.’
6:30 – What we use to track inquiries.
7:40 – Does the pricing dead zone exist?
9:20 – How to reach out with vendors you’ve worked with in the past.
12:47 – Building relationships with people you’d like to work with in the future.
15:20 – Encouraging former clients to refer you.
20:45 – Using gifts to elevate your client experience (and encourage referrals).
21:50 – The biggest mistake we see in people’s content strategy.
27:30 – When and where to invest in paid advertising.
Resources Mentioned in the Episode:
- How to Blog a Wedding or Portrait Session (Davey and Krista’s Tutorial)
- Free Inquiry Tracker – Use the form at the bottom of that post!
- Google Analytics
- Episode 37: Charity Maurer – Building a Luxury Brand
- Vanessa Kynes’s Pin Progress Course
Did you come for the Pinterest tips?
LIKE THIS BLOG POST? I’D LOVE FOR YOU TO FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST AND PIN IT FOR LATER!
This was an amazing episode!
I just stopped advertising with The Knot and I have to say that I’ve had a good experience. I’ve booked some ideal clients and have just booked out some dates, about 15 clients per year from The Knot. I haven’t done anything else with my business and that’s the area that I’ve failed my business in. I am now going full force with my business and rethinking my brand and myself.
I’ve advertised with them for a couple of years and now I’m throwing my money into the void and getting nothing in return.
Thank you for the episode!
I’m so glad you loved it! And you can totally market without paying for The Knot!
This was a great post, Vanessa! Tip #3 really resonated with me. One of my favorite “extra” things to do for my current and past clients is to send cards through snail mail. I’ve sent thank you postcards after big projects or when I receive a referral and holiday cards thanking my clients for a great year. I think it’s such a nice touch, especially because no one ever really expects it. Even if I don’t end up with new work, it still keeps me relevant so if they’re content needs change I’ll be the first one they think of. Anyways, thanks again for the awesome content!
I love that! Nothing makes someone feel special like snail mail. Thanks for sharing!