Not Michael James Slattery

In the last month, industry ethical and business industry issues have been front and center on The Wedding Marketing Blog. There have have been a number of posts related to Bella Pictures, its overall business model, changing personnel at the top level of the company, questionable public relations, bad bridal advice, and philisophical differences in their leadership ranks.

Today, former Bella Pictures photographer, Michael James Slattery, launched a blog lambasting the company. Slattery did not just arrive on the scene. He has shot over 500 wedding events for Bella Pictures; first as a contracted freelancer, then as an employee.

The change in his relationship with Bella Pictures begin in April 2008 when George White, co-founder, VP Photography was replaced by Tahra Makinson-Sanders. Suffice it to say, the relationship between Makinson-Sanders and Slattery became frosty, over time, resulting in his termination about a week ago.

Comment: The curious issue for me is how a veteran of 500 wedding events could suddenly become so easily discarded. You’ll find his emails to be both angry and aggressive. His tone reached this level in emails, essentially because he could found no satisfaction in phone calls. It is his belief that he was not getting straight answers or explanations, and. well….. he went off.

Draw your own conclusions by reading Slattery’s blog which posts his overview and an extensive exchange of emails.

Why I’m still interested in this issue:

Please read Slattery’s blog post, and post your comments here.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: Andy Ebon, Bella Pictures, bridal advice, Jenny Lefcourt, Michael James Slattery, propaganda, Public Relations, Tahra Makinson-Sanders, Wedding Marketing Authority

From dictionary.com: u-nique: having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable: Bach was unique in his handling of counterpoint.

Snowflakes and fingerprints are unique. Hate to drop this on you, but most weddings are not unique.

If one has worked at enough reception, you know there may a unique element or two at any wedding. However, it’s rare that one is blown away by original thoughts, at every turn.

What is annoying is the lack of creativity in copywriting for advertising to the bride. When a slew of other advertisers define their product or service as you unique, the word loses meaning and impact on the prospect.

Your wedding marketing message will have far greater impact if you can write engaging copy that intrigues the bride.

Now, if your business name, headline, sub-headline or slogan don’t contain the word unique, then please enjoy the holiday. If, on the other hand, you are using the word, unique, that is a felony copywriting offense. The Wedding Police hereby gives you a warning, and asks that you come back in 30 days with new creative.

Don’t agree. Most your comment and make your case.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: advertising, Andy Ebon, cliche, fingerprints, snowflakes, unique, unique wedding, wedding marketing, Wedding Marketing Authority, wedding reception

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The fine people at Hubspot specialize in optimization and testing of various kinds. Previously, on the site, I have recommended Website Grader, a free service that analyzes and helps you tweak your website.

More recently, Hubspot has introduced similar services to better understand your Facebook, Blogging and Twitter performance. As part of the Twitter Grader service. Without disclosing the exact scoring algorithms, Hubspot explains that your Twitter Grade is based on Followers, their ReTweets of your Tweets (forwarding to their followers), and various other levels of interaction and relevancy.

When I checked my Twitter Grade, it came up at 96.6, which seemed pretty high (out of 100). As The Wedding Marketing Blog is a niche business blog, comparing it to general consumer sites doesn’t typically play very well, as that is an Apples and Oranges situation.

Within the Twitter Grade service, there is Twitter Elite (Top 50). There are various subsets of Twitter Elite. Just for fun, I thought I’d see how I compared to the TOP 50 Twitterers in Las Vegas, NV. To my surprise and amazement, this site (and I) ranked #46, just a couple of slots below MGM Grand and the Tony – CEO of Zappo’s; just a couple of slots above the world famous Las Vegas Sign.

What does that mean to me?

It means this: In order to have influence, one must have an audience. In terms of my goals, it means have loyal readers on this blog. Twitter and Facebook, in particular, are part of my social media plan to direct focus toward The Wedding Marketing Blog.

None of that works unless the content on this blog is interesting and helpful to its readers. Clearly, the stars have aligned as June 2009 is this blog’s best month ever.

The challenge to you: What is it, you can do, to make your blog and website the thought leader in your industry, in your market?

Think about it, make a plan to leverage awareness of your brand, and go do it!!

Andy Ebon

The Wedding Marketing (and Twitter) Authority

written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: Facebook, Hubspot, MGM Grand, search engine optimization, SEO, Twitter, Twitter Elite, website grader, Wedding Marketing Authority, wedding marketing blog, Zappos