In business, it’s difficult not to get caught up in the numbers: Sales, dollars, bookings, inquiries, appointments. In blogging, one measures success by the impact of the blog on its readers.

Blogging impact can be measured in a number of ways:

With all that said, I’m proud to announce that this morning, The Wedding Marketing Blog surpassed 10,000 visitors for the month of June. I probably should have waited until the end of the month for a final total, but this was too exciting.

Besides the soaring number of visits, it’s exciting to see improvement in all areas, especially comments and questions from readers… like you.

As The Wedding Marketing Blog continues to grow in activity, there are a number of features, benefits and goals that will roll out during the second half of 2009.

They will include

I’ll stop there, because it will take quite a bit of effort to launch all of that. Your suggestions and ideas are always welcome. I do my best to read every inquiry, comment, and email.

Each post and reader are important to me. I’m conscious of the fact that different people are interested in different issues. I will continue to give my best effort to provide valuable and stimulating content to you.

With my deepest appreciation for your readership!

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: Andy Ebon, blogger, content, impact, measuring success, readers, success, Wedding Marketing Authority, wedding marketing blog

In recent few weeks, I’ve given a great deal of thought to the dynamics of the wedding industry. Here are just five that came to mind.

One can like or dislike any item on the shortlist. With a little thought, the list could grow by 10 or 20.

If you want to be on a preferred vendor list in Las Vegas, building a great relationship with the Director of Catering is a nice thing, but that person doesn’t make the decision. The discussion and final decision is typically made a couple of levels higher up, by a regional manager for several of a company’s hotels.

Reality Check: Things are as they are. not as you would like them to be. Instead of taking on the massive task of changing an entire industry, why not just become a force in your sphere of influence?

Everyone  has been told by a parent that ‘Life is not fair.’ When you’re a business owner or manager, it’s annoying to remind you of a conversation you had with one or more parents, decades ago. But it’s important.

Changing an industry, or one slice of an industry is like getting an elephant to roll over.

If you are not one of the absolute business leaders in your segment of the wedding industry, then all the annoying unfairness applies to your business, too. You can complain about the referral food chain, commissions and kick backs, or uninformed brides. Doesn’t make a damn bit of difference.

Actually, you don’t have to change the whole industry, just your immediate wedding world. Make your business the absolute best it can be, build and renew rock solid relationships with more people in all walks of the wedding industry, tighten up and focus your marketing, and then stand back.

This should not be a news flash, but somehow, when you’re feeling overwhelmed, it is important to press the pause button, and look around. It’s not 10 or 20 years ago, it’s today. In the words of the great baseball player, Satchel Paige, “Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you.”

Go get ‘em!!

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

written by Andy Ebon

For those that are just joining the conversation, Bella Pictures is national wedding photography company in business since 2003. As a practical matter, Bella Pictures a booking agent for available wedding photographers in many major markets, across the country. (if you know the background, just skip down the page)

A thorough examination of online reviews, from brides, shows a random sampling of satisfaction. Essentially, satisfaction was a coin-flip. There were happy brides and miserable brides.

I became particularly aware of Bella Pictures about a year ago, when their VP of Business Development, Jenny Lefcourt held a couple of TV interviews on Fox Chicago and Fox Los Angeles. These interviews were incredibly misleading and minimized the value of other wedding professionals.

Yesterday, this blog reported that Bella co-founder and Chief Photographer, Bob Davis, had been forced out of the company in March 2009. His comments clearly indicated a difference of opinion in the direction of the company.

Part of the evolution of Bella Pictures is a ‘partnership’ with Marriott Hotels, as its preferred photography vendor. More recently, Bella Pictures has ventured into videography. I cannot speak to the success or quality of the videography division, as it is too new. From the description on its websites, the videography program follows the same model as photography.

A recent QuantCast report of Bella’s website activity shows about 150,000 visitors per month, among other details.

But yet there is more: Some careful research turns up a photography company called StudioBlue. The research and booking procedure, for brides, is strikingly similar to Bella Pictures.

There reason for that is because Bella Pictures owns StudioBlue. On the Privacy Policy screen, the first paragraph reads as follow.

This is confirmed at the bottom of the same page, and it is noted in the Domain Name Registration for StudioBlue.com.

Opinion and Analysis: One can only speculate as to the intentions of Bella’s creation of spinoff, StudioBlue.com. It certainly turns up the heat even more on local, independent photographers and creates yet more confusion of the bride, on her first search for a professional photographer.

And there is even more confusion:

From the photographers I’ve communicated with, who have worked with Bella Pictures, there is confirmation of the roller coaster service and widely varied experience of photographers assigned to its bookings.

As wedding professional peers, please study the mounting information, good, bad and indifferent, and form your own opinion as to whether their operations are favorable for the bride or photographers, at large.

Get informed. Discuss the matter with other wedding professionals. Have an opinion. Voice it.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: Andy Ebon, Bella Pictures, Bob Davis chief photographer, booking agent, customer service, Jenny Lefcourt, Studio Blue Photography, videography, wedding, Wedding Marketing Authority, wedding marketing blog, wedding photographers