Christine Boulton; Wedding Marketer or Nostradamus?

Posted on April 23, 2012 Written by 2 Comments

By Paul Pannone

It’s rare you find a brain that works at all, much less as brilliantly as some of the Wedding Water Cooler members; especially its founder, Christine Boulton. Most women don’t care for Boulton’s brashness and that she makes sense when she speaks– and guys are mostly intimidated by her perception and ability to call it like it is. But Boulton does what she does without compunction. She rarely looks back and never takes any credit for her work. That’s why we’re taking a look.

eWedNewz watches Boulton as she moved away from a subscription-based format in 2010 to sharing her knowledge in open forums.

“What I do is give facts to my clients and along the way build websites; social media platforms and get everything to work in concert; to maximize results and create an often forgotten little thing called profit,” she tells eWedNewz.

Over the weekend– she works many of them– Boulton re-released a story she’d written in 2009 while we were in the depths of the worst economic crash since The Great Depression of the 1930′s. In her post she wrote;

“I was looking at my stats today and found an old article that was trending so I read it to see why. Well, I didn’t find the answer to that question but I did find something else interesting.

If you are a new follower then you may not know that in the beginning Think was a subscription only website. There are a few gems that never made it to the free side, this is one of them. Originally published in March 2009 in the early days of the Great Recession, I can’t believe how prophetic it was. The lessons in it are still important.”

But just how important, Boulton leaves to other to decide. Like other true wedding experts, Boulton is often asked her for her opinions on many topics involving the wedding business and how to market to the bride. But unlike other so-called experts (See Chris Jaeger), Boulton comes up with her own, creative ideas and doesn’t copy-cat others or poach their work.

 

Christine Nostradamus Boulton called the shakeout in the wedding business back in 2009.

In the Water Cooler Boulton maintains a higher level of standards and often runs from rants that lead to nowhere. On several occasions she’s had to step in and give her views to help put the train back on the tracks after a derailment.

“That’s difficult to do because the only rule we have is, there are no rules. But that being the case, I too can interject my own opinions and they’re usually taken very seriously and in the spirit it’s given,” says Boulton.

Recent books written by Ms. Nostradamus called on her talents as a successful wedding vendor; she was a cake maker. Boulton connects to her audiences as one of them, simply because she is a vendor at heart. In her first book, Bridal Show Success, Boulton gives the one-on-one experience of Bridal Shows high marks but noticed how many exhibitors weren’t taking full advantage of the opportunity; so she wrote a book about it.

Most recently she wrote a book called Brilliant Wedding Marketing. Boulton reports the books, separately and as a set, are selling well.

Boulton correctly predicted the events we’re seeing today back in 2009 and has often referred back to her stories in conversations and interviews with eWedNewz. This one caught our attention:

“What’s Dangerous Is Not To Evolve”

That is a recent quote from Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.

People are always picking my brain about the wedding industry; how to grow their business, what steps to take, how to survive right now. That kind of thing. I think what Bezos said is the key for every small business, particularly in our industry.

You look around at the changes that are taking place right now. Look at this month’s Facts and Stats column. For the first time in recent memory the overall value of the wedding market is in decline and it looks like it will not fully recover until 2012. If you sit around on your hands and try and wait it out, hoping things will go back to the way they were you are in for a rude awakening. What are you doing to evolve?

I come on here every month with thoughts and ideas on how to grow your business. Ways to fine tune and tweak. How many of them have you implemented? What is stopping you? I watch some of the people that have come to me for advice actually use it. I am watching their market value grow every day.

The ones that are winning aren’t taking one little idea and trying it once. They are taking the body of advice and using it to formulate their own transformation. They are changing what they do and how they do it on a fundamental level. They are doing it deliberately and fearlessly and they are succeeding. What are you doing?

Continue reading the rest of Christine’s article

 

For Christine Boulton and other wedding marketers that come up with their own great ideas, the sky is the limit. For the other 95%…. it may be time to move on to something else.

eWedNewz continues to watch Fairy Dust speaker/marketers and will have much more to say in the coming months.

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Filed Under: Advertising and Marketing, Anti Fairy Dust, bridal, eWedNewz, General News, Social Media, wedding industry, Wedding Water Cooler Tagged: , , , , , ,

Virtual Only goes so far in Wedding Planning

Posted on November 18, 2011 Written by 5 Comments

By Paul Pannone

When the Knot (XO Group) announced they were the first to go virtual with bridal shows the move was quickly shot down by wedding experts including Bill Heaton of Great Bridal Expo. Heaton and others argued the move to use technology to replace face to face contact in the wedding would not work, citing the emotions attached to nearly all facets of wedding planning leading up to the actual event.

Bill Heaton and Alan Berg are strong advocates of wedding marketing and have made a great living in the wedding business.

 

But with the lingering effects of the recession attempts to streamline parts of the  wedding business with technology could be seeing an uptick.

According to Web Event Planner, “Virtual trade show provides a grassroots search engines creation for community and industry professionals”, say Louis Godin Virtual Event Planner for AreaTradeShows.com and http://www.WebEventPlanner.com, “who better to organize a search engine then a community or industry professional. Someone that knows the local area or industry and can recommend professional within the community or profession.”

People like Bill Heaton market the use of very elaborate shows and insist the core of success is face to face interaction between vendors and brides. But with companies like the XO Group and others pushing the envelope, won’t bridal shows and planning eventually migrate entirely to the Internet?

Not so fast says David Fuhrer; not in the case of trade show consolidation anyway.  ”Micro-Targeting an SE for a specific industry is solid concept that has existed for several years. Actually executing upon the promise is an impossibility. The algorithm to parse through all of the content and make search more efficient is what Google is burning the candle at both ends to achieve– and they have made search more efficient.

Making search targeted is literally impossible at this moment in technical time. I know of Corporations who have dedicated enormous sums of time & energy to target search in the Medical Industry; the result has been failure,” says Fuhrer.

What about on the consumer side? Wedding planning tools and checklists online are plentiful and with brides planning their own wedding the shift should be easy to read. Once again, not so fast.

An eloquent account of why a real, human wedding planner should be hired is given by Leila Khalil that favors the face to face, human aspect of weddings. Khalil gives specific reasons to why a professional planner is an essential part of a successful event.  In her story she takes her swipes at just about everyone, including the caterer saying;

“A venue coordinator/catering manager is NOT a wedding planner. Stay tuned in the next few weeks to find out why.”

 Khalil’s story drew praise from most members of the Wedding Water Cooler including Chris Jaeger that submitted the piece for review.

“It’s nice to see something well written, positive towards the industry, and helpful for brides and grooms,” according to Jaeger.

The discussions all but nullify the idea that wedding planning can be taken virtual. Sandra Aaron puts the pros and con of “everyone” using a wedding planner into perspective; 

“It’s a good article and coming from Leila it makes sense. She’s a publicist for wedding planners. So writing something like this is her job.

Where I have a problem is all the thousands of articles and/or blog posts I see written by wedding planners about why people should hire wedding planners. It’s desperate. It reeks of trying to create an industry out of something that’s not there. Someone who wants to hire a wedding planner doesn’t need to be convinced to hire a wedding planner. I firmly believe that not everyone needs or should have a wedding planner. Yes, it’s helpful; but not everyone can afford one and many people have a good enough support system made up of family and friends that they will have people they trust available to handle any problems. It’s about comfort and trust. Let’s all remember that before the first wedding planner put up his or her shingle there were many happy brides who somehow managed to have perfectly lovely weddings planned by their mothers.

As Leila says you get what you pay for. If your budget can’t allow you to hire a reputable wedding planner then I believe people are better off having someone they trust looking out for them on the day as opposed to hiring a wannabe wedding planner for a dollar store price. I’m certainly not directly this towards Leila; because she not only has a stellar reputation; but as I say promoting wedding planners is her job. I am pointing this mini-rant towards wedding planners who are so desperate to create a market for themselves they don’t care if someone needs or can afford a planner.

Alan Berg said something that resonated with me when he spoke to ISES Toronto in October. He was talking specifically about web sites; but it’s the same issue. He said it’s not your job to sell your industry. That’s the job of your industry association. It’s only your job to sell your product/service. It’s absolutely the same with wedding planners It’s not a wedding planners job to convince someone to hire a wedding planner. It’s the wedding planners job to convince someone to hire themselves specifically.
That’s my take on the subject and yes I know I’m a wedding planner so am probably more likely to ruffle feathers by saying not everyone really needs one; but it’s true. The industry will grow with time; but we can’t force it.”

Discussions with other Wedding Water Cooler members said each wedding is unique and planning should be approached with that in mind. All agree the balanced use of technology and traditional methods of planning should work together– not against a common goal.

Only one member of the group told eWedNewz they’re not a fan of Leila Khalil and all she proposes.

 

What do you think? Post your views or contact Paul@ewednewz.com – 516-312-0090.

 

 

 

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2011

Filed Under: bridal, Celebrity, DIY, Economic news, General News, wedding industry, Wedding planners, Wedding Venue, Wedding Water Cooler, wedding websites Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

72 Days and Millions later the Kardashians Crack; Wedding Water Coolies Weigh In

Posted on November 1, 2011 Written by 2 Comments

By Paul Pannone

Let’s face it, Kris Kardashian never stood a chance being the traditional breadwinner in the arrangement that took place on August 20th, 2011. In just 72 days, (Mr.) Kim Kardashian filed for divorce ”after much consideration”. Shed no tears for either of the divorcing parties, they’re rich, good-looking and young. But what does the breakup do for  the long-term image of marriage?

Wedding Water Cooler member, Chris Jaeger, says the wedding business is battered and the Humphries-Kardashian divorce is just another black eye.

 

The topic was discussed in the Wedding Water Cooler, worrying some of the wedding experts that realize nothing is sacred any longer.

“The Kardashian affair is just a sign of the times. With the worst of wedding behavior scoring big on the airwaves, you should have known that the queen of celebrity for celebrity sake would jump on the bandwagon. She will get a double score because I am sure the tabloids will have a bloody field day with the divorce proceedings. I just hope the poor schmuck that she picked as the groom got a big payday because you can bet he will be drug through the mud before the divorce is final.

People, our industry is being decimated by drama and bad behavior. The shysters, used car salesman and carnival barkers are making all the noise. Meanwhile, those of us who have been in the industry and are the true professionals are going to get tarred with the same brush. We have to speak out about the bad behavior and decay,” according to wedding expert, Christine Boulton.

In her views Boulton encourages all her fellow WWC associates to use their channels to promote the sanctity of marriage and preserve its meaning beyond the dollar signs. But little gets past the membership of WWC, as Coolies study high-profile weddings closely, looking for tell-tale signs of trouble.

Jacqueline Johnson noticed, “It was very interesting but I was of the opinion that this was not going to work as the husband was rude and obstinate. He wanted to be involved in every aspect but had nothing to add. I thought he was just looking for ‘air time’. I remember the cake tasting and what an obstinate jerk he was. Insisted on being there and decided he did not like sweets so he would not even taste the cake. This and a few more uncalled for remarks made me think this was a bad choice in mate. I hope she gives herself time and find a more compatible mate. Just like most of today’s drama queens it is about ratings and not the sanctity of marriage vows. Well with all the money derived from this event and it was an event she will keep doing it until she gets it right.

Impassioned members of the group speak out and speak up for the human side of the story and how it portrays weddings in all formats.  Some of the WWC members say they find the melding of the purity of marriage tainted by the charade despicable.

Marcinho Savant told eWedNewz, ” Kardashian!  If true, it is despicable enough that they ‘staged’ a wedding in the first place!  It has been alleged that she was paid $17.9 million dollars to participate in what stinks of a shady, sham, FREE, $10m wedding.  Sanctity of marriage?  I just threw up in my mouth… a LOT!

Now from where I sit, in the niche market of GLBTI weddings and events, it breaks our collective heart, that Kardashian, and Britney Spears before her and others even sooner… can get married, willy-nilly— while a tens of thousands of other human beings are seeking the honor of being allowed to marry… even ONCE!   In this case, however, I see it as different from the Spears affront.    Bless her heart, she was, at the time, as odd as a fig-filled grapefruit!  Her’s was an impulsive, immature, “I’m rich and can do what I WANT!”, self-indulgent “because I can” spectacle.  Highly “sanctified”, no?

As far as Kardashian and Humphries… they’re “crazy like a FOX”!   I find it very hard to believe that this was not planned, from start to finish, as an income-producing mockery of the institution of marriage by all involved!  For the world to see.  Let’s take an inventory.  Everybody got PAID!  The advertisers, the media outlets, the tabloids, the “Actors”/(“happy couple”), the wedding professionals/designers/planners roped into this steaming pile of dung— the florists, the limo companies, hotels, villa rentals, caterers, cake designers— Every. Body. Got. Paid (I’m happy the vendors and wedding pros got paid, actually).  And, even in the divorce, the happy couple STILL splits the “sangwich”, with CA being a community property divorce state.

Google her perfunctory, icy, emotionless announcement of the split.  What a bunch of metered, “artfully crafted” tripe. Who wrote that!? “Sanctity of marriage” my eye! Protect it from whom?  It seems that marriage’s sanctity has already been well-damaged historically— since the beginning of the contract’s existence— and increasingly through the centuries, by the original and current ‘management’.  Now, of course, there are many genuine, authentic and meaningful marriages on this planet!  Thank goodness!!

This is a case of guileless, unscrupulous nerve, and a case of untethered avarice and delusional feelings of celebrity entitlement.  I’d like to thank the “happy couple” for making marriage look ridiculous and meaningless, getting away with it and making, one could imagine, a fortune.  Way to go.”

 But just like marriages, nothing lasts forever. The hoopla will subside and fade but will the lasting effects to the term marriage ever be the same? 

Dee Newell told eWedNewz,”I have mixed feelings about the Kardashian Wedding/Divorce. I think everyone surrounding the affair benefited and got a ton of PR for it. However, let’s not forget that the term ‘Hollywood Marriage” was not coined by the Kardashian’s (even though, like the Baldwin’s, there are enough of them to have that impact). I think the big difference now is that everyone & their mother have a reality show and they are under a microscope. This will be old news in a couple of weeks.”

According to some WWC members the emotional part of marriage is already bruised and battered, as most high-profile celebrities cash in. Traditionally, too many members of the wedding industry that were able to cash in on platinum events have less control than ever before, as couples take more control of both the wedding– and the divorce– leaving the growing number of wedding businesses with less chance of scoring big. More than ever consumers are empowered with information and are aware of wedding vendors that are on the hunt for unsuspecting couples wanting to over-charge them for goods and services. 

WWC member,Chris Jaeger, said, “It’s sad to see what is happening and it hurts the industry as a whole. Not like it isn’t already stumbling around with a couple black eyes. In many cases it’s all about the big “money grab” and not about what this really should be all about – helping people plan and have a very special life event and in doing so creating a value exchange. There are still people out there doing that and that is their mission, but the crap I’m seeing like:

“Are you wondering how to get brides off of your social media accounts and into your bank account?” (what the heck does that even mean?)

“Double your wedding business in 12 months” (yes, always easy to do if you made $1,500.00 last year, but what if you did $3.2MM last year? I don’t think so…)

“Want to make more money in the wedding business?” (yes, and if I act today will you double my order and throw in the omega-3 fish oil tablets for free?).

“How to generate a six figure income by reaching more high-end brides…”

“Put your sales on auto-pilot…” (here’s a link that comes in handy after trying this)

“Effortless bridal marketing…”

“How to outsmart Google and get top ranked…” (this is my all-time favorite, yes – like you or I can outsmart dozens, if not HUNDREDS, of the smartest people on the planet who are working on the Google algorithm 24/7/365.”

 For the “Kardashians” the honeymoon may be over. For the wedding business understanding their customer has only begun.

 

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Filed Under: Celebrity, divorce, eWedNewz, General News, Social Media, wedding industry, Wedding Water Cooler Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Growing Unrest in the Wedding Business is Hurting Brides

Posted on June 23, 2011 Written by 7 Comments

By Paul Pannone

There is growing unrest among top wedding experts that say they’ve become weary of unprofessional behavior and questionable ethics. According to experts questionable behavior casts a shadow on the entire wedding industry. eWedNewz watches, as flare ups increasingly made public leads to greater suspicion of all wedding vendors, ultimately hurting the real victim; brides.

Pouting brides always find a reason to get mad at wedding vendors. Some advocates are rallying to make sure they’re not legitimate ones.

 

A new post by Wedding Expert, Christine Boulton, explains what’s happening. “It means that today’s bride is being fed a steady diet that is not always in her best interest. She is being told what to do and what is hot based on what the wedding industrial complex wants to sell. Just take a look at the dramatic rise in staged photo shoots on wedding blogs. Yes, they are gorgeous, I won’t argue that. The problem is they aren’t reality, although they are often presented as such. Most are unreachable by the average bride. I hate to tell you, but not every couple is hipster or shabby chic. don’t even get me started on the wedding gowns shown in the major magazines editorial. I have ranted on that until I am blue in the face.

It is no wonder that today’s bride is turning to alternatives to wedding professionals. As heavily exposed as brides are to over the top weddings they are beginning to believe that they both will not be able to afford a “wedding” professional and that even if they could, said “professional”  wouldn’t listen to them anyway. It isn’t that they are exploring using professionals and deciding against it, they are looking for alternatives first.”

The bickering among wedding professionals that are not scam artists but are guarding their business, protecting it from change and innovation, are pleading their case by giving reasons to why consumers should use their services and totally bypass less expensive alternatives. One case involves a new addition/alternative to video. eWedNewz watched the battle between the old and new taking a neutral position. But words like “should” and “never” just don’t make the grade.

The opinion of one videographer in Nashville to brides warns,”There are some aspects of your wedding day that should NEVER be a Do-It-Yourself project, and one of those is videography.”

Says who? A new company called Story Mix takes a much less authoritative tone and suggests hiring both if budget allows.

“If you can afford a real pro, by all means get the gorgeous video they can provide. And supplement their video of the bride and groom with a fun, personal memento of all your friends filmed by the ones who love you most,” according to a recent post.

 

Wedding Expert advocates for consumers say they’ve been aware of the problems for years, even before there was an Internet. But none disagrees; with the power of the Internet, transparency will come, whether it’s wanted or not. eWedNewz interviewed Andy Ebon this week. Ebon took to task certain aspects of a new survey from BRIDES Magazine he felt were sorely lacking in substance. Ebon told eWedNewz of his plans to direct more of his attention away from the wedding business and towards the consumer– a move we’ve suggested ad nauseam to previous formats, arrangements, manufacturers and professionals we’ve been involved with for decades.

Planners and experts say there’s been an overstepping of boundaries in the wedding business and brides need to educate themselves before making a final decision.

According to Khalilah Olokunola, the wedding business has become treacherous. “It’s full of cross contamination. You send a bride to a baker and they offer to do your job and more. Pop up Photographers are on the rise, your last 2 brides are now event planners and China is still remaking every gown they can. I wish some vendors would stay in there lane and be inventive in their area of expertise.” 

Data shows over 85% of wedding couples use Internet searches to do their leg work and fact-finding. Therefore,  stories of wedding vendors that involve scams no longer stand a chance. Studies show attempts to rip off couples come from old-time operators that are unaware of how transparent the world has become. Some wedding experts challenging the fairy dust are going on record, identifying what they feel could be the percentage of wedding vendors that really understand the changes that have taken place.

Chris Jaeger told eWedNewz, “The 5% number also corresponds to the number of people I talk with and work with. 95% of the wedding business are whining and in trouble (I call them the Facebook crowd: thinking Facebook is going to grow/save their business!), 5% are doing just fine and approaching me to IMPROVE it and make sure it keeps heading in the right direction.

This is not meant to be a big advertisement, while it may come across that way, but here’s my logic: I work with a caterer who is getting 15-20 inquiries a day. Yes, EVERY  DAY, seven days a week. And he’s in a very, very competitive marketplace (NY-NYC-NJ).

I work with a reception site that is almost 30 miles outside of the major metro area “where brides always want to get married…” and thought differently, used a different approach, and now can’t keep up with the inquiries (sidenote: if you don’t return your calls or inquiries, don’t be surprised if people go to your Facebook wall and post “Hey, WTF I left six messages last week…”).

I work with two wedding ministers/officiants who charge $600 to $1200+ MORE than their competition and both have started to refer business to others because they can’t keep up.

A cleaner I worked with ignored the recession, yes, acknowledge it, but ignored it and did not panic, kept his prices as they were (while his competition offered specials, lowered prices), punched up his marketing, optimized his customer service, invested in training his staff, worked on his online AND offline marketing – and just sold his business for millions. He is literally moving to the islands where he and his wife will spend the rest of their lives starting/operating an orphanage. True story. Christine probably knows these people as they are in her neighborhood.

There are a lot of great successes out there and a lot of good stories and lots of good news. It’s just that no one talks about it. Misery loves company, isn’t that the saying? It’s that 5% number; because 95% are brain-dead, brain-washed, with washed out.

I choose to live in the 5%. I don’t care about what others are doing. I don’t have time to be a generalist and appealing to the masses (because we all know what the masses are). BTW: the 5% out there aren’t interested in what generalists have to say. It’s that 5% number again. I don’t need to stand up in front of a crowd and then have people give me video testimonials about how great I am to put on my blog. That doesn’t appeal to the 5%, if you ask me.”

In defense of the old, aged and decrepid, Jim Duhe has long been an advocate for change. Seriously, Duhe, now in his sixties, was regarded as a forward thinker from the start. Duhe, a radical since his early days in the 1970′s, could finally become main stream, as the rest of the wedding business finally catches up to where he’s been for decades.

“Thank you so much for the accolades– I think? It’s silly to think that we’re ever going to go back to where were once were. Who would want to? There is something to be said for the dark ages; it somehow makes today seem even brighter,” according to Duhe.

 

Proving age has no bearing on brilliant thinking, Steve Lang, owner of Mon Cheri, told eWedNewz,”Jim Duhe is one of the few people in the magazine business that cater to the bridal industry that really understand what both retailers and manufacturers face on a daily basis. I pulled my advertising from any magazine I felt hurt the stores or the dress makers.”

Lang and a growing part of the wedding business that say they’ve tried to fight off injustice plan to band together in like-minded projects designed to promote products and ideas that appeal to today’s consumer in a way that’s palpable to them– without dictating what they “should do”. eWedNewz will be there to cover the progress.

Please give us your opinion, either here or privately. Paul@ewednewz.com or 516-312-0090.

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Filed Under: bridal, Bridal Dresses, Bridal Shops, Bridal Shows, Data, Economic news, eWedNewz, facts and figures, General News, Publications, retail, The Knot, Uncategorized, wedding industry, Wedding Water Cooler, wedding websites Tagged: , , , , , ,