A number of people have emailed, twitter‘ed, facebook‘ed me about bridal shows. All of the messages were about the same.
I don’t want to be another business card or brochure that they’ll never see when they get home. How can I be different? If there was one thing, what would it be? And…I don’t have a big budget.
To be different with no budget is not going to be an easy task. However, there is a way. I’m not going to lie though – I have never done a bridal show. However, I did attend one with a friend before. And I do have some experience in trade shows.
Gate Keeper
The strategy I am going to discuss is “Gate Keeper,” which is the barrier to entry. It’s part of the decision making process for a purchase. And this strategy can be applied in other areas outside of bridal shows.
Example 1 – I first saw this concept in a movie (pity because I don’t remember the name), but it would hit the nail on the head.
The protagonist opened a new club. He wanted it to be the hottest club in town. So he had a lot of club promoters talk about it everywhere. On the opening night, he had a DJ play music like normally. The outside walls of the club were decorated with a string of people.
Throughout the evening, the decoration grew longer and longer. Celebrities even came by in their flashy cars, but were not granted entry. In fact, no one was granted entry. You can imagine that a lot of people were pissed, but it became the hottest club in town.
Example 2 – Sex and the City – S01E05 – The Power of Female Sex
Similar scenario except that it was with a restaurant.
Example 3 – my trade show booth at WPPI
Considering that I’m not a hot celebrity or that I did not have free bags or money to give away, I think I did pretty well. I judged it based on two things.
- The length of my line (which ceased to dwindle)
- The number of people I’ve never met before (and vice versa)
The latter was rather valuable in my analysis. People lined up for a minimum of 40 minutes just to talk to me about business strategies and many times never having even heard of me before that day. I did, however, have Nintendo for people to play with just as how Lady Gaga gives pizza and bottled water for her “Little Monsters” while in queue.
Your Bridal Show
So if you’re going to have a bridal show and have little to no budget, get some stanchions and create a line for people to have a consultation. Genuinely be there to help the bride though. And here’s the key – take your time.
I already know that some of you will think, “but Lawrence! What about the people who don’t want to wait in line? We might lose their business.” Well, let’s just assume that they weren’t your business in the first place.
You could do two things.
- Spread yourself thin and leave zero impression with 1,000 brides (with pamphlets and business cards).
- Leave a super strong impression with the 70 brides that you can talk to in one day. And maybe even book a number of them.
I know that it sounds unorthodox – to expose yourself to a minimal number of people and making it as difficult as possible for people to speak to you. Just remember that you’re worth it.
What I want you to do now…
- If you found this post useful, share via Retweet or Facebook buttons below!
- Comment other ways you might stand apart in bridal shows (or in business).
Your buddy,
Lawrence Chan
P.S. Here’s one more tip – treat it as a fun project. Don’t treat it as if you need the business; and bookings just might come your way.
P.P.S. I loathe shoes with laces because there’s a chance for it to touch a public restroom’s floor, but I love Converse shoes. The dilemma.
No related posts.
They make slip on chucks! They are pretty sweet, maybe you could try them out Lawrence, see if they solve your dilemma :)
I think this is really interesting advice.
As someone who has (in the past) both produced and sponsored multiple boutique wedding planning events (aka bridal shows) – I would say 95% of the time . . . don’t do them. For the most part your money is better spent, investing in strategic online advertising, business branding, workshops, networking lunches . . . a nice day at the spa perhaps? Let’s face it most bridal shows end up being a huge investment with very little return. The bottom line is usually, how many actual brides do they anticipate walking through the door the day of the event.
No matter what your strategy is, or how beautiful your display is, if the event is poorly marketed and thus poorly attended . . . well you get the idea. Most bridal shows are produced by people looking to turn a profit from participating vendors and the admission is just gravy. That means that they are going to try to cram as many vendors as possible into that hotel/convention space (which means your competition) but be slightly less motivated to actually spend any money marketing the event to brides.
There are certainly some exceptions to all of this scheming and money grubbing. Often magazines or major websites will produce really beautiful events as an additional marketing opportunity for existing advertisers. While this is no guarantee that even they have your best interest at heart, it’s more encouraging than handing your money to that slick-talking stranger that just rolled into town. Also the Magazines or national websites usually have the resources behind them to properly market the event on your behalf.
Bridal shows: Proceed with caution
P.S. Converse rule – you can always double knot the laces to avoid having them defiled by public restroom floors. Good luck with that.
P.P.S. If it was not made obvious by my comments above, I have made a solemn vow, to never again produce a bridal show.
Yay for Mike Larson’s camera throw shot! :)
Cool perspective on Bridal Shows.
P.S. Agreed – “For the most part your money is better spent, investing in strategic online advertising, business branding, workshops, networking lunches . . . a nice day at the spa perhaps?” – J
Whether you guys love or hate bridal shows, walk away with the strategy and not focus on the applicable tactic – barrier to entry creates value.
That’s why I wrote [bridal show] in brackets. It’s designed for those who do do it and will continue doing so.
Here is a steadfast rule on how to book LOTS of sessions at a show…be REALLY personable and REALLY cheap.:-) I am the first but not the second so bridal shows, the very few I have done, have had few results. The whole thing is that the brides and grooms have the upper hand walking into the show and not vice versa. When you have a couple that loves your work beforehand and meets with you then you have the upper hand. This is usually not the case at shows. Even the best salesperson will have a tough time at shows assuming that their pricing is competitive. Even if you WOW them, your pricing has to compare to other showies or you will be put on the blacklist with the client. On the other hand, shows are a good way to accomplish branding recognition if you select them correctly. You may also go to a show for reasons other than booking Weddings, and that works for lots of people too. It is a tough call and people starting out do very well at shows. If you want to work your life away then go cheap and go show it.:-)
If you’re cheap as everyone else, you don’t stand out :)
Laerence what a great post! And it was AWESOME to see you at WPPI RT yesterday, loved the hug and your converse shoes! Funny, I saw the shoes and they were like confirmation since the wedding we are shooting on Friday is all about Converse! The B/G and party as well as guests are all wearing them! Yay!
But….here’s where I see the confirmation….your presentation yesterday gave me a GREAT idea for an upcoming show I have with Modern Bridal. Infusion Video! Currently I’ve been working on my storyboard and working with filmmakers and its unreal what they are scharging for a 1-2 minute promo!
Why not show MY work with MY own clients!? So yesterday while at WPPI I shot my first video with the 5D Mark II..yes YOU and your friend inspired me! And you are right the odds are good not too many folks in my area are offering this, just another thought for standing out at a bridal show. Camera toss will work for Mike butwe all need to do what WE do and show it!
I’m taking a leap of faith and testing this Friday at the. Wedding…1-2 second clips, holding my breath and saying a prayer or two.
Wish me luck! Thank you so much for inspiring me, I’m sure I’m not the first or the last to say this! Love ya guy!
Lawrence and readers…sorry for all the typo’s I’m on my Blackberry and I have Fred Flintstones fingers! ;)
Hi Lawrence – great article as usual – just curious –
If you have never done a bridal show then what has been your main type of advertising/promotion? Good old fashioned word of mouth?
Christine
Thanks!
Three mediums:
1. SEO
2. Full page ads in Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine
3. Word of mouth
Full page ad wow! Scared to ask what that might cost! Ouch!
Agree with you on SEO (working on mine now), and word o’ mouth!
Cheers!
Depending on location of magazine, it ranges from $8k – $14k. It’s pricey, I know, but that has been worth it every single time for me and a number of others.
Totally love the concept of barrier to entry. I will play around with this during the next show we attend. I’ve seen this in practice as well that when people cannot have you they want you even more! It ads to your image of being exclusive and “valuable” . Some of the previous comments mentioned being “cheap” to be successful at a show. I disagree. Our experience has been that the pricing strategy you follow normally will have the same outcome at the bridal show. By being cheap at an event like the bridal show, you devalue yourself.
Thanks Lawrence for the insight!
Interesting – very interesting. =) Thanks Lawrence!
For me shows is where the rubber meets the road and could make or break you. This is where your people skills, confidence and magnetism must be at its best. Get their attention with big prints, a big smile and a genuine interest in them. This is how I operate and what I see that works.
I’ve done one show & loved every bit of it. It’s the sole reason my business took off. In a room of 40 photographers I booked 13 weddings from it in my first year while most of my friends there barely got a sniff. How?
Take awesome photos. This one if far too often overlooked. If you take good but unremarkable photos expect to get brides who don’t have photography as a priority. If you do everything else right, but don’t take incredible photos, good luck, you’ll need it.
Stand out. Make your booth different.
Talk to brides, I mean actively seek out brides to talk to. You shouldn’t stop talking all weekend. It helps if you have a passion for what you do & are personable.
p.s. I’m the guy in the camera toss shot in the front row covering his mouth—jokingly of course. Good times. :)
Lawrence, I love the way you think about stuff – thanks for sharing.
[...] I did it by creating not one, not two, but four barriers to conquer desperation. [...]