Marriage.com: A Social Media Network for Brides and Grooms

Most of you know that I am a public relations and social media consultant by day and a wedding photographer by weekend and night. My wife is the Principal behind Visions of Romance and is a full time wedding pro. I am proud to say that she has done a heck of a job developing and sustaining a valued brand in the Seattle wedding industry. She has been quite busy. To top it all off, she is behind The Get Engaged Tour and is organizing an incredible speaker’s lineup of social media pros in the wedding industry. I am supporting the effort and in the process I crossed paths with Katrina Razavi who is about to launch Marriage.com. And since I find value in sharing my key findings, I must give you an inside look at Marriage.com.

So here is some background on it… Katrina and her team are about to launch Marriage.com and they claim it is a new, innovative platform to connect wedding pros with engaged couples. People who use the site will get their own exclusive marriage.com microsite. It is free but wedding pros pay a monthly subscription fee to use it. When launched in February 2011, Marriage.com hopes to create a bridal community consisting of experts and brides who are in the wedding planning process.

Do I think a more fragmented social media network will work? Well, in my opinion, only time will tell. If you look at another industry like magazines, where every type of industry has a trade publication, there has been a proven market for it. And, in the wedding industry, where the online wedding industry is asking for a change, Marriage.com will probably succeed. The URL name alone will drive traffic to the site. At the very least, I will recommend that Lacey and Visions of Romance test and use the site. After some success I will report back.

In the wedding business? Get in on ‘The Get Engaged Tour’ – Nov. 8-9

We’re pleased to announce that Visions of Romance is teaming up with the leading wedding social media expert team to host (for wedding professionals) a two-day hands-on workshop on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and more. The power of social media is becoming more and more evident these days. Take your social wedding skills and apply it to the next level. The Get Engaged Tour is scheduled for November 8-9, 2010 at the Fairmont Olympic in Seattle.

In the workshops, wedding pros will:

• Hear why the social media experts are using the various tools and applications to spread messages, network, build their brand, engage potential brides and grooms
• Work to establish their brand online
• Learn the 101s of Social Media – blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Ustream, CoverItLive, and more!
• Determine how to start creating a social strategy that works for you and your business and fits within your time without spending hours working it

Meet the experts:

• Laura Cassidy, Seattle Metropolitan Bride and Groom Magazine
• Lacey Yantis, Visions of Romance
• Kara Kull, MyWedding.com
• Shauna Causey, Ants Eye View
• John Song, Alterian (recently merged with Lift9)
• Ben Rapson, ACT Theatre
• Heather Fernandez, Fairmont Olympic
• Heather Carter, Snohomish Wedding Guild (MySnohomishWedding.com)
• Aaron Nelson, Evantide Photography
• Jen Campbell, GreenWeddingShoes.com

Seattle’s August PUG Meeting: Get Engaged – Making Social Media Your Business Partner

This August’s Seattle/Tacoma’s Pictage User’s Group (photographers) meeting is going to be unlike any other meeting you have ever attended with plenty of surprises planned. For one thing, this meeting will be live streamed over the web! The meeting promises to be highly interactive with cutting edge discussion and to-dos for everyone. At the session people will learn how to build better relationships, improve their brand and move their business to the next level. Lacey, my wife, and I will be presenting. Join us?! Information below.

In order to make this program an interactive experience we would like to hear from you. YOU could be the lucky winner of a Flip Cam. Do you have a burning question about social media that needs to be answered? Simply ask your question before the August 18th meeting by posting a comment or sharing your question by video on the Visions of Romance blog here. The winner will be selected at random from the questions and videos posted. You must attend the PUG meeting to be eligible to win.

Lacey Yantis (my wife) is often found behind the camera capturing special wedding day moments for Visions of Romance. As you may know, I work at Seattle’s leading independent public relations firm, The Fearey Group where I offer strategies in media relations and social media. I also support Visions of Romance wedding photography. This month, Lacey and I are bringing our combined knowledge of the wedding profession and photography and blending it with the importance of social media marketing. Social media is simply a return to old-fashioned roots of real conversations rather than the high-tech race to keep up with the next big thing. You must “Listen, Learn, Engage and then Talk!”

At the PUG meeting, you will learn the latest best practices for social networking, how to stay on the cutting edge of digital connections and most importantly build important relationships. You will receive up-to-date resources and knowledge that will have an immediate impact on your business marketing strategies.

Knowing what matters most for your business can be a strong marketing and strategic advantage in today’s business environment. Join us for what will surely be a PUG meeting you won’t want to miss!

If you are interested in attending and/or want more information, e-mail me.

Seattle Chamber Smart + Simple Attendee Twitter List

On Tuesday, June 15, I had the opportunity to join a panel discussion on social media. What a blast! I talked about Posterous.com and mentioned some of my blog posts that could help Seattle area businesses (Tips to Increase Your Twitter Followers, Four Free Tips for a Successful Social Campaign, 12 Free Social Monitoring Tips, I mentioned my wife’s Twitter handle @LaceyYantis and mine @SeattleBlank and I mentioned her blog).

And you are right. This blog is powered by WordPress. I have a new one on Posterous – eventually, I’ll make the move and switch aaronblank.com to my Posterous account.

For those who attended (or anyone that wants to connect with Seattle businesses on Twitter), here is a list of the Tweeters who attended Smart + Simple. Do us all a favor and follow each other. If we all take the time and do this, your networks will be larger and you all will start to develop new relationships with people like you.

@NikkiBalcerak, @HatShopSeattle, @BrandTallDeb, @KapsnerHomes, @Sbacoach, @cleyerle, @djillpugh, @4Zdesign, @ALTNSeattle, @MGardenier, @SeattleFoodTour, @margeryedwards, @WYking, @thatgirl1985, @imaebe, @orcornejo, @digibloomwest, @janmoody, @ecfoservices, @French_Chamber, @chrisbristol, @jonbach, @pugetsystems, @northstar98125, @bondarook, @betsytalbot, @hscompsvc, @howsch, @normansigler, @pdkobelin, @zippydogswoof, @reggie, @wrathofdon, @kennedyiam, @bizx_barter, @bowmanorganizes, @nancyowyang, @travelwithdrea, @KIRPS, @laconnergirl, @RainierChamber, @PQHost, @meldepaoli, @breakwaterins, @chencomm

…. and don’t forget the panelists: @Hotel_max, @JoshDirks, @mikewhitmore and myself @SeattleBlank. One Twitter handle I manage for a nonprofit is @CureBrainCancer and we’re helping raise awareness for the June 26 Seattle Brain Cancer Walk. Want more info? Direct message me. Also, I mentioned my wife @LaceyYantis – be sure to connect with her if you would like.

Stay connected! Listen, learn, engage — then talk!

And for those of you interested in taking the conversation offline, we’re hosting a social media lunch meetup @FairmontOlympic on Wednesday, June 23rd at the Georgian restaurant at 12 pm. Go to SMLunch.com for more info.

10 Tips To Increase Your Twitter Followers

Twitter is a conversation. It is like walking into a coffee shop or a bar and sitting down next to a stranger.

My wife @LaceyYantis is a full-time wedding photographer. For the last two years she has repeatedly asked me what I get out of Twitter and why do I use it. About a month ago she created a username and password to understand Twitter’s fullest potential…and in about a month’s time she has 700+ followers. Realizing that social media is not a fad and that it is real, she now has a blog. Why did she do it?

Well, Twitter is a microblogging service that offers you the opportunity to expand your social network and build relationships. It has certainly helped me connect with people I never knew before and it has, for sure, helped me create new relationships. @LaceyYantis in one month’s time has already seen business growth as a direct result of her Tweeting effort. For me, I have developed new relationships with a variety of people in the community, including @ShaunaCausey, @GeekGiant, @PaulBalcerak, @FairmontOlympic, @SeattleChamber and @Mikulsky. If you want to increase your Twitter following, here are ways to do it:

Here are some tips:

1) In order to increase your following you must follow people. It is kind of an unwritten rule in the Twitter-sphere that if I follow you, you should follow me back. About 50 percent of Twitter users actually do this so that means you’ll just have to follow twice as many people to get 700 followers. @LaceyYantis is following about 1400 people; in return 700 are following her back. Follow as many people as possible.

2) Go to Twitter’s search tool and type in a topic. For instance, each day I spend some time talking to people that write about “Seattle”. Since @SeattleBlank is my Twitter handle, I find it relevant to talk to people that are conversing about the city I live, work and play in. After we spark a conversation, these folks usually follow me in return, and I’ll do the same.

3) Attend a Tweetup or a social media networking luncheon and meet people. Share your Twitter handles and increase your following.

4) Are you on Facebook? Update your status with a question about Twitter – ask your network – are you on Twitter? If so, leave me your @username and I’ll follow you. They’ll follow you back.

5) Get your users to RT (retweet) what you are saying. RTs pushes your Twitter username and profile into various social graphs, which result in direct push backs to your profile. People will RT what you say if it is powerful or useful. Say something that is powerful or find a news article or link that is useful and share it.

6) Don’t leave your bio and profile information blank. People want to connect with people on Twitter. If you are Tweeting for a company or organization, tell us who is behind the Twitter profile. While I want to interact with a company, I really want to interact with a person and know who I am talking to. I tend NOT to follow people who are CASHFORCARS or DOGLOVERS without a name behind the account.

7) Use your camera phone and take photos. Picture are one of the most heavily retweeted links are Twitter. If you use Seesmic or UberTwitter on your blackberry you can send pictures straight to Twitter on your phone. If you have an iPhone you should consider apps such as Tweetie or Twitterific.

8) Tweet about things that you are passionate about and # HASHTAG it. Good content coupled with a nice hashtag — or an easy way for people to find them may increase your following. Hashtag’s make it easy for people to search for key topics at Search.Twitter.com.

9) Use Qwitter and get an e-mail every time someone unfollows you. Do the deed and unfollow them back. :)

10) Just remember, Twitter is a conversation. It is like walking into a coffee shop or a bar and sitting down next to a stranger. Would you ask that stranger to purchase your product (right away) or would you engage in a conversation. Ask that person how are you doing? Who are you? What are you doing? What brings you here today? What do you do? Over time, you’ll get to know that person, you’ll have a relationship which will serve you better in the long run.

Happy Tweeting! If you read this blog post and are on Twitter, leave a comment here with your Twitter handle and I’ll follow you. I am sure others will do the same.