Get community support!
Every wedding and video shoot has its own unique challenges and forces us to learn and re-adapt. Today’s post and lesson is, GET COMMUNITY SUPPORT!
Today's blog post is where I do a little shameless plugging, but I also try to leave you with a good message.
I'm involved for the second year in a row with the King 5, Best of Western Washington vote - Voting Link. It is a vote that honors top businesses of all kinds through the greater Western Washington area. I happen to be nominated for "Best Wedding Videographer."
Last year we got 3rd place and had very little business even BEING in the top 3. I had just jumped into the world of wedding videography and really didn't have the clientele to help push me over the top. I DID have a bunch of loyal clients and friends who I relentlessly petitioned to help garner support which helped me all the way to 3rd place, something I never dreamed of achieving. It shows that with a loyal client base and a few extra minutes on your hand can give you the necessary tools to get support in something like a community vote.
I didn't have 1000s of clients, and I didn't really need them, sometimes having a handful of loyal, supportive clients can be more beneficial than having a rolodex of people who no longer follow or support your business. Most wedding vendors I feel do a fairly large portion of their business through repeat customers and word of mouth. Obviously with wedding videography you don't have too many "return customers" per say, but if you establish a credible business with a good reputation, you might get enough positive word of mouth to help your business grow even more.
The King 5 vote represents this sort of business philosophy. It takes solid businesses with good reputations, and honors them with people voting in their favorites and acknowledge who people really think are the "best" in any given profession or craft. Being a local business with a loyal customer base or at least a bunch of supportive friends and family is a great way to help boost my rankings in the competition. I'm hoping that with the support I had last year, plus the increased client base (of hopefully even happier and supportive customers) I will be able to at least match, if not BEAT my 3rd place showing this year. The competition has just started and I'm sitting at 2nd place, but I don't know how many businesses have really started to campaign. I just hope that I did a solid job this year leaving a positive impression with all of my couples and clients, that they will feel the need to pay it forward and leave a positive vote in my benefit.