Celebrated
Affairs has over 15 years experience in the wedding industry.
Over £40,000 is spent annually on
advertising which promotes our website. Over 3,000 brides attend our wedding
shows every year and receive information on our website. We are listed on numerous websites and
advertise in bridal publications/radio stations promoting the wedding industry.
For the
first time since we started our site in 2004. we have taken the step of
developing our website to include a Wedding Suppliers Directory. Our website is
already extremely popular, with over 1.3 million hits in 2007.
However
after feedback from brides and clients we have finally decided to expand our
site to include a UK Wedding Suppliers Directory covering the UK.
With the inclusion of a
directory we expect our website to attract over 2 million hits by the end of
2008 (an increase of 700,000)
We work
constantly on our website and we are ranked high in most of the search engines
for wedding related terms.
We have
excellent positioning on Yahoo and Google for relevant terms and we are ranked
on page 1 on most search engines for the terms” wedding companies” or “wedding suppliers” .
You can
be part of our directory, promoting to brides interested in your service. From just £48* per year (just £4* per month)
we will list your contact details.
Additional areas cost just £2* per area. * All prices are subject to VAT
We
provide a direct link to your site, which means that we help towards your
overall link popularity in the search engines.
How to advertise with Celebrated Affairs
Please send email confirming the following details:
Company Name Address (optional) Telephone No. Website Address Category Areas of advertising Billing address - for your invoice
We look forward to you joining us.
I want to tell you the story of Barry.
I’ve known Barry for over 14 years, he’s been
attending my wedding shows and advertising
with me during this time.
I'm telling you the story of Barry so that you can think
about your own situation.
When I first met Barry he was one of the 5 most
popular Wedding companies in his area.
He had a small, but well placed shop, and gained
much of his business through recommendation.
Barry spent large sums of money on local newspapers,
Yellow Pages and Thompson local. Directory.
Everything was going well for Barry until about eight
years ago.. and then suddenly....without warning...
his business started to crumble.
He wasn’t making the bookings, so he had difficulty
paying for those expensive adverts and directories,
he started to suffer financially.
At a time when he thought that it should be getting
easier, he had to give up his shop and move back to
his home, and literally start all over again.
I’d known him for 14 years but
he’d
been in the wedding industry for over 20 years.
Barry was at a total loss as to why his business wasn’t
doing well. He had worked so hard
to make it successful
and it seemed that over night his business was
gone..
Barry had made the fatal mistake of not taking notice
of the rise in popularity of the internet. Whilst he hadn’t
noticed, his competitors had.
By now, most people had a home computer and were searching
for their suppliers.
Barry’s competitors had websites, Barry
had expensive local papers and directories and a big shop
window.
Six months after moving from his premises Barry had a
website, constructed by a family member.
But he couldn’t work
out why he wasn’t making more business.
He would print his website address on all his paperwork,
advertising leaflets, attend wedding shows and tell people to
look onto his website, but nothing seemed to work.
He concluded that websites were a waste of time and just
another thing to keep going. He felt that he had to have one,
everyone now had one and if it
made him any bookings,
he was vaguely pleased.
The sad thing is that it could have been a much different
story
if Barry had been
aware of how to promote his business from
the very
beginning. If Barry had any knowledge
about website
marketing or how
to get his company noticed.
The thing is, there’s a “Barry” in many of the companies I speak
to.
Let's be honest,
when you run your own small business, you have
to learn lots of
new skills.
Sometimes this can really
bring you
down, when all you want to do is be best in your chosen business.
Most people do
not understand how the internet works and how
visitors find
your website.
I’ve spent the last 2 years telling my wedding show exhibitors
how
to make the most of their websites.
What literature to read and
how to get themselves noticed.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m no
internet guru but I know enough to get us onto page 1 of most
search engines – and that’s what counts.
However, this still takes time and energy, not to mention the
fact
that most of the people I’ve spoken to can’t get their
websites
changed easily as “someone else did it for me and I can’t make
the changes myself” – I’d like a pound for every time I’ve heard
this (having someone else do this for you costs you money too)
I soon realised that the best way to help was to open our highly
successful website to advertisers.
We have always been successful
at promoting a collective group of companies at wedding shows
and advertising booklets, now lets do this via our website.
Now, before you get the impression that we are some large
business, looking to make mega money from this, let
me
tell you a secret.
We are a small business, just like you,
who love this industry; make a decent profit but nothing
to
retire on. I’ve built this business up over 15 years and
like
you, I’m just
looking for the most successful, cost-effective
way to promote my company.
We are not one of those companies who know nothing about
the wedding
industry but have some internet knowledge and
have decided to
set up a directory.We are not going to squeeze
extra money from
you for priority listings or banner adverts.
We are not going to increase your
advertising costs as the website becomes more
successful etc
etc.
You need
maximum opportunity for minimum cost – we have the answer
Quick and Easy. Get registered on our
website and you'll be represented on
page one of most search engines within 48 hours (on our website
directory)
Cost: We wanted to make it cost effective, hence
the £48 per year
Fee (just £2 per week). You can
be listed on additional areas for
just £2 per area.
Keeping it simple: We wanted to keep it simple, no
star ratings,
no forums, no advantageous positioning at an extra premium.
Everyone has the same opportunity. All we need are the following
details:
Company Name Company Address
(optional) Telephone Number Website Address
In May 2008 we sent out email to a selected group of companies
to “test the water” the response was great. So we decided to extend
this to the whole
of the UK. The information takes ages to
input,
but the directory
is nearly finished. We have more than
doubled
our weekly website hits and have a list of companies waiting to go
onto the website.
We are on page one of most search engine and everyday we see more
success.
Last year I had a lengthy conversation with Barry about how to
improve
his website. I’ve sent Barry several emails about joining
us, but as you’ve
probably guessed, he’s not responded.
Don’t be a “Barry” – give you business the opportunity to
grow.
Taken from the email of Anita Mansell - July 2008 Anita Mansell replaced the name of the person concerned to protect their identity.
Celebrated
Affairs has over 15 years experience in the wedding industry.