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The Wedpreneur Podcast
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The Wedpreneur Podcast
{EP36}: Harnessing the Power of Social Proof with Katie Easley
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Welcome to Episode #36! I'm joined today by Katie Easley of Kate Ryan Design and we are diving DEEP into the concept of "Social Proof" and how wedding pros can leverage it to maximize their marketing strategy. Learn how building relationships can elevate your social proof, and how to best use testimonials and reviews to gain the trust of your potential customers.
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This is your host Mary Sua field . And welcome to the web preneur podcast. Join me and my guests each week as I take a deep dive into wedding business. Best Practices, examine challenges facing our industry and interview wedding industry experts and thought leaders who will share their strategies for taking your wedding business to the next level. Whether you're new in the industry or a seasoned pro, each episode is filled with valuable information aimed to help you build and grow the wedding business that you are dreaming about. I'm ready if you are, so let's get started.
Speaker 2[inaudible]
Speaker 3Hey, what preneurs. Welcome to episode number 36 today I am chatting with the ozo talented Katie , easily of Kate Ryan design and we are going to be diving into the concept of social proof, what it is and how you can leverage it to grow your wedding business. This episode is jam packed with information, so without further ado, let me introduce you to Katie leading floral stylist and event designer Katie. Easily of award-winning Kate Ryan design set up with one goal to create joy for her clients and she did just that. Establishing a Scottsdale based Kate Ryan design, combining her interior design background with her love of florals and decor. In the following months . Katie quickly grew her small business to sales of over a quarter of a million dollars in the first year catching the attention of the Society of American florists who honored her as marketer of the year. In 2012 this accolade launched her co consultancy and since then Katie has worked with small businesses throughout North America on their sales prospecting, growth strategy and client experience. I am thrilled to share this interview with you because social proof is such a powerful marketing strategy and if you find ways to build it into that marketing strategy, I know that you will start seeing incredible results. I hope you find this episode inspiring and that you will start taking action when it comes to focusing on social proof in your wedding business. Let's get started. Katie, welcome to the smart business for wedding pros podcast.
Speaker 4Thank you Mary. I'm super excited to be here with you.
Speaker 3Well, I want to thank you for taking the time to be here today because I am super fascinated by the topic we're going to be chatting about. But before we get started, I would love it if you can share a little bit about yourself and your business with my listeners.
Speaker 4Sure, absolutely. So I actually kind of fell into this business, which is kind of funny when I look at the longevity that I've had in it. But , um, I graduated from college and pursued a career in interior design. And in 2006 I was very successful and things were great and I live in Phoenix, Arizona. And our market took a big crash and I walked into work one day I was working for a major home builder and we were set to in style a couple of million dollar homes that were models and they said 300 of us lost our on the same day. And it was crazy. And here I am, top sales person, loving interior design, doing what I thought was my dream and I'm out of a job. And not only am I out of a job, but the market is like not doing anything. And here I am, 30 years old thinking this is like going to be their best time of my life. Here I am and I'm single and I don't have kids and I've got this great job and everything comes to a crashing halt. And in the middle of that, I also had discovered, bizarrely that all of my friends from college were getting married and people are having babies and we're all turning 30 and at that time I realized I had a true passion for weddings and Events and parties and just celebrating life in general. And I took the opportunity and decided I'm going to go for this and I'm going to see what happens and I'm gonna start a business. And so on the heels of losing my job, I decided that I was going to follow what felt like a natural progression from interior design and go into wedding planning and event design. And so in 2006 not long after I got laid off, I started a business and just let it ride. And it Kinda took off and it has had its ups and its downs and it's changed. I started off planning and doing event design. Now I do not do any planning at all. I only do for on event design, so it's been kind of a crazy ride over the last 13 years.
Speaker 3That's awesome. You know what I love about that story though is that you know you were down and out and you just like like a Phoenix rising. Right.
Speaker 4The funny part is I always tell people like, I think I was too young to realize that I was making like potentially really big mistake, but like we were going into this huge recession if you will, and I had, I was like green. I had no idea. I was like, oh, I lost a job. No big deal. I'll just start a business. Like of course it'll be fine. Like what was I thinking? People were losing their jobs all over the place. It was, it was a tough time. But nope , I was just throwing all clash in another one and saying I'm going for it. But it worked out. It worked out in my favor. And , um, I think it was just, it's still to this day why I do what I do is my love for color and texture and lighting and spacial planning and that like all the things that you read , we , we realized that we do in our business, but maybe we aren't aware of like, I love a floor plan. I will geek out on making things to scale like you wouldn't believe. And that all comes from this like random interior design background that I have that I never would have expected would put me into the world of weddings and events.
Speaker 3Crazy. I love hearing people's stories, how they got into this industry because it's so diverse, right? Like everybody came from some kind of random beginning and the stories are just amazing and it's obvious. You , it's obvious you have a passion for what you do, which is really commendable after 13 plus years. And it definitely shows just by the, how , the way you talk about it. So I that,
Speaker 4oh , I'm super passionate about it. And I , um , as I've grown in my career, I've been very fortunate that I have some wonderful mentors along the way. And I think part of my longevity in the business is been because I am open to learning from other people. And more importantly, I'm open to sharing with people that are coming up in the ranks and are maybe in their early stages of business that have questions like none of us should go at it alone. And having the opportunity now to be like sought after to help others that are trying to grow their businesses and really truly make a go at making a business successful is I'm just as passionate about that. And so it's been wonderful because now not only do I have the opportunity to share what I've learned and even the mistakes and every , I get asked that all the time, like, what's the, like the kind of the key to my success and a little bit of it is honestly falling and failing over and over again and getting back up and keep walking. And so the life of an entrepreneur, we all know that it was kind of that, it's like one day you're like, oh my gosh, I've got a $5,000 sale, or I've got a , you know, I just landed my largest planning client and they're gonna pay me $10,000 and you're like high on the hog and literally two days later you're like, I can't pay the bills. And so, but do you get pat up? Right. I know. I laugh about it, but it's so true because we feel it all the time. I mean, there's days that I feel it in my career and you know, you wake up one morning and you're like, okay, like we got to stretch this out. It's summer in Phoenix. Like no one's getting married. Like everyone's getting married everywhere else in the country, but it's about to be 115 degrees out. Like I've got to stretch the budget through the summer and come August. I'm always like, oh my God, what am I doing? And then in October I'm slammed busy.
Speaker 3Totally true. And I love that you're willing to give back. And I think that that's one of the things I love the most about our industry is that just like you, when I was first starting out, I had the most incredible mentors who really guided and supported me along the way. And now you know, as you get further into your career you always have that opportunity to give back. And I think it's so great that you're doing that especially just by being here today.
Speaker 4Yes I am. I'm excited. I'm very excited about the topic we're about to jump into.
Speaker 3Okay, well let's talk about that topic cause I'm so excited for it too. So today we are going to be diving into harnessing the power of social proof. So I'm excited to chat about this because while it's something that I talk about quite a bit, I don't hear other people really talking about it very often and it's something that we naturally do as business owners and there's such a great opportunity out there to really leverage it. Right. So to start out, can you tell us what is social proof and why should we care about it?
Speaker 4So the Google version of that is social proof is a term that was coined in 1984 and it is a social and psychological phenomenon , um , that has a lot, has everything to do with the actions and behaviors of others and how they influence another person. And so one of the easiest and easy examples to tell anyone is if you've ever been on a website and in the bottom corner it like something will pop up and say, or hotels.com is one of my favorites . So you're looking for a hotel and in the bottom corner it's like 17 people are looking at this, this hotel was booked 53 times in the last 24 hours this was happening. So it's like pushing you to make a decision because of the, of what others are doing. So it's influencing you based on that idea.
Speaker 3Ooh , I like that. And I think there's so many great examples of this, right? It's something that we actually do pretty much all day when ever we're out interacting in society, we have this unconscious , um, behavior that leads us to lean into social proof. Whether we know we're doing it or not. Right,
Speaker 4right. And so one of the, one of the types of social proof is like wisdom of your friends. So how often do we jump online or do we send out a text message that's like, Hey, I'm looking for dentists, or I now need a vet who's who recommends of that. And all of a sudden you get like all these reactions from people. But if you have someone that you're really close to that you've trusted previously and they're like, oh, you should go see Dr. Jones , you might then be even more persuaded. So you went to your friends to look for their expertise on something you don't understand or know. And then you even go deeper and say, oh, I've trusted this friend before they gave me a recommendation that really worked well for me. I'm going to trust that friend again.
Speaker 3Ooh , so good. Okay. So in the wedding industry, like what are the benefits of being intentional when it comes to social proof, if this is something that people are automatically doing anyways, what's the benefit to being really intentional with it?
Speaker 4So when you're intentional with social proof, you can use the different types, which can be reviews, it can be a expert, it can be celebrity. Uh , and I'm going to go through some of what of that means. You can use that to leverage your business and to increase your sales and to close sales even faster. So one of the examples of experts, so when someone has already selected a vendor that they trust, they consider a client would consider that person to be an expert in their field. So I'm in the floral business generally before a client comes to me, they have potentially, they have a venue, they've usually selected a planner just cause that's the where my, my clients fall into that category, spend wise that most of them have wedding planners. Very rarely do I get one that doesn't and they most likely have selected a photographer. So when they come to me and we start discussing who they are and where they are in their wedding planning process, even though I'm not their planner, I can learn really quickly if I have connections with those people and how I can leverage my business. So if they say, oh, I'm working with, you know, Xyz photography, I can very quickly make mention of lead photographer and the fact that we just did a wedding together two weeks ago, that person's so wonderful to work with. You're really in good hands. So now I validated their decision, which they already probably feel very good about selecting that photographer and now I've elevated my position in their mind ahead of someone else potentially in the market place because I have that relationship with someone that they already view to be an expert.
Speaker 3Oh , so good. I love this and I, you know, I teach this as well in terms of when people are responding to inquiries, if they've given you some hints in that inquiry, you know, we're getting married at Xyz venue in your response, you have that opportunity to leverage that and say, Oh, I've worked in that venue so many times and I especially love working with Xyz venue coordinator. Right? Because then you're like you said, you're validating and showcasing that you're legitimate, you're an expert. All of those good things,
Speaker 4right? And then a number , another type of social proof is like celebrity. The idea of something that's greater than we are that causes the Ou and the hall . It's not necessarily Kim Kardashians being like, oh, you should use this person. But if you were to say exactly what you just said, Oh, I love working at the Ritz Carlton x, y, z. Are you working with Samantha or Jacob there? By the way, here's a link that I just did at that, at that venue, and then you link it , you know, a post that was on carrots and cake or the not or something like that. So now you're re , you've done two things in that comment to validate your place in the market as a business and as a strong contender to be someone that this client wants to work with because you're validating that, hey, I already know that you're working with one of these two people at that resort. Oh, and by the way, here are , here's an article where I'm featured in a celebrity type status, or I am showcased on styley pretty's blog at that venue.
Speaker 3Amazing. I love it. Yeah .
Speaker 4Okay. I'm slack . Your social proof, which if, if you do it and you're authentic about it and you're growing your business, you have those relationships, you're already working towards being an expert in your field. So you might as well be taking all of these things that we're putting all of this hard work and time and energy into and using them to get the client to book with you quicker and to eliminate the other potential competition that's in the marketplace.
Speaker 3Absolutely, and I think it comes down to the whole know, like trust factor, right? And they're looking for ways unconsciously. They're looking for ways to validate that they can get to know you, that they can like you and that they're going to trust you. And I think that trust thing is so scary for so many of our potential clientele. But as soon as you're able to validate, you know, I'm a legitimate business that does business with other legitimate businesses and you know, I've been published or whatever and I mean we'll get into some more tips about that shortly. But I think that it goes a long way to eliminate of the legwork.
Speaker 4Yes . Clients. It absolutely does. And it puts, it puts the client at ease almost immediately because there are enough stories out there at this point that, and we're all seeing it where you know, you're in your local Facebook group or you're on a local, I used to be, the blogs were the big thing where someone's like, I hired a makeup artist on Instagram and it's a week, it's the week of my wedding and my weddings in three days and now I don't have anyone because they backed out on me. And so the more we see that, which is the negative social proof, someone's like, people immediately are like, oh my gosh, who was it? Because they're trying to avoid that person. At the same time. It allows for us to validate who we are in the marketplace because we have formed and built strong relationships.
Speaker 3100% . Okay. Well we've gotten a little bit into the tips already, which I love, but um , I bet you have a lot more tips. So let's just kind of lay it out here. So what are some of your top tips for harnessing the power of social proof?
Speaker 4So my biggest things are networking and knowing your market and who your working alongside of. If you know those things, it's very easy to be able to establish yourself as an expert. It's very easy to give yourself celebrity , um, in, in both of those places. You can also ask for reviews. So you can, and there's two ways that you can do this. Obviously there's the reviews that everyone knows in logs and that's, you know, considered the whole , um, the idea that it's the crowd. It's the opinion of the crowd or the larger group outside of yourself , um, that you know, the people are looking for. So that's like your yelps and things like that where people go , uh , so you can, of course you're going to hear it all the time than not wedding wire. They're all telling us get your reviews and get your reviews. And that's because people are looking to see that you're validated by people that they don't know. There's something about that that makes people also feel confident. They're not looking for you to be perfect either. Like, yeah , it's wonderful to have that five stars, but if you do have one that's not a perfect five and you've responded to that review, it's still a great opportunity to say, you know what, I'm a person and I'm a human and you're doing business with me. And here was my reaction to that. Not all reviews that aren't five are bad reviews. Some of them actually open up, you know, great conversations to have with potential clients or great race to response when a review maybe is a three star review instead of a five because something didn't go right. But if you have a way to um , very professionally respond to that so that it's a positive response, you can still use our, your reviews as part of your social proof start a strategy.
Speaker 3Oh, absolutely. I always tell people, you know what bad reviews are just an opportunity to showcase your professionalism and how you handle it.
Speaker 4Yes. And another way to have a review is to actually not have an actual review like we're talking about at all. And that's to say, I'll call my photographers that I've networked with before. Not all of them are my friends. Um, some of them are friends of ours and you know, creative partners and I will say, Hey, I just sat down with, you know, this couple that's getting married. I understand they've already booked you. I'm really, I really excited about working with them. They're truly my ideal client. And I think that the opportunity to work with them at the Ritz Carlton will just be fabulous if, if you speak with them, you know, and wouldn't mind giving them like your personal thoughts on working with , with myself and my company. I would greatly appreciate that.
Speaker 3You know what's so funny? I find that we're so uncomfortable asking for the sale and I don't mean just with the clients, but like you said with other event partners and when when someone's referring them to you or you know they're working with someone, there's absolutely no harm with just saying even, you know, I would love to work with this potential client, but even more, I would love to work with you so you know, would you mind doing that? The worst they can say is no, I'm not comfortable doing that. And then you haven't, you know, no harm, no foul. Right,
Speaker 4right. And asking people for things that are uncomfortable is, is practice. You literally have to practice doing it. And I talk with my clients about this all the time. I, when I'm consulting is that you have to be able to ask difficult questions that are maybe uncomfortable to you because they're not necessarily uncomfortable . The other person, and I'm going to give you a random example of that and you're probably going to laugh at me, but every time I go and get my oil changed in my Tahoe, I asked the guy, I say to the man never fails and he knows me now, so it's , I'll give you the back end of this story. But the , every time I walk in there I say, so is there a special coupon that's in my mailbox or something I need to go digging around to find, is it in hidden in my email or can you just go ahead and take care of any current coupons you guys have going on? And the first time I did it, the guy kind of looked at me and he's like, I've never had someone ask that. And I was like, well, I don't want to come back. And how do you tell me, Oh, well , if I would've brought you the coupon sitting in the junk corner under the 15 things of mail that I haven't opened this week, or that were pouring out of my little mailbox and then I would've saved myself $15 on my oil change, I'd be irritated. So let's just cut to the chase. And if you start to ask people questions, even when you don't want to, it makes you more comfortable to be able to do it in the future. Oh , I like that. And then I wrapped in and he just always gives me the discount.
Speaker 3You know what? To me, you get what you ask for in life. Right. So very true. And I do, I do like, I was kind of cringing when you were talking about it because I have a friend who's very much like that and you know, she will not hesitate to ask for the best deal for the best everything. And in a way I'm always like, oh gosh, do you have to do that every time we go somewhere? But there's a flip side of me that is like, oh, and her bill's half mine and who, who won here, not me. So right .
Speaker 4And part of me is okay with people telling me no , the exercise that I'm practicing in that moment is asking an awkward, uncomfortable learning how to rephrase things. Making it anecdotal where it's kind of more of a conversation like, hey man, you're not going to make me go home and dig through my junk corner of mail. Are you like, I am that girl. Like it stacks up. And then one day I go through and I put the bills to the side and everything that I don't recognize goes into an f different file. And then when the pile is like a big mess, then I go through it like I am that girl, I'm okay with it and uh, I'm not to touch the piece of mail wants to be done. And so it's part of just having that conversation do be able to rephrase it multiple times too if it didn't work the first time that I went back the second time, what did I do differently? Because the more that you ask questions and the more that you become interested in what the other person's about to say, and you look for positive responses, the easier it is to talk to your clients in the future. And definitely just as I asked that guy for a discount on my oil change, someone is going to come to me. And it doesn't always happen. But when it does, I'm prepared. So when the client says to me, I really love your work and I want to work with you, but this person's doing it for cheaper, will you match the price? I have practiced asking uncomfortable questions so many times that I can then answer them because I've already played it out in my head. What's going to happen? So when the client does ask me, I already have a response.
Speaker 3MMM . And I think that's really important in general because you know, it's so we're , I think an industry in so many ways of people pleasers and we become uncomfortable when faced with some of those questions and those situations. And I love what you're saying. I teach all of my clients, you know what you need to prepare yourself, know what the objections are going to be, know what the pushback you're going to get is going to be. And practice your answer is prepare yourself because especially if you're not comfortable about it, but I also love that you're saying it's really in the delivery too , right? Like, yeah , you didn't just walk in there and say, listen, give me a discount. Right? I mean, you could have , but
Speaker 4I could have , I don't really love to pricing today, so I'm wondering if we could change this.
Speaker 3Uh, but you know, I love that, you know, you made it part of a story and , and it really is about how you phrase it. So if you were to approach , um, an event partner who is working with a potential client that you've met, you're not just gonna say, Hey, I just met with this client. Do you mind giving, putting in a good word for me? Like, I think that you can, you can make it relatable and authentic still. Um, but it really is all in that delivery.
Speaker 4Absolutely. It is. And you know our relationships with other vendors, they're important and they're not just, and they're fragile. I will say that they're fragile. They can come and go and they can break in one bad instance like anything's possible, right? So we have to nurture those time and time again. So just as like you're calling and asking, I use the photographers as an example. I'm calling and asking that photographer to validate who I am in the market. I'm also sharing with that photographer that I validated with the client decision to hire you a great one. Like I love working with you and I let the client know that you are amazing at getting detailed shots and I will always bring you a bucket of flowers for your flat lays. And that was how I related who I am to the photographer, which is already the expert in that client's eyes. So we're already working as a team and every client is going to hear about that over and over again. Will your team of vendors that we're going to put together, the team of vendors that will show up on your wedding day, the team of vendors. So I'm already establishing that I'm a team player and that no matter what happens, I got your back, we're going to get this wedding done and it's going to be amazing.
Speaker 3Oh , I love that. And I think, you know what I'm hearing especially is that it has to be a give and take relationship, right? Like you gave us first you gave to that photographer by validating that couple's decision to work with them. So you're giving, giving, giving, and then, you know, asking for a little something in return. And I think that's really important. I hear sometimes from people, I mean we're getting a little off topic, but I do hear from some, sometimes for people who are like, well, I don't understand why, you know, they're not sending clients my way. And my question is always, well, what have you done for them lately? Like, right , right. It's gotta be give and take. Okay. This is fantastic. So what are some other tips you have about harnessing social proof?
Speaker 4So you know, social proof is, is a multiple stacked type thing. It's not just one thing. I think that that's important. If you do nothing but focus on getting reviews on the knot , it's not going to necessarily catapult your business. It's going to be a series of things. So it's going to be reviews on the not , it's going to be not just clients that are reviewing you past clients. It could be a the mother of , of one of your clients also reviewing you because you just never know who's going to hire you. I mean , we get that phone call sometimes and it's somewhat annoying because we think that it's in our industry, we always think that it's not always like the truth. It's like when you get the call from the mom and you're like, yeah, but is the mom really making the decision or is she just stepping in front of the client and the bride or the groom to get to get there first. You know what I'm saying? But there are times that the mom really is making the decision and she wants to go to your website and she wants to see that another mother reviewed you, that you do work well with others. I just had a wedding , um , this last May, this a month ago where the mother called from the beginning and she , um, I took her seriously from the beginning because I do work with moms with a lot of times, especially with my destination clients and this client, the entire wedding was destination. So the mom was very involved. And then I later found out through conversation after I'd been hired that the mom is actually also the maid of honor. So she is like a big deal yeah. To , to the client. And so I, you know, you have to respect that, but you also have to know that like that mom is like, yeah, that's great that all these brides love you. But oh look, there's another mom that you worked with and you, that person loves you too.
Speaker 3Mm . I love that. You know, it's so funny. We tend to get a lot of reviews from the mothers of our couples, which I think is really great.
Speaker 4Um , it's wonderful
Speaker 3and it can , it does go a long way too . Right . And also I found like there's no harm in asking other , um , event partners, other vendors to review you either. I, there's a photographer in our local market, he is such a sweetheart. He's so, you know, kind and bighearted and extraordinarily talented, but he takes time after every wedding to go into all of the event partners that he's worked with at a wedding into their Facebook, their Facebook pages and leaves them good reviews. Oh, that's wonderful. It is so amazing. Like it makes my heart melt every time he does it because he's showing like, I support your business and I support the fact that we've worked together and it's incredible.
Speaker 4Wow. So one of the other things you were asking me about a variety of things is with testimonials is that the, there are studies and research that says that people believe testimonials when they see them with pictures of who the person was. So there's an increased level of trust there. So on Instagram you can take, I'm using a three M as an example. You c an take the words from y our not five star review, take a picture of that couple and use it in the comments. We loved working with April and Jack. And then below is like here's a few words from April and it's like, you know Katie and the team at Kate Ryan design was absolutely amazing. She took my vision, t urn it into reality, whatever the reviews says. Then you c an put five star review and then you can just, you know, tag at the n ot and now you've got this beautiful photo and you can tag the other photographers. You can tag the venue, you can tag the n ot you can tag, you know what I mean? It just goes on and on. And when people see photos it increases the trust level like tenfold.
Speaker 3Oh absolutely. It's funny that you say that because I was just doing some website reviews with some of my coaching clients this morning before we hopped on this call. And one of the things I was telling them is it's all fun and good to put testimonials on your website, but if there's no photo, it has no emotion attached to it. Right. What I mean is like I don't feel that connection. And also anybody could make up any review or any testimonial and slap it on their website and a photo just makes it feel more authentic, especially if that same couple can be found later in your portfolio. Right. So, right, exactly. Yeah. I 100% agree with that. I think it's so key. You know, we're , we're such visual beings. So being able to see who is actually giving that testimonial just gives it that much more impact.
Speaker 4So the perfect segue into that being, because we like to see, and we are so affected by that. It's very, we've been talking about all these social, the social proof of reviews and things that are somewhat in our control, but outside of our control, they're us connecting to other people or to , uh , things that are large than us, like the not and whatnot like that. But people are also by similar people. And there is social proof and influence in like minded people coming together visually like minded people. So what I mean by that is I will use one of my favorite social media tools right now and has been for a long time, even though everyone hates it, is Pinterest. And I don't mean that for me, planning weddings and someones or designing weddings and someone's saying, I want this exact picture and you having to duplicate someone's work because that's not what I love to do. I don't like to do that at all actually. But Pinterest is one of the only social platforms where people don't mask themselves and put on a persona that they have to be something that they're not. And Go with me down this rabbit hole for a second, but you can very easily go onto Pinterest. And if you look at one of your friends and all the sudden all they're doing is posting Kito Diet recipes. You know that that friend is trying to lose weight and they're doing it through Quito , right? Dressed as I can tell you based on what's on my daughter's mind. I have a tween and she will be posting about nails because she's getting to go on a , she's we're getting ready to go on a trip to California and so she has like all these beach nails that she's like obsessed with. I know it's hilarious that I can go into Pinterest and see what she's thinking about based on some of the things that she's posting. I can also go into Pinterest and look at my clients and they will have boards on vacationing in Tahiti or in Cabo or you know, in in more tropical destinations or they're planning a European vacation or I can tell you that she loves yoga or that they, you know, all these different things because you create boards and you just pinned to them. You just don't even think anything about it. And when people start pinning for like file is one of my favorites because for some reason inspiration for fall fashion is like I think stronger than it is for summer. Or maybe it's because, I don't know. I live in Arizona and it's so hot, no one even cares what they're wearing. But file trends, people love to pin the heck out of those. And so I will look at what a client is pinning or what they're doing and bring it into our conversation because like buys from like, and if I see that my client is, it's fall and she's got the fall must haves. And , and for the longest time , um, 90% of my clients would had some pins on their board with a scarf and a sweater and skinny jeans and riding boots. And so if there was 17 pins on that and then there were some pins on Cabo and there were some pins on yoga or meditation, I'm going to mentally take note of all of that. And I might just show up at our meeting with riding boots on. It might be in my style, but I'm going to nearer or Emily what that person is also a that persona so that we are likeminded people together.
Speaker 3Hmm . And you know what the flip side of that too is that our clients are a lot more savvy than we give them credit for sometimes. Yes, and they will be looking at our Pinterest for that social proof as well, right? They're going to be looking for what we're pinning and and that's why I have a really great Pinterest expert who's going to be coming on the show shortly. But one of the things that I've learned because I'm really starting to focus on my upping my Pinterest game right now is you know, you need to pin with your ideal client in mind. You can't, if you, you know, want to work with a luxury client and all you're pitting is you know, budget ideas, then you've made that disconnect. They're going to look at your account for social proof and they're not going to find it, right .
Speaker 4They're not going to find it 100% everything I'm telling you is exactly what you just said and I love that. And coming into the luxury market. I didn't start in this business and in a luxury market and I mean I would consider myself more into the luxury market than I was before. But there are levels of luxury ahead of me that I don't know that in my career I will touch. And part of that is because I don't plan to travel the world and you know, deal with princes and princesses and before lands that because that's a different level of luxury. Right? But I can still look at appreciate that. But when it comes to price per person that people spend in the marketplace , I'm definitely more towards the top of the game here in Phoenix. And so I will go in and I will meet with people or I will form relationships and network so I can understand the luxury client better. And one of my favorite places to do that is in car dealerships.
Speaker 3Ooh ,
Speaker 4don't know that sounds crazy. But the general manager of the Ferrari here in Scottsdale , um, always looks like 1 million bucks, but not in a trying too hard sort of way. He always has on very nice loafers. He always has a Gucci Louis Vuitton belt on. Sometimes the loafers match the belt . Uh , and the rest of him is very unassuming . He always has a nice watch on. But when people walk in there to buy a half a million dollar car, they're dealing with someone that is likeminded
Speaker 3[inaudible] .
Speaker 4Just as you show up in your end to put your best foot forward, you have to know what that looks like and how do you create and how are are you that persona that is what you're selling to . I don't live at a multimillion dollar house, but my clients do. But I know their lingo and I respect that they understand luxury goods and items. So I did invest in a, you know, I'm not, this has had to do with million dollar house, but I did invest in a nice, a couple of Louis Vuitton handbags because a, I liked them, but B, when my client's mother sits down next to me and she says, oh, I have that bag. I love that bag. I say, I love this bag too. And now we start talking about it.
Speaker 3And that's yet another form of social proof, right? Yeah.
Speaker 4Yes. But it didn't start with Louis Vuitton, like it literally like I have a ton of bags and I love, you know, I'll, I will look at peoples , um , face or not Facebook site, Pinterest and I will maybe purchase a new pair of Tory Burch sandals every summer that I wouldn't maybe splurge on because we're taking a nice vacation or we're doing whatever. But part of that is also me being and showing the client that my personal brand and the brand of my business is similar to who they are and what we're trying to accomplish together. It's that it's that psychological part.
Speaker 3Yeah. And it is, you know what? I think sometimes we forget how psychological this really is. You know, it's not as simple as couples looking at our website, deciding they like what they see and hiring us. Like there's a whole lot in so many ways, unconscious, psychological , um , process going on for people. And I think one of the best exercises that I've ever been taught through, you know, my marketing training is to start paying attention to the way that you purchased and the way you make decisions. How many of us go on Facebook and do the whole like hivemind thing and say, okay people, you're the people I trust the most in the world. Tell me where I should be. You know, what exercise class I need to sign up for that's not going to , you know, kill me over it . Right ?
Speaker 4Yeah. So that's the whole wisdom of the crowds, wisdom of your friends. It's the social proof and the approval of what others are doing. Either people that you already trust or large groups of people. So if you're looking for something, like we have a group here on uh , Facebook, that's a neighborhood group and it's got like 40 something thousand people in it and people are on there like I'm looking for add a landscape or that I can trust to, you know, to show up every week on time, no questions asked. We'll be there. And that's consistent and like, you know that people are like, they're saying the same person over and over again and that person is most likely going to get the phone call before someone else who's only mentioned once.
Speaker 3[inaudible] definitely. And that makes me think, you know, I'm not a fan of the Facebook groups for, you know, when people are always trying to find reasonably priced wedding vendors. Like they always, they always say it that way. Right. Reasonably priced, like were so unreasonable otherwise , um , I'm not a big fan of that, but I will say that having observed them and not only because I find that those, those just aren't our clients. That's why I'm not a big fan of them. Yeah . Um , but they are somebody clients. And it's funny because when I observe this, oftentimes I guarantee if we were to do the research, the, the company that gets the most referrals, you know, is probably going to be the one that gets contacted first. Right?
Speaker 4Most likely. Yeah, absolutely. And that it's up to that client or that company to respond, which is a whole nother topic of conversation. Right. But it's so true. And I look back on my business and when I first started, I remember the first time I landed like a $2,000 floral budget. I was like, oh my God, I cannot believe that this is the biggest one I've ever done. And this is the very beginning of my career. And there was a place in the market for me there. But as I grew and I developed and I challenged myself and I wanted to grow to bigger events and I wanted to move away from that budget bride, I had to make conscious decisions to network and to elevate myself, to elevate my brand, to elevate my business and to start acting like other likeminded people in the industry in order to grow. No one comes into this business and overnight is, is an overnight sensation without spending a ton of money. Yes, you can buy ads in the top, you know, modern luxury magazine and jet setter and you can throw yourself to the, to the front or the to the forward of someone's mind. But most of us don't start there. And so I looked back and I do look at am I 100% agree with you? I don't even respond to those. And it always makes me laugh when people are like, oh you should contact. And they put my name out there. And I think to myself though , I love my friends for doing that, but it's never going to work like this. We're just different people. But that's not my ideal client. And once you become very clear with your ideal client, you can use social proof, psychological and social, the social phenomenon part of it to elevate your brand and to close those customers faster and to get more ideal clients quicker. So good. This has been fun to have to know who you are and it's very scary to do that. Like it's literally stripping yourself down and letting people see that and what does that look like? And, and, and are you whacking the rack and talking the talk all the time? If you run into your client, is, is your client gonna look at you and be like, ah , you're a fraud or is that authentically who you are?
Speaker 3It's so funny that you say that because you just took me back to this one at time and I mean we all, we can't all be on all the time. I'll just say , I'll just say that. But I did one of the most influential clients that I've ever had. Um , it was actually the daughter of a politician here and I was out for a friend out with friends and we were at a pub downtown at like a high end pub, but it was still a pub and we were drinking like we were having crowned all types of Friday night, you know, no weddings. So I was happy. But he, the father and the daughter walked in and nothing sobers you up quicker by the way. Then seeing one of your very influential clients . But I remember the first thing I did is I looked down at what I was wearing and was like, okay, it's okay. Like I'm not, I'm not wearing an offensive tee shirt or ripped jeans or anything, but it can be a little bit, you know, it's a little bit terrifying. And I did pull it off. I mean, I really managed, they just shook hands and offered to buy me a drink, which I thankfully declined. But , um, you know, it was just one of those moments where like, Ooh , I am who I am and I'm okay owning that. But at the same time, you know, you don't, you want to be careful that you're not trying to portray a brand that is so far from who you are that it's a disconnect. Right?
Speaker 4Yeah. Like you're going to potentially run into me at the dog park and I will look, I won't have my fancy handbag. I will probably have on my old navy flip flops or some random pair of tennis shoes. But that's gonna make sense to you because you've seen him somewhere in my social media or it's, you know, mentioned in my , um , on my website or something about being a dog lover. So you're not going to be surprised by that. We've actually probably connected on that already and you're, you know , feeling the same thing I am, it's Saturday afternoon and it was time to take the dog to the dog park. And so those, you know, that's, that's also actually a great, a great thing is for people to see you in, in your element being true to who you are. So don't go telling people you have a dog and then to find out you don't have a dog that's , you don't want to lie about it. I know it sounds like it sounds absolutely silly, but do you know what I'm saying? Like nothing can ruin your reputation faster.
Speaker 3[inaudible] that being really, really inauthentic. I mean, I think that there's a difference between like aspiring and connecting and resonating with who your target market is and just being completely inauthentic and trying to be someone you're not, right?
Speaker 4Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3Oh, this has been so awesome. Okay. The time has flown by. Oh my goodness. So before I let you go, like I think we've given the listener some really interesting things to think about, new ways of, of considering social proof. And the common thread I'm hearing about really is to use your connections in a way that is, you know, mutually beneficial and to really think about the way that people make these purchasing decisions. The way they make their hiring decisions and that there's so much more opportunity out there to do more of what we're already naturally doing. Right. Awesome. Okay. So before I let you go, do you have any final words of wisdom you want to share? Like maybe the listeners are feeling a little bit overwhelmed or , um , feeling like maybe they don't know where to start. So do you have any final words of wisdom for them?
Speaker 4My words of wisdom are always simply Google social proof. There's some great articles out there. There's no way to cover it all. And I would just say try one thing here and there. Try forming stronger relationships with your network of people. Uh , you know, there's a lot of free and inexpensive ways to establish who you are in the marketplace . Like not everything costs a bunch of money. We're always looking at like, do I invest in this? Do I get an ad here? Do I pay for a monthly membership feed for people to see me? They're like, start really looking at , uh, you know, social proofs relationships. Look at those relationships and how can you nurture, how can you nurture those to continue to be able to grow your business and how can you help someone else grow their business? And so if maybe you call there , if you know client is no , that x, Y,Z , venue photographer, DJ, I always get to that client. Every time you see their social, their social media, you're like, that is that. I wanted to plan that wedding. Why was I not the planner for that wedding? Reach out to those people. Find out where their pain points are. Ask them where they network. Hey, do you happen to go to nace? Do you go to Wippa ? Do you go to eyelea? What networking groups do you go to? Do you, you know, are you going next month? Do you happen to know when it is? Like make common ground with vendors and really put yourself out there to form and build relationships. These don't have to be people that you happy hour with all the time. This is a business. And as much as we love to be friendly because it's who we are in this industry, you're still in business. So how can you focus your efforts, take social proof concepts and form relationships so that everyone grows together.
Speaker 3Oh that is so good. I love that. That was amazing. Katie, work in our listeners find you if they want to reach out to you online.
Speaker 4Sure, absolutely. So um, my social media handles for my every day or my wedding floral business is Kate Ryan design and if you want to follow along for any fun content and information about sales and sales strategy, marketing ideas, ah , it's Katie easily.com or my social media handle for that is sales underscore savant.
Speaker 3Love it. And I will definitely link to those in the show notes. This has been fantastic Katie. It's such a pleasure having you on the show.
Speaker 4There's so much Mary Kay , take care. Talk to you soon.
Speaker 3Well hello again everyone. I hope you enjoyed this interview and that you are now starting to think about the different ways that you can use social proof in your wedding business. That is a wrap for today. Thank you so much for being here, whether it's your first episode or you are a loyal listener, I want you to know that I truly appreciate you. See you next week.
Speaker 2[inaudible] .
Speaker 1Thank you so much for joining me for this week's episode of the Web partner podcast. I'm so incredibly grateful to all of my listeners and would like to take a moment to invite you to keep the conversation going. Head on over to my free online community@thewetprinter.com forward slash join if you enjoyed this episode, help us spread the word by leaving us an honest review on iTunes. I appreciate each and every one of you and welcome your feedback. Until next time,
Speaker 2[inaudible] .