Apparently, lots of people read wedding blogs. I found this out when Maja (Wine on Deck "Director of Marketing") suggested we look into selling Wine Wings as custom-engraved wedding favors or decorations. I picked up a copy of Boston Magazine's twice-yearly wedding guide, and inside was a piece about two local Bloggers.
When I went online, I found a huge range of wedding blogs, from the small ones run by - I assume - wedding planners, to the large ones, with several paid staff and page upon page of vendor listings, ads, and editorials.
I discovered that custom-marked gifts and favors are ubiquitous, but hand-made products with custom engraving are actually quite rare and sought-after. Bingo! We found a new market.
The challenge for us now is figuring out how to reach brides and their ever-so-important advisers: planners, mothers, bloggers, and the media in general. For now, we are trying to soak up as much info as we can through blogs. And it doesn't take too long to find a good blog covering just about any wedding topic or sub-topic that strikes your fancy.
The Green Bride Guide is one such blog.
I really liked the Green Bride Guide, more than most of the blogs I visited. Why? A few reasons. First, they allowed me to add a 1,000 word rant to Wine on Deck's profile (of course, our membership is still pending). This is a good thing, since their survey of our "green-ness" didn't really fit our business. Second, I wasn't suspicious that the blog posts were really PR for companies advertising on the site. in fact, I only noticed a blog once, as I whizzed through to the vendor listings page. The Green Bride Guide is mostly ads and vendor listings, but at least it's honest about what it's doing.
Secondly, as a potential vendor, my application experience was more friendly, but also more rigorous, than other wedding blogs that have vendor listings. We had to fill out a survey which tried to measure our "green-ness", which appeared to be the sole criterion on which acceptance is was based. Compare that to the "big" local wedding blog here in Boston - which has nearly 20 employees, 20% of whom are in ad sales: in order to get on their vendor list, you have to be nominated by a bride who used your product or service, then somebody looks over your company and either green-lights your application, or rejects it.
Now, for a bride looking for a good vendor, be it a photographer, cake maker, or a provider of the best damn gifts and favors in the world (that's us btw), the nomination & approval process of the big local blog looks like it selects for the best vendors. On the other hand, how the staff of the "big" local blog decides whether or not a vendor is accepted to the list after being nominated isn't known.
Our plan is to find a blog that fits our niche in at least one way (local, green, focused on favors & gifts, etc...), and offer free Wine Wings to one bride-to-be from that blog's list of fans. It's a great co-promotion that helps the blog win new followers, and helps us get our product out in front of the people who might LOVE our Wine Wings.
And yes, we will be trying to work with the "big" local blog. After all, the best wedding blogs feature posts from knowledgeable local pros, list the best vendors (and review both bad and good vendors), and provide guidance to brides-to-be. I'm aiming high, and hoping to establish a relationship with one of my two favorite local wedding blogs: Style Me Pretty and Beantown Bride. If you're local, check out the Boston Wedding article about these two blogs.
But if you're looking to have a green wedding, I highly recommend the Green Bride Guide.
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