How To Grow Your Referrals From Other Wedding Professionals - Part One.

Referrals from other wedding professionals are a huge source of business for us.  A great comment on a blog post below reminded me that this topic deserves a blog post all of its own! In fact it deserves a whole series of posts. Here's part one - Where to meet and connect with other wedding professionals.

With marketing dollars tight for most of us, we often wonder how to generate new business without going into debt. Very often we forget that the simplest and least expensive form of marketing is often the best. Networking with other wedding professionals can open up a whole new stream of referrals.  Here are a few tips for uncovering new networking connections.

• Search online for local wedding professionals in your neighborhood. Call them to introduce yourself and keep in contact via email.
• Next time you have a booth at your local wedding show, take a few minutes to walk the room before the show starts. Introduce yourself to all the vendors who you do not already know. Take their business card and follow-up with them within a few days. Say hello to the wedding vendors you already know - but focus on meeting new connections. You can follow-up with older contacts at any time so don't catch-up and chat with friends when you could be meeting new contacts.
• The photographer or event planner working next to you this weekend may be a great source of leads.  Be sure to introduce yourself to ALL the vendors at each wedding/event you book.  Make sure you swap business cards and tell them you'll be in touch. Remember to follow up within a few days. 
• Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are all great networking tools as long as you don't abuse them. Stay focused on business networking and don't get side tracked chatting with old high school friends! My experience has shown that participating in wedding related groups on LinkedIn has been a great networking tool. 
• Meetup is a great place to meet other wedding vendors. You can sign up for free and join a group in your neighborhood.

I'm sure they are many other ways and places to meet and network with wedding professionals - please add any that I've missed.

Don't miss part two of our series How To Grow Your Referrals From Other Wedding Professionals which will be posted on Friday 3/19. The second post will cover How To Network With Your New Connections - aka Networking Etiquette.