I know what I know.

I know writing. I know blogging. I know editing. I know good marketing when I see it.

Ready for your easy-peasy blogging checklist? Click the image above to save your FREE webinar seat now!!

But there’s that old saying that goes a little something like “There’s what you know. Then there’s what you don’t know….then there’s what you don’t know you don’t know!”

And I bet, if you’re anything like me, the third category is where today’s blog post falls.

Because when it comes to free online tools to make your wedding business blogging easier, I bet you didn’t even know to look for them! Let alone that so many even exist.

That’s why I turn to my *super smart* Wedlock forum social media expert Mary Brown for cutting edge tools.

Right now, WedLock members are enjoying a neat forum activity that Mary has set up.

She’s gone out and researched some of the most interesting, easy to use and yes FUN online tools to enhance your blog. To not just make your blog easier to update, but to really make it sing.

She’s posted about ten to our forums, but here are just three:

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Today’s Social Media Forum Activity: FREE Tools to edit photos, create videos,

enhance presentations…Share!

Are you looking for ways to go viral with your messages, engage your fans, reach new audiences, and produce

A sneak peek into our Wedlock Forums...questions asked...and expertly answered!

creative and professional media!? Through the use of these tools, you can accomplish your New Year goals and

enhance your website, blog, and social media sites. Get started with these FREE easy-to-use tools:

Flickr / Picasa – Upload photos to Flickr (Yahoo product) or Picasa (Google product) and then easily organize and share your images. http://www.flickr.com/ http://picasa.google.com/

Picnik – Make your photos fabulous with this fun photo editing tool. http://www.picnik.com/

Photovisi – Create an online photo collage and then import your creative piece of work into your website, blog, or wiki. http://www.photovisi.com/

TwitPic – Post photos and videos to TwitPic and then share your media on Twitter. The four most recent photos uploaded to TwitPic will automatically appear on your Twitter profile. http://twitpic.com/

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Want more free tool recommendations? Try WedLock out right now and access our forums immediately!

Or – save your seat at the January 31 FREE blogging webinar, hosted by Jayne Hallock, Editor In Chief of WedLock. We’ll be reviewing all kinds of tips, tricks and topic ideas.

Register for this free webinar now!!

A Letter From the Editor of WedLock
* Part Two of A Two-Part Series*

A few weeks ago I blogged about how to make 2012 your Year of Fearless Asking.  After talking to folks about that post, I came to realize that a lot of what a lot of wedding pros are ‘scared’ of is…rejection!

Yes, at the end of the day, rejection is at the root of many of our business fears. Do any of these sound like you?

• “I don’t want to ask the bride for a great review…what if she says no!?”
• “I can’t ask another vendor to guest blog for me…what if they say no?”
• “I can’t ask my husband to watch the kids so I can attend a webinar or seminar…what if he says no?”

Take THAT, rejection!

To which I reply – yeah, so what IF?

What if they say no? What’s the worst that can happen? I’ll tell you one thing – whatever the worst outcome to any of the above scenarios is, the benefit of a possible YES greatly outweighs them.

So keep asking! Shove that reluctance aside and ask for what your business needs. Then watch the perks roll in.  Here are a few more ideas to get you going…

Wow, free webinars AND a chance to win an iPad2? Click the iPad above to save your seat at our blogging webinar right now!

Ask for Freebies:

A few weeks ago, while at a tradeshow, my smartphone was stolen. I was crushed and angry and, well, fearful of how much replacing it might cost me.

Then I thought…why not ask TMobile for a massive discount? I have been a loyal customer for almost ten years…surely they could help me out?

And help me out they did! One 10 minute phone call later, the Customer Appreciation department overnighted me a brand new (better!) smartphone for 25% of what they would normally charge. I saved hundreds of dollars…all because I thought to ask.

Keep this in mind next time you’re dealing with a big company. Don’t be afraid to ask for freebies or discounts that can help you keep your business costs down. The worst outcome is them saying no. The best? You saving cold hard cash!

Ask For Favors: Many times, you can easily trade something with another vendor. You can swap services, you can refer brides. You can scratch their back and they can scratch yours, so to speak.

But what if you have nothing to offer…but still need help? Ask anyway! I recently had a weekend business emergency and was panicked with how to juggle this urgent task while watching my four year old. It literally made me lose sleep. Then I thought – wait a minute, why wouldn’t I just ask Friend X if she can keep him for a few hours? I felt ‘guilty’ that I wasn’t able to watch her child any time soon in return, and so I had nothing to ‘barter’ with. But it turns out, she didn’t care and was so wonderful that she swooped over to my house and even picked him up and dropped him off.

This can happen with business associates too. If you need help setting up a booth or moving a piece of equipment, why not reach out to your wedding community? Clearly, you don’t want to abuse this, and you want to make it clear you can and will do the same for them in the future, but asking for a favor now and again can make the difference in your business. Or at the very least – in the level of STRESS you feel running your business!

*****

Now I’m going to ask something of  you.

And as much as it’s a favor to me…its also for YOU.

On January 31, I’ll be presenting a FREE two-hour blogging webinar.

How to do it better, easier, faster…and in more fun ways. And one of the things I’m going to cover is how to get other folks blogging FOR you. Yes, it’s called Guest Blogging and it’s one of the coolest ‘win wins’ in the industry.

So next time you’re short for blogging time or ideas, reach out and ask your fellow vendor if they want to guest blog for you. You win because you get free content on your blog. They win because they get increased exposure by getting in front of your readership. Everyone wins, all because you took the time to “make the ask!” Asking for what you need should be a regular part of your wedding marketing annual plan.

Try it! You’ll be surprised how much your business can grow in 2012…if only you’d ask!

Tell me, in the comments below, what YOU have trouble asking for.

Is it help? Time? Advice? Let the awesome WedLock community overcome those fears..!

And save your seat RIGHT NOW for our fabulous FREE January 31 blogging webinar!

The following is an excerpt from the upcoming two-hour free WedLock Blogging Webinar.

It’s on January 31st…we’re giving away a free iPad2 during it…and you really should save your seat now.

So...read any good blogs lately?

I often hear from wedding pros that they WANT to blog. They know it’s crucial to their business marketing plan…but they just can’t think of what to blog about.

Luckily there are many things you can blog about, if only you are prepared. Heck, I’ll prepare you with one right now!

There’s a topic that is not only easy to write about but one that your brides will LOVE to read about. It’s called The Real Wedding.

How many weddings do you work each year? Do you realize you can milk at least 3-4 blog posts from each wedding?

Simply, easily, and in a way that will make your brides love your blog so much they actually circulate it to their friends?!

In my January 31st webinar, I will go over a whole list of blogging thought-starters and tips. Two hours worth.

Here’s just one:

~   Most wedding pros have a ‘kit’ of some kind they take to every wedding. Whatever yours is, add to it a small notepad that’s JUST for your blogging purposes. It’s important this just be for blogging ideas and nothing but. (Because scrawling a note or two into your longer “To Do” list is a sure way to never read that note – or write that blog post.)

~   Next, during a quiet time at the reception when you’re chatting with guests and bridal party, ask them if they wouldn’t mind giving you a quote or two about what they thought about the wedding, the bride, the food, etc. Tell them you want to feature them in your blog. People love to have their name ‘in lights.’

~   Once they have raved about the wedding in general, move on to specifically ask them about YOUR particular part of the service. Most folks, once they are already in gush-mode, will think of something nice to say about your flowers, your catering, your DJ’ing, etc.

Extra Credit:  Try to get a quote from one or more of the parents of the wedding couple. Why is this extra important?  Because when you later blog about these people, you will have an even more engaging, emotional story to tell in your post.

Once it’s published, simply email a link to that blog post to your bride. Thank her again for allowing you to be a part of her special day and tell her you blogged about it. Explicitly ask her to Facebook about it and send it to her folks to read.

Chances are, the parents could be flattered enough to pass that link around to their friends. And, more importantly, to recommend you to those friends once their kids get engaged!

That’s just one tiny sample of the big blogging webinar that Wedlock will be putting on January 31st.

Save your seat here now, and you could enter to win a free iPad2!