Growing Your Wedding Business on a Shoestring Budget with Jessica Bishop

Join us as we sit down with Jessica Bishop, the inspiring founder of the Budget Savvy Bride, who transformed her personal wedding planning blog into a go-to destination for budget-conscious couples. Discover Jessica’s journey and her innovative strategies to grow a brand from scratch without spending a fortune. Learn from her experience of juggling a full-time job while reinvesting in her blog. Aspiring wedding professionals will gain invaluable insights on building businesses sustainably, underscored by Jessica’s remarkable achievement of selling over 250,000 copies of her best-selling book through savvy network leverage.

Tune in to uncover cost-effective press and marketing secrets for wedding pros, featuring platforms like Qwoted, HARO, and Source Bottle that connect experts with journalists in search of insights. Social media, especially Pinterest, emerges as a vital tool for capturing attention and potential clients, with expert advice from industry leaders such as Megan Ely. Our conversation also explores the efficiency gained through social media scheduling tools, allowing wedding planners to save time while focusing on what truly matters. With Jessica’s insights, you’ll be equipped to maximize your reach and plan unforgettable weddings on a budget.

Jessica Bishop |

Website | www.thebudgetsavvybride.com
LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/jessicalehrybishop/
Instagram | @budgetsavvybride
Facebook Page | www.facebook.com/budgetsavvybride

Chapters

• 0:00 Wedding Business on a Budget
• 8:29 Wedding Pros Press & Marketing Tips
• 16:32 Social Media Scheduling and Budget-Friendly Weddings

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:28

Welcome back to Wedding Empires podcast. I am so thrilled today to introduce you to Jessica Bishop. Thanks for joining me, Jessica.

Speaker 2: 0:39

Thanks so much for having me Super excited to chat with you. Now whereabouts in the world are you? So I actually am in Playa del Carmen, mexico. Oh yes, very exotic. Yeah, it's not bad. I don't know if you can see the palm trees out my window there in the back.

Speaker 1: 0:56

I can, I can and it's hot. You've got the fan going.

Speaker 2: 0:59

I do. Yeah, it's not winter here. I mean it's winter, I guess, but it's not cold.

Speaker 1: 1:04

Well, everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Jessica. She is the founder of the Budget Savvy Bride, which is a go-to resource for couples who are planning a beautiful wedding, but on a budget. She's also a best-selling author, media expert and host of the Bouquet Toss podcast. With over 17 years in the industry, jessica has been featured in the New York Times, washington Post, gma Brides and more, proving that smart strategies, not big budgets, are the key to success. So today she's here to share her top tips on growing your wedding business on a shoestring budget. We're going to dive into savvy marketing strategies, standing out in a crowded market, and also how you can land major media features all without spending a fortune. So if you're ready to make the most out of your marketing dollars, this episode is for you. So, jessica, your brand, the Budget Savvy Bride, has gone on to really become a go-to resource for couples. What inspired you to start it and how did you grow it into such an internationally recognized brand?

Speaker 2: 2:09

Yeah, well, I mean, I think I came at it in a way similar to probably many wedding pros getting into the industry, sort of like born out of something I went through in my own planning process. You know, there was at the time in 2008, when I started in the States. It was kind of the beginning of the recession at that time and I was freshly out of college working a very entry level job and ended up engaged in planning a wedding on you know, very limited resources and, due to the state of the economy at the time, like both my partner and I's like families weren't really in a position to help us much either. And so we were like we still want to have this wedding. We still want to, you know, have all the people that matter to us there. How are we going to do this in a way we can actually afford?

Speaker 2: 2:52

And so I actually started the budget savvy bride sort of as a personal journal, like a personal blog about my own wedding planning process, just sort of gathering ideas and inspiration along the way, and it grew really organically and by the time the wedding rolled around it had been like a year of blogging and people were like what are you going to do now that your wedding's over. Like this is so helpful, like you should make this a resource. So that was really what spurred the idea and, yeah, it's pretty crazy that I'm still here doing this all these years later, but I love it. I love helping couples and just showing them what's possible within their budget and helping every couple you know have a beautiful wedding, no matter what it is they have to spend.

Speaker 1: 3:35

Right, I must let you know. So the listeners with our podcast aren't usually couples. They are wedding professionals. So in this episode I thought we'd pick your brain about how you've managed to apply those skills to your business.

Speaker 2: 3:50

So I guess, oh, I have like far and beyond.

Speaker 1: 3:54

I mean you can't have a budget savvy you know business without being budget savvy yourself. So I guess in the beginning, why don't, why don't we talk about what were the biggest challenges that you faced in the early days of kind of building that business on a budget?

Speaker 2: 4:08

Yeah, I mean, I think you know, starting out, you know I used a free platform to start the blog.

Speaker 2: 4:14

I used WordPresscom or whateverorg I can't remember which one is the free one and I that's how I started and the audience grew and you know, over time I decided like oh, I think I'll actually buy a domain and like host this thing and like take it, take it somewhere else.

Speaker 2: 4:29

And so it was always sort of like very measured, I think, you know, putting in the effort, seeing the results and then sort of like reinvesting as I went. I didn't, you know, jump off the deep end with no safety net by any means, you know, and I did run the blog for about four and a half years on the side, in addition to like a full time job that I had like a day job as a graphic designer for many years. So I I always say I had sort of like an investor, like in my business. I was working full time and I was dedicating like nights and weekends and every spare, you know, time I had outside of like my social life into, you know, building the blog and building the brand and getting myself out there, and so I think that really served me well, but you know all along, even today, you know no-transcript doing good work and you know, whether it's creating content or or serving couples, that that organic sort of like word of mouth, or you know, seo referral is a great way to grow.

Speaker 1: 5:53

Great, and I know that there's a book that you've done which sold over 250,000 copies. So what were the marketing strategies with that?

Speaker 2: 6:04

Yeah, so, you know, by the time the book came out, it was 2018.

Speaker 2: 6:08

So I'd been, you know, running the site for about 10 years. I've built a pretty large network of, you know, other wedding publishers. You know I always kind of joke like some of my best friends to this day, like personal best friends are people that I've met through the wedding industry, other wedding publishers in particular. We have become very close over the years and so when it came time to launch my book, I really leaned into my network. You know, I reached out to all of my contacts that ran publications and I gave them graphic assets, I gave them copies of the book to give away to their audience. They shared about it on their platforms, on their websites, their social media, and so really really leveraging the network that I've built and, you know, giving them something that they can use to give away to their audience, to add value as well, and so that was really helpful in, like, the launch of the book. And, yeah, I can't say enough about, you know, creating great relationships in the industry.

Speaker 1: 7:04

Okay, awesome, and I guess that's sort of was going to lead me into my next question. So I guess, how do you think small wedding businesses can effectively use content marketing without spending a fortune?

Speaker 2: 7:19

Yeah, I mean, you know organic SEO is really powerful, and so you know any anything you can do to learn about keyword research. You know what are your couples actually looking for, what are the problems that they have, what are the things that keep them up at night. You know, creating content that really answers their questions and solves their problems is great. Obviously, that can go for organic written content, but now, like with this new media landscape, there's so many opportunities to do that on social as well, whether it's, you know, Instagram reels or TikTok or YouTube. Video is huge for everyone, but especially, you know, for couples who are currently planning. So I think that's a great place to go. If I had to choose one at this point, it would probably be YouTube, just because it is really lent to that sort of like SEO, sort of similar to how blogging was back in the day, and it's just going to continue to grow. So that's going to be a big focus for us this year as well.

Speaker 1: 8:21

We love YouTube. I love the shorts as well. Now that's a new feature that we're sort of playing with. It's great. Yes, video is kink. In addition to sort of what you've had going on with your SEO, you have managed to get a lot of press, like the New York Times and GMA, so have you got any advice for wedding pros that want to get more press? So have you got any advice for?

Speaker 2: 8:43

wedding pros that want to get more press. Yeah, absolutely. You know I will say I've been very lucky. You know I've been consistently out there putting out content, helping people, helping couples, for close to two decades now at this point. So I do get a lot of like inbound, sort of like inquiries or press reaching out to me, but it wasn't always that way. Right Like, everybody has to start somewhere, and so you know there are some great platforms that you can take advantage of. You know, at any level, at any stage of business that I really like to look at are there's one called quoted and it's q w o t e d quoted.

Speaker 2: 9:19

And yeah, yeah, oh yeah. It's fantastic. So they, you know, really connect publications, pr representatives or PR agencies and experts together like in one place, and so a lot of times you'll see you know an editor from the Knot or Brides or the Washington Post or the New York Times is looking to speak to an expert about XYZ, and you can go on Quota and you can create a free profile. You can put you know, all sorts of like tags and information about yourself. If you're, you know, a florist or a wedding planner or you own a venue or whatever the case might be. You can add all those sorts of details to your profile and it's sort of like will alert you. It'll send you email alerts when there's a relevant press opportunity that fits your expertise, and so that's a really great place to get started.

Speaker 2: 10:12

I've gotten some really fantastic press mentions through that platform. It's free to sign up and it's free to have a profile. I still use the free version myself, like I said, very savvy, always trying to do it as affordably as possible. But they do have premium features and I think if you pay for the premium version you can respond to the press inquiries faster, so there's a chance that your response to the journalist could be seen first, if you're like the first person to respond. So if you feel like that's important, that's great. You could always try it. But I've been writing for a couple of years with the free version and it's fantastic.

Speaker 1: 10:51

Have you got any other websites like that, or is that the only one that you use?

Speaker 2: 10:57

So there's other platforms as well. I'm not sure if this one is actually still around, but there was one called Harrow help a reporter out. If it is still around, that's another great one to utilize. They would send out sort of like blasts with like a list that you could look at and see if there was anything relevant. I really like quoted because I feel like it's a little more they do the work for you by, you know, only sending you things that are relevant to you. And then you know there's some great folks within the industry itself. You know Megan Ely with OFD Consulting. She has a wedding PR sort of agency and they share amazing press opportunities with people in their collective, which is great as well. I love Megan and all that she does to help wedding pros get out there too.

Speaker 1: 11:47

I happen to know of a good one called Source Bottle, which is very similar. It's spelled S-O-U-R-C-E Source Bottle and they send out sort of call outs on particular subjects that you can subscribe to and you can respond and pitch yourself for stories and things like that I was going to say.

Speaker 2: 12:05

Another thing I would recommend is you know, look at the publications that are writing about weddings. Often, you know, look at who the writers are from the New York Times or the Washington Post, or Brides or the Knot. Follow them on LinkedIn, like. Sometimes, those journalists will post that they're looking for an expert to speak to about a story, and so really don't hesitate to utilize social media networks, especially the ones that are made for more like professional, like networking, like LinkedIn.

Speaker 1: 12:35

Now what about for sort of marketing and business growth? Have you got any tips around free or sort of low cost tools that could help wedding professionals in that way?

Speaker 2: 12:45

Yeah, I mean. So my recommendation to all wedding pros is to be submitting your work to be published right. There's many wedding publications out there not quite as many as there used to be. The media world has been through some changes in recent years, but finding, you know, the publications that are aligned with, like the customers or clients that you're, you know, looking to connect with, is a great thing to do. And then, you know, submitting your actual real wedding features to be published in those places is typically free.

Speaker 2: 13:16

You know there are some publications that charge or that only you know offer features to vendors who are, like, paying members of their directories or things like that. Sorry, my light is like flashing, I don't know what to do. For example, the Budget Savvy Bride we don't have exclusivity when it comes to the real weddings that we'll feature. You know you don't have to be a paying member of our directory in order to do that, and it's a great way to get exposure to couples, not just on our websites, but also on our social media channels as well. So that's something that I think all vendors should be doing, no matter if you're the photographer, the wedding planner, florist or the cake baker.

Speaker 1: 13:56

We actually interviewed Megan Ellie, I think last episode or the one before, and yeah, she's incredible. Obviously she is. She gave us some excellent tips about getting yourself published. So this is good, you know, I think. I think we're definitely kind of covering this at the moment, which is great.

Speaker 2: 14:13

Yeah, well, and also social media as well. Right, like, obviously you can be posting on Instagram, on Pinterest. Pinterest is a huge one, I think, especially for brides. It's such a visual platform. Brides are already going there to sort of make their visual vision boards for their wedding. So putting your stuff out there, making sure it's keyword optimized, especially for your local area, is a great place to start and it's completely free.

Speaker 1: 14:39

I guess, when wedding professionals have reached a point where there is some profits and they're thinking about reinvesting into marketing, have you got any tips around what you think would be the most effective channels for that?

Speaker 2: 14:51

Yeah, I mean when it comes to like paid advertising or spend on those sorts of platforms. Is that what you mean? Yeah, I mean, I think Pinterest is huge. Honestly, you know you can boost your reels, sure, you can get them in front of more people, but at the end of the day, like, are they going to go to your link in bio and click on your website? Maybe not, but Pinterest. Every pin, every image that you upload to Pinterest has a link attached to it, and the click through to your website is going to be much higher percentage chance than a platform like Instagram. So that's definitely what I would recommend.

Speaker 1: 15:25

Yeah, the SEO is incredible with Pinterest. It truly does turn up in search results in a way that you wouldn't imagine. Does it, and a lot of people?

Speaker 2: 15:33

use Pinterest as a social or as a search platform. You know they will go to Pinterest and they'll type in blue bridesmaids dresses or, you know, hydrangea wedding bouquet, and you know, just as if it was like Google image search, and so there's just so much power and really building your presence on that platform.

Speaker 1: 15:52

All right. Final question for you If a wedding pro had $500 to invest in marketing, how would you suggest they spend it for the best return?

Speaker 2: 16:03

Well, if you don't already have a paid Canva subscription, I cannot recommend it enough. I'm such a huge Canva fan girl. I actually went to school for graphic design. I got a BFA in graphic design and I barely opened the Adobe programs anymore. I'm in Canva all day, every day. You can create all sorts of things. You don't have to have design skills, but you can get templates and customize it for your brand, your business, with your colors, your photos, all of the things.

Speaker 2: 16:33

And having the paid subscription really isn't that crazy. I think it's maybe like $120 or something like that a year. I personally have a team plan and so that's, I think, what I pay for mine. But and it's just, it's so powerful you can even schedule social media posts right right from it. So I think that's a great investment If you're not using another social media scheduling tool and working weddings and all of that is a better use of your time, right? So anything you can use to schedule or automate is huge, I agree. I agree Work smarter, not harder, like being savvy, is all about being resourceful and making the most of what you have, whether it's planning your wedding or running your business. So I'm always trying to help everyone find ways to do things the savvy way.

Speaker 1: 17:35

I love it. So, guys, if you want to check out Jessica and her amazing business, the Budget Savvy Bride, that is the website, thebudgetsavvybridecom. You can also find her on LinkedIn, also on Instagram and Facebook, and I'll pop the links into the show notes. Thank you so much, jessica, for joining us. It's been a pleasure spending this time with you and getting these tips. I think also, it's probably a good place for people that are wedding planners to go and have a look for some money-making not money-making, but money-saving ideas for clients that might be trying to save in particular areas. Right, go and have a look through the website and get some ideas. Well, thank you very much.

Speaker 2: 18:16

Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1: 18:18

You're welcome and if you'd like to join us and find out more about Wedding Empires, our website is WeddingEmpirescom. We're also on Instagram and TikTok at Wedding Academy Live. Thanks, guys.