Why not use free ad options?

For the life of me I can't figure out WHY paying advertisers especialy in the current economy don't use every available resource that they have. PEOPLE! Advertising is expensive! Use the extras to get the biggest bang for your buck. Not sure what extras there are ASK! Do a little comparison shopping. Do you offer free event listing? Bridal Leads? And for goodness sake, if you are lucky enough to win an award get the hi and lo resolution graphics and then USE it! Toot your horn!! It's as good as money in the bank. Ask the magazine or blog or web site that you advertise with if they allow you to promote yourself through an e-newsletter to people who may be interested in their servces. Broker a deal for a giveaway. It doesn't have to be big but that is low cost advertising if your business is seen by your targeted audience. In todays economy these are things every business should be taking advantage of and looking for. Our company for example, offers lots of free services to our advertisers. On our website, advertisers can post event listings at no charge as often as they like. Since we are a wedding website we allow our advertisers to post Real Wedding images (which brides devour!) and offer a link back to their website. Our advertisers also can write an advertorial and have it posted on our website, in our e-newsletter blast to brides and possibly have it blogged or twittered about. In our magazine every single issue has enormous editorial opportunities! I am always amazed by businesses that fail to take advantage of so many opportunities. If you look around it is the savvy business owner who looks for these opportunities and his or her business is the one that even under dire circumstances, such as our current economy, is able to ride the wave better than others.

Get a gmail account

Okay it's free that's a good thing but that's not a unique feature. One of the most useful features I have found is that you can EASILY search your gmail account using an email address or any word in the email regardless of subject or content. So why is that useful? Well because who can remember everything? I use my gmail account to automatically copy all emails that come to my business account. That way I can easily clean out my business email account with peace of mind knowing that if I need something I just go to my gmail account and search it out. Believe me that isn't a rarity! I search info on my gmail account through out the day! Whether it was to clear the air about agreed upon sevices, to research last I spoke with someone or track down a lost email address, general communication or bill. It is at my fingertips. And because gmail gives you a huge amount of storage, for the average and not so average joe, you rarely will ever have to delete anything giving you years of searchable info.

vintage wedding style

Whether you are a bride on a budget or a budgetless bride here is a cool idea that you can use! Vintage is in. It's bigger than big. So if you are planning a vintage wedding start your decor with vintage table design. Mismatched pretty tea cups make beautiful votive holders day or night. For pennies you can aquire these at local flea markets, garage sales, or vintage retail stores or maybe even grandma's house! Add a tin pitcher from an art supply store and some seasonal wildflowers that look like they were freshly picked from the garden and you've got the start of a beautiful shabby chic wedding that your guests will be sharing and duplicating for seasons to come. You can paint the pitcher and stencil a pretty floral design. Go to a local fabric store and pick up "vintage" print design fabrics to cover the tables. If you aren't a seamstress or short on time fabric glue and an iron work wonders for a single event. Have other great ideas? We would love to hear them!