Waiting, wishing, hoping...

This is lots of biz talk as there's not really much else going on right now except for a very cranky, teething baby (2nd molars are painful & he's running a low grade fever & won't eat or sleep unless he's held). So that's not very interesting for chatting about!

I have been in the talks with a bride who's getting married on 7/7/07, probably the most popular wedding date EVER. Not only is it repeating numbers, but also lucky number Sevens AND it's on a Saturday for all the weddings. I'm sure I'll book it and I just hope I am able to book a big package for it because I know I'll get more than just a couple inquiries for this date. I've had 2 already. So, this bride is on the verge of making a decision, said I'm a "front-runner" and she's just waiting to hear back from a couple other photographers before she makes a decision. This particular bride was a referral from my BIL and I think sounds very young. She originally "jokingly" asked for a family discount of sorts & I didn't answer, I just sent my prices & was nice, then she "seriously" wrote me back & said "Hey, you never answered me." So I wrote her back & said that I work independently. (Just so we're all caught up on which bride this is) So, then she just wrote me back this afternoon & said that she was really just joking & hoped that she hadn't offended me, but also added that "you don't know until you ask." ??? Which still leaves me confused. I know that she's still shopping around and I'm also flattered that I'm at the top of her list, but sometimes email is just not the best form of communication. I suggested we meet before she makes a final decision so we can really talk & go over things. Personally, I think she should meet with anyone she's seriously considering, especially a photographer, since she will be followed around very closely all day long by that photographer--so she better feel really comfortable with them! AND I just got my NEW sample album today. YAY! I finally have something really nice to show people now! It's kind of hard to upsell a package if they can't see what an album would even look like in person. And this one will make them say "Wow-e-wow-wow!" I will keep you updated on my 7/7 bride & what she decides.

I also have a woman I work with whose daughter is getting married on the same day but I don't think they've thought that far ahead yet to get a photographer... Not that it's all that far away at this point, but photographers are booked up all over the place, some more than a year in advance, for this date & have been turning brides down left & right. I sent her an info packet and told her I've got someone interested already in an effort to at least hear if they've gotten a photographer yet (so I don't waste any energy on a dead-end lead) or if they've even started looking so I can put myself at the forefront for her to see. I also think her wedding is going to be really nice.

I also got a couple other leads yesterday but one had already found someone else by the time I called him back at 7 last night & the other's date isn't until 10/18/2008--over a year & a half away! She's just gathering prices so she'll know how much she needs to save to get what she wants--excellent planning ahead.

Yesterday I also signed up for Google Analytics and love all the info it provides because I'm really obsessed with who goes to my site. Today is the first full day of data gathered and it's only updated every 24 hrs so I'm anxious to look at it tomorrow & see what it says. It provides info such as new & repeat visitors, where they got to my site from on the web, how long they look at each page, what pages they look at, and where they exit the site. I can also see on the map where my visitors are located across the globe. Cool stuff for you paint-by-numbers types.