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The Pinterest Queen is here : Gabby Pinkerton
104 Plays4 years ago
I met Gabby 4 years ago at a networking event. I love her. Gabby is the most creative wedding planner I know. Seriously, check out her boho glam weddings. Pinterest has really helped her business on so many levels. She was talking about Pinterest 4 years ago and is still talking about it. I call her the Pinterest Queen.
In this episode she encourages wedding pros to get on Pinterest and use it as a strategic marketing too and portfolio platform! She give's us basic tips to get you started.
- Why pinterest is important for wedding pros to use for marketing.
- Pinterest is a search engine and a social platform .
- Basic tips to create a pinterest profile that stands out.
Download her freebie
https://gabbypinkerton.com/PinterestTipSheet
Gabby Pinkerton is the CEO of Gabby Pinkerton Co., a Pinterest Marketing & Strategy Consulting Company. Gabby helps fellow wedding professionals grow their wedding business and attract their ideal clients through Pinterest after she grew her own wedding business, Cause We Can Events, into a 6-figure international wedding planning company. Fun fact: Gabby, her husband and their 2 dogs lived on a boat in Los Angeles for many years and just recently relocated to Nashville. TN.
You can find Gabby Here:
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Background
00:00:00
Speaker
Today I chat with my friend Gabby Pinkerton from Cause We Can Events, recently relocated to Nashville. She's the most creative wedding planner I know, and I call her the Pinterest Queen! She's been talking passionately about Pinterest when I met her four years ago, and she's still talking about it. She gives a very cool freebie at the end, so you'll want to enjoy the whole episode. Enjoy!
00:00:23
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host, Carissa, and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all. I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:00:52
Speaker
time hacks because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon!
Gabby's Dual Role in Weddings and Pinterest
00:01:15
Speaker
All right, Gabby, the Pinterest queen is here. Oh my God. Good to see you and hear you, Carissa. How are you doing? Doing good. It is wedding season. So we do both weddings and Pinterest. So it is complete chaos, but also super, super happy to be back at work. How about you?
00:01:34
Speaker
Yeah, I had a wedding yesterday, but been so crazy busy and busy with like this podcast and launching like a bunch of new things with the coaching program. But yeah, I like to follow your footsteps and just, you know, going the online route. So I'm so excited to hear everything that you had to say today. Okay, so you're pretty famous in our industry, the wedding industry, but for people that don't know you, tell me who you are and who you serve.
00:02:01
Speaker
That's hilarious. I love that I'm famous. I'm not, but thank you for saying that. I am both a destination wedding planning planner and I do Pinterest marketing for wedding pros. So we do kind of those festival style glamping weddings, but also I've built my business a lot on Pinterest and blogging. And during COVID, I found that there was a need, like people needed to know about Pinterest and learn how to grow
00:02:27
Speaker
their business with it. So we launched a whole other branch of our business, like completely different from our planning company, but it still serves wedding pros. So now it's kind of a, it's full time thing on its own. So we're, yeah, it's been so much fun to do both.
Pinterest's Power for Wedding Professionals
00:02:43
Speaker
Yeah, I think me and you met at Tuesdays together and I had a meeting at my house and you came over and you're just talking about Pinterest and I think you were following like, is it Melissa Griffith?
00:02:55
Speaker
She's also into Pinterest and we're just trying to pick your brain and you're still talking about it like four years later. Oh my God. I know that's so funny because at the time I was just doing what I knew to do with my own account. And now I've actually had time to like really dive in and do some research and talk to other pro like Pinterest people about it. And I was like, Oh, turns out it was doing the right thing all along. So yeah, that's so funny that you remember that that's four or five years ago.
00:03:23
Speaker
I know people are like what is this Gabby talking about Pinterest like we had no idea and yeah you definitely done your research and you developed you have it a course right now or do you just do coaching one on one.
00:03:35
Speaker
Both. Yeah, we do management for people. So all the wedding pros that don't want to manage their own Pinterest account, because we know it is time consuming, and I get it that you don't want to do all the things. But we also do, for more of our DIY wedding pros, we do have a course on Pinterest and blogging. And it's kind of fun because these types of, and you know this, Carissa, because you probably offer different things with coaching, but
00:04:01
Speaker
I found that everybody learns so differently. Some people are more visual and they need to re-listen to a course online. Some people are more, they learn better by talking and some people learn more by doing. And some people are like, I know it's important. I know it's valuable, but I don't want to do it myself. So please do it for me. And like, that's not possible in every aspect of business, right? Like, especially when it comes to coaching, the person has to do their own work.
00:04:28
Speaker
but it's kind of fine fun to find like what best fits each client.
Finding Niche Markets in Weddings
00:04:33
Speaker
Yes. Um, we're going to dive in all things Pinterest a little bit later, but I really love the story about how that one wedding of yours like really went viral. Um, I think it was Chloe Moore's wedding. Um, that was had bazillion, um, views or likes, but yeah, it walked me through that story that kind of that wedding that blew up.
00:04:53
Speaker
Oh yeah. So this was back, yeah, 2016. We had done this wedding out in Moab and it was kind of the first, in my opinion,
Adventurous Weddings and Lifestyle
00:05:02
Speaker
the first festival glamping wedding on the scene at the time, at least in the US. I think the UK and Australia maybe had done something like this, but it was kind of unheard of still in the US. And we went out to the middle of the desert and we had this like festival style wedding and it got published on green wedding shoes, like a big two day feature.
00:05:22
Speaker
And I just not really knowing what I was doing on Pinterest, I just started pinning the photos from green wedding shoes onto my own Pinterest account. And to this day, we are now like five years later, they are still getting traffic every single day from those pins. Now, the one mistake that I made was that
00:05:44
Speaker
they like green wedding shoes beat me to the punch like they Blogged about it before I did and had I blogged about it I could have pinned those photos and gotten the traffic directly to my website my website, but instead I
00:05:59
Speaker
the traffic is going to green wedding shoes, but it's totally fine because at the end of the day, I'm credited down below and I am still getting those link backs, right? So in the end of like, it's still super beneficial to me to do that, but darn missed opportunity there.
00:06:17
Speaker
Wow. Yeah, the tree that keeps on giving. That's amazing. Seriously. Yeah, I wanted to also ask you how did you come up with this vision of like this desert glam festival type
Adjusting to Nashville and Wedding Trends
00:06:30
Speaker
wedding? Like, where did that come from? I mean, I'll be honest for this one Chloe, the bride at the time, she is a wedding photographer herself and just super, super creative. She and her now husband who is an architect, like they really had
00:06:46
Speaker
the vision for this. And I went with it. And I think that was what made me different at the time is I was up for anything. I was willing to get my hands dirty. I was open to any type of weird vision that they had. And looking back, it wasn't weird at all. In fact, it was probably the coolest thing we've ever done. And ever since then, I realized this is really my niche market. And you and I talk about niche markets a lot.
00:07:15
Speaker
I'm a big believer in figuring out what you're really good at and what you love in the wedding industry or in the business, whatever business you're in and getting really, really specific with that. Would you say that's kind of what you've done over the years too, Krista? Yeah. Especially, I mean, in your photography. Yeah. I mean, the riches are in the niches, right? I definitely go for that colorful vibe.
00:07:37
Speaker
the colorful walls and like the cool industrial venues in LA. I like that hip stylish ride. After doing it for a decade, I definitely know my client really well. But I think I always have like the eye for the color. Pretty much like
00:07:54
Speaker
not the dark and moody and not the boho, but just like super colorful, super bright. That is like my woo factor. So I always ask my interviewees like, what is your woo factor? What really makes you stand out? And you could talk a little bit like about the wedding side and also like the Pinterest side. Oh, I love that question. There's, by the way, your last name, anybody with a great last name
Building a Team in the Wedding Industry
00:08:16
Speaker
like yours can do so much on the creative branding side. I'm always thinking like, man, if I had the name woo, there's so much I would do.
00:08:24
Speaker
So yes, I love this. I love it. Woo factor for us, I guess, for me. I think, yeah, being super adventurous and thinking outside the box is probably our specialty. There's nothing that we say we can't do. And ironically, our company is called Because We Can Events.
00:08:48
Speaker
And it didn't mean it in this way. But at the end of the day, we've realized that there's a lot of things that we will do that other planning companies won't touch with a 10-foot pole. So I think that makes us very, very different. And we're just adventurous. We live and breathe this lifestyle, too. And then on the Pinterest side, we've really specialized in the wedding industry. And I think a lot of other Pinterest people out there take all sorts of businesses under their wing.
00:09:19
Speaker
And I just know where my strengths are and where my weaknesses are. And I can tell you that I'm not going to be the best fit for everybody on Pinterest. I don't know the product-based businesses as well as the service-based wedding businesses. And I don't follow all the trends in the food industry or in the fashion industry, but I do follow them in the wedding industry.
00:09:41
Speaker
Again, I think like I, you know, just specializing like I loved your expression, the riches or the niches. And that is very true, like, speak down and specialize in that. I love that. And speaking of living outside the box, you actually lived on a boat.
00:10:01
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And was it Pedro? San Pedro? Yeah. Yeah. So we just moved to Nashville a year and a half ago. And prior to that, we were living, my husband and our two dogs and I were living on a boat in San Pedro. So just like near Long Beach area, if anyone's familiar with the LA California area. But it was great. I mean, it was both an adventurous thing that we wanted to do. We also
00:10:29
Speaker
just found that living on a boat was cheaper than trying to rent in LA and we could use our money to travel and do, you know, other things that we really valued in life. And yeah, it was awesome. I'm sad. I was really sad when we moved, but we knew that we needed to buy a house. And to be honest, Carissa, like we bought during COVID, which was a huge gamble because who knew, like we didn't know what was going to happen. And our house has just in the last year and a half has
00:10:57
Speaker
probably increased to like $100,000 already. So it's nuts. Wow. Dang, that's so good. That's amazing. You did the right thing.
00:11:09
Speaker
I know. We miss you, but you did the right thing. I know. I miss you guys. The total gamble. What's it like in Nashville? The wedding industry out here is great. You know what I like about it is that it is not, and hopefully nobody from Nashville is listening, but it's not yet as cool as the West Coast weddings, but they are slowly getting here. So they always say trends start on the West Coast and slowly make their way East. Well, Nashville is finally hitting
00:11:39
Speaker
the boho, the modern, that kind of stuff. And there are certainly weddings that have happened that are boho and modern in the past, but I feel like our expertise that we've maybe used up in California and we've done those types of festival weddings so much out West. Now we're using our expertise here in Tennessee area and we've actually like
Pinterest as a Business Driver
00:12:00
Speaker
come up with really cool things that people haven't seen yet. So it's been fun. We get to start over a little bit, but yeah, we absolutely love it out here.
00:12:09
Speaker
That's awesome. This is kind of a different topic, but I always like to ask this. What is your biggest accomplishment in your business? Biggest accomplishment? I would say the fact that we are recognized on the wedding planning side for destination and we have gone to some really, really cool destinations. And I do feel like I'm bragging when I say this, but I'm really proud of it because
00:12:35
Speaker
I know that's something that's really sought after for wedding pros, like people do want to travel, they do want to do destinations, and that's something we've been able to do. So a lot of international Europe, we went to South Africa, we did Canada, which is where I'm from. So that's been really, yeah, something that I've been really proud of. And then on the Pinterest side, what I'm really proud of is a little bit smaller, but kind of a big deal for this person.
00:13:02
Speaker
we have a full-time employee dedicated to our Pinterest clients. And to me, having, like, being able to create a full-time job position for somebody during a pandemic was really something I was proud of. And she, you know, is anywhere from 35 to 40 hours a week and entirely dedicated to managing
00:13:27
Speaker
our Pinterest clients. And she probably at this point knows more about Pinterest than I do. So really proud of her for that. Wow. How did you find her? She started as a wedding assistant for me here in the Tennessee Knoxville National area. And when COVID hit and we kind of paused all our weddings, I wanted to still try to give her hours. So I brought her more on as admin and had her working on my Pinterest account. And then when we launched,
00:13:57
Speaker
The Pinterest company for other wedding pros, I brought her on and see how she would do and she's crushing it.
00:14:04
Speaker
with that. So now she prefers to do wedding planning, which is awesome. Like I'm glad she found what she is about. Oh, I'm so proud of you. That's actually one of my biggest accomplishments. This year I hired on Lisa let studio as my assistant, but you know, she does everything for me but to help me with the coaching program. She's a little bit like a jack of all trades. But yeah, that was
00:14:29
Speaker
Like our first call, I just felt so legit, you know, doing everything myself for over a decade. And I'm like, Oh my God, like I can actually pass over things to her and like talk about our programs and goal plan. It was amazing. Yeah, I just don't like such a badass. Doesn't that feel both scary and empowering at the same time when you hire somebody because you're responsible for someone's salary, like you have to pay them. But also,
00:14:59
Speaker
it makes you feel like you said, legit. And you're like, I'm a legit business. I have a team and I know that I'm not alone doing this too, which is like always hire people who are better than you is probably one of the best tips that I have for people hiring, but that's not the point for today. But yeah, I'm so proud of you for that. That's like makes us feel so good.
00:15:20
Speaker
Oh, thank you. I know. I think what I learned is when you have to hire a team member is when you have like a really big vision. And you see like the company growing exponentially. I think that's a good indicator of when you should hire someone for your team because you definitely can't do everything yourself. You're gonna pull your hair out for sure. Yeah. And in your case, Carissa, like for you know, anybody listening to I think it is important to mention coaching as that first step.
00:15:50
Speaker
to hiring because I think what a coach and you and I have both had coaches over the years and now you're offering it to your audience but I think what a coach does is it it is somebody that you pay obviously but that you you get a bit of a feeling on how it would be if you were in that mentorship position like for other people so you get to say okay this person is taking me under their wing they are
00:16:16
Speaker
telling me how to organize my business or empower me or, you know, whatever that is. And then you feel confident being a leader and then it trickles down to, okay, now I know that I have to be the one to grow the vision. I am the CEO. I have to think big. My time is not best spent scheduling Instagram posts maybe, right? And so then you're like, I need somebody to take on the smaller hourly tasks.
00:16:45
Speaker
And that's a great place to start. I think even having somebody five to 10 hours a week and giving them tasks that are lower value, you know, dollar per hour, and you become the visionary, the creative, and you go out and get the business is probably what I don't know, is that how you've experienced coaching over the years?
00:17:05
Speaker
Yeah, I think definitely I have a coach now. So she's a coach for coaches. And she's giving me like, all I need from her is like that big vision, like, can this really work for me? And how I could really see myself as a coach? And how am I going to get these leads? Like, I know how to get
00:17:22
Speaker
wedding, a couple leads, but I don't know necessarily how to get photographer lead. So it's all new to me. So I just really needed to hire coach because I don't want to be, you know, hustling for 10 years like I did. Like I want to go straight from like zero to 100. And that's what I want my students to be from zero to 100. Like I don't want them to struggle with the things I did or make mistakes like I did. So yeah, definitely hiring a coach.
00:17:50
Speaker
is very important. But I guess that segues to our topic. And we're going to talk all things Pinterest today. But the point number one that you mentioned on the notes was, why is Pinterest so important to wedding pros? Gabby, tell me you're the Pinterest queen. Okay, well, so here's the thing is I think a lot of us in the wedding industry, we understand Pinterest as a platform, like more of a mood board platform, right? Like we've all used it to some extent,
00:18:18
Speaker
with our clients or our own personal mood boards per se. So where people don't know is that it is a, or what people don't know is that is a very, very powerful business tool, like a marketing tool. And it is a way for people to literally type in a search term and for your content to pop up in front of them. So like, if you can imagine, there's something like 40 million brides looking
00:18:45
Speaker
every year on Pinterest for wedding content, like 40 million. So what if you even got like 0.1% of that 40 million that are getting you seeing your content and booking you? So I think that's, you know, and it's, it's literally one of the biggest places they go for wedding content. And so our role as wedding pros is to get our content on there and to make it enticing and to keyword it properly.
00:19:14
Speaker
for those couples to find it. And then the rest goes from there. So couples find our content on Pinterest, so a pin, and they click on it, and it goes to our website. And then from there, of course, you have to have some type of combination of converting content and call to actions on your website to make sure that they are taking that extra step and inquiring or signing up for your email list or whatever that is. But for the most part, you know, I think
00:19:42
Speaker
wedding pros just don't know that it's not only a tool that you can use to create vision boards and mood boards for your couples, but it is a marketing platform that you should 100% be on. Yeah, I mean, what do you think the percentage is of like wedding photographers using it and not using it? I've never looked that up. But I am seeing, I would say the top three vendors that I see on Pinterest are photographers, planners and florists.
00:20:09
Speaker
Everybody else, I don't see much of you on there, and I would love to see more of other types of vendors on there. But those three have somewhat of a presence, which is great. But I still think there's maybe 30% of all photographers are on there, and they're still at 70% who are not. That is my best guess, because I still get reactions of utter confusion on how to use Pinterest every day.
00:20:40
Speaker
So I'm still thinking that people just don't know how to use it well. Okay, so I used to blog for a long time and then I stopped blogging after two babies and the Reels feature came out on Instagram because that kind of blew up my business more. Can I still pin things without blogging? Great question. Yes, but I do think that blogging, a combination of blogging plus Pinterest is the best way to convert.
00:21:08
Speaker
So you want to get you know, I guess it depends what your goals are if you want to just gain followers on Pinterest then creating in-house In-house like content such as idea pins, which is essentially like a real or an Instagram story that lives on Pinterest Then you could absolutely create without a blog But if you're looking to drive traffic to your website and then convert Pinterest users and viewers into
00:21:38
Speaker
clickable potential clients on your website, then I really recommend blogging as the best way to do that.
Pinterest as a Search Engine
00:21:45
Speaker
You can absolutely also link to your Instagram account and see how that goes, but how it is with TikTok and Instagram where they don't like sharing each other's platform and content, the same is kind of true for Pinterest and
00:22:01
Speaker
and other social media things. So I would just always try to create your your very own content and send to something that you own, which is your website. Yeah, I mean, just a little bit backstory about me and you, you actually really do think out of the box. So you took me to a venue. I think it was, was it Huntington Beach?
00:22:22
Speaker
Yeah, Huntington Bay Club. Yeah, Huntington Bay Club. So you never shot a wedding there or planned a wedding there. I never shot a wedding there. But you reached out to them to do a venue walkthrough. And then I took the photos. And you blogged about it about the venue and tagged it and then pinned it. So you're just so innovative. And I love that about you. You're always thinking outside the box.
00:22:43
Speaker
I think it's important to not be afraid to try something. Did I try to do Tumblr one time? Yes. Was I successful? No. Did I open a TikTok account? No, I haven't even touched TikTok because I can only handle a certain
00:23:10
Speaker
Workload when it comes to social stuff, but I think you find you need to find what works for you and a lot of these things too is I think With Pinterest it is a very long-term process very similar to SEO right SEO is like that Weird thing that you don't quite know what an SEO person is doing But they're doing things and you know, it's important and all of a sudden you start getting traffic to your website a year later That's very much like what Pinterest is for some people it happens
00:23:39
Speaker
three months later and they start getting traffic, for some people it's a year plus and it just depends on your imagery, your words, your captions, all that kind of stuff and also what people are in the mood to search that day. So yeah, it's a long-term game for sure.
00:23:58
Speaker
Yeah, that brings us to your point number two, which is Pinterest is a search engine. So you could talk to us about like, what the heck do people search? How do we tag ourselves? Is it location? Is it venue? I have no idea.
00:24:14
Speaker
Hey guys, a little commercial from yours truly. Are you tired of meeting with wedding couples and then waiting and waiting for a decision? Or worse, getting ghosted completely? Whether you're a new photographer or just starting out an experienced pro or anywhere in between, you can change that dynamic right now. I created an ebook and mini course about how to master the dreaded sales call and get that. Heck yes, it's only $37. So get yours today. Yeah, great question.
00:24:41
Speaker
I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that people think of Pinterest as another social media platform and it's not untrue, but it is mostly a search engine. And what that means is people go to Pinterest, they have an idea in mind and they want to see a bunch of inspiration with that idea. So they go in and they type a keyword and they press enter. And so that means to me,
00:25:07
Speaker
if I can caption or if I can add a title to my image with that keyword, then my content is going to show up, right? And then I hope that that person clicks on it and heads over to my website. So there's a lot of trying to think what are our couples searching? And there's obviously ways to do keyword research with that, but there's also just thinking if you don't want to pay for websites that do keyword searching,
00:25:33
Speaker
try to ask your past clients, right? Pull your clients or look back to keywords that they were typing when they inquired, you know? So definitely search engine. Now there is a little bit of a social media part to Pinterest, which is this new content creation that they've been wanting people to do. So basically they came out with this thing, like I mentioned earlier, it's called idea pins.
00:26:01
Speaker
And the idea pins are just kind of Instagram stories or reels that you would create as just content. It can be helpful tips and tricks. It could be behind the scenes as a wedding photographer, like something that's not super curated, but that's kind of fun. There's maybe music, there's video, or there's imagery. And that is stuff that lives on Pinterest forever and turns Pinterest into a little bit of a social media platform.
00:26:29
Speaker
So you come up with really cool ideas for your Pinterest in your newsletters. So what is your thought process behind that? Like are you thinking, Oh, like five tips for weddings during the pandemic or your top five bohemian styles or five different alters? Like what is your creative thought process behind all your Pinterest headlines?
00:26:56
Speaker
Yes. Okay. So my thought process is really, first I need to figure out the overall keyword that I want to focus on. I don't want to have 12 different topics in one post, right? Or one pin. I want to focus on something, but I also look at an image and I want to make sure that I describe what I see in an image because Pinterest can not only read text, but they can read images.
00:27:23
Speaker
So for example, if you are going to pin a photo of a cake, but you type, this blue wedding by the ocean was so fun. If that's your caption, it has nothing to do with cake. Pinterest is going to find that there's a disconnect there. And it might be true that that was a blue wedding by the ocean. But for that very specific photo to be found, you want to talk about the cake. So you could say something more along the lines of,
00:27:53
Speaker
this beautiful blue three-tiered cake was the focal point at this ocean wedding in Malibu, whatever. If you wanted to mention the location of it, then great. But yeah, I think the first thing is to try to not, you don't have to come up with some crazy creative story on Pinterest. It's more about thinking strategically of what do you see in this image and what do you think,
00:28:21
Speaker
a couple, a brighter groom or couple is going to search to get to that photo. They're going to search probably three tiered cake or blue cake or wedding cake ideas, right? Something like that. It's also a little bit of trial and error. I 100% have some pins that have zero views on them, 100%. And it's fine. I do want to move on.
00:28:46
Speaker
And I evaluate, I look back and I say, was it the photo? Was it the keyword that was incorrect or something else? What else happened? So yeah, I think Pinterest is a very forgiving platform, meaning if you make a mistake,
00:29:03
Speaker
don't worry about it, move on to the next thing. Yeah, I love
Creating a Compelling Pinterest Profile
00:29:07
Speaker
that. I didn't know they had that AI system where they could actually see the photo and kind of know what it is. That's very interesting. Okay, so this brings us to the bulk of
00:29:20
Speaker
the interview, but you're going to talk about basic tips to make your Pinterest profile stand out and basically your whole profile like bio and everything and how it looks. So I'm so excited for this part. Yeah. Take us away. Yeah. So okay. So really the thing is, with Pinterest, we always have to remember keywords
00:29:43
Speaker
are the way to go, right? So when you are thinking about any text on Pinterest, keep keywords in mind. So again, we're not necessarily storytelling like we might be on Instagram. We are strategically thinking about how to get our information found through keywords and imagery. So first thing I would recommend is your photos. You have a profile page that allows you to put a backdrop photo and a small photo of your face.
00:30:13
Speaker
So for the backdrop photo, I 100% recommend picking something that best represents your work, or if you were to attract your ideal client, what would you want them to see in one photo? And that's a lot of pressure, especially like, Carissa, you're a photographer, and I know that's probably gonna be really hard for you to pick one single photo. But if you're like, this best represents what my dream couple would love to see, that is the photo that can go on there. And of course, you can absolutely change it
00:30:42
Speaker
you know, a few months from now where you want to make it seasonal by all means, change it when you want. And then your little circle photo should be a photo of your face. There are very few places that Pinterest allows you to really get personal with your audience. So 100% put a photo of your face there.
00:31:02
Speaker
as opposed to your logo. I just think that's kind of, you know, personalized the account a little bit more. Yeah. So with my students, I call this the hero image. And I always tell my students just, you know, when you're shooting a wedding, think of that hero image, like, what do you want to put on your Pinterest profile? What do you want to put on the headline of your or the top of your website or your Facebook, or
00:31:26
Speaker
the profile picture of your on your Instagram or that top square. So always think of that hero image. So when you're talking about Pinterest, when you said that, I was like, wow, yeah, you really need to make your photos stand out and just look different from everyone else from this saturated market. So oh, I love that. Yeah, that's exactly true. The hero images. Yeah, because you really have a you have like a few seconds, a millisecond.
00:31:54
Speaker
to impress that client when they click on your profile, right? So you better catch their attention pretty quickly. Yeah, so after the imagery, really the next thing you're going to look at is your profile name and your bio. So let's remember when we have words or anywhere that requires text on Pinterest, you want to start thinking strategically about your keywords. So your profile name should probably list the name of your business or if it's your name, go ahead and add the name of your business. And then a few words on
00:32:24
Speaker
kind of who you are, what you do. So, you know, for you, Carissa, it could be Carissa Wu, colorful photographer, or if you want to go location-based, right? You could say Los Angeles wedding photographer. It's totally up to you as to what you want to focus on with that keyword. A lot of people like to do location. Others like to do style, like modern, boho, glam, whatever that is. Totally up to you.
00:32:54
Speaker
So right after that, you're going to have a little block of text that's your bio. And there is where you're going to reiterate with a few more words, but basically we're repeating what your profile name was and elaborating a little bit. So really in that section, you want to tell us who you are, what you do, and who you do it for. So Carissa, it could be like, you know, Los Angeles wedding photographer specializing in colorful,
00:33:25
Speaker
fusion weddings with couples who like to have an epic dance party, right? I'm just making this up, but you kind of get to tell us who you are, what you do, and who you do it for. Now, do start thinking about your keywords. I love that. Do start thinking about your keywords a little bit during that little block of text because you may want to say,
00:33:50
Speaker
You know, maybe you start doing some research and instead of epic dance parties something that's trending is Five tiered cakes and you're like, oh, yeah, my couples love big cakes so maybe your profile bio says something with and couples who love five tiered cakes and I know that sounds silly and
00:34:13
Speaker
but it is something that's going to pop up in search results. So you have to start thinking about what that's going to look like in your profile file. And again, you can totally customize that however you want. Oh my gosh, you are the queen. After you've set up your profile, now your job is to create boards and pins within each board. So what it looks like is it's all these little
00:34:42
Speaker
squares on your profile and they're like folders and you are then to keep all your images in these folders. So again, start thinking, what are you going to name that board? Do you think just putting wedding photos is going to be helpful in a search or perhaps putting wedding at XYZ venue would be a little more helpful, right? Because now we're getting more specific.
00:35:09
Speaker
And if a couple is saying, ooh, I want to get married at XYZ venue, I want to see what type of wedding inspiration is there, then it makes sense to name your board very specifically with that type of title so that you're attracting people who you know are going to be interested in that venue. So again, it's a lot of research when it comes to your keywords. But at the end of the day, once you have it set up, give it a few months. It's going to take Pinterest a few months to properly keyword you.
00:35:38
Speaker
Get your stuff in there and be consistent with the pinning. So adding images, at least I do two to four pins per day. If you can only do one per day, but you are super consistent with that, then I would say start there. What are your favorite boards or what are your boards called? And do you use a tailwind to kind of pre-plan all your pins and schedule them?
00:36:06
Speaker
Well, I have a lot of different boards and definitely people can go look on my own Pinterest account to see what those are. But I think my most popular one is desert. I think it's something like called desert weddings or desert wedding inspiration. And it's very specific to desert weddings that we've done. But I'm trying to say, oh, yes. And yes, we do use Tailwind to schedule all of that. So
00:36:34
Speaker
There are a lot of other schedulers. I like Tailwind specifically because they're a direct marketing partner with Pinterest. So you don't get penalized for scheduling your content. So yeah, I 100% recommend Tailwind for that. And they always kind of do, they do Facebook Lives and they update everybody with, you know, hey, here's what's new on Pinterest. Here's what you should be looking out for. Here are things that are changing. So I really like following them. Cool, cool.
00:37:03
Speaker
Um, anything else you want to tell us before I get into like my rapid fire questions? Oh my gosh, rapid fire. I would say I think just consistency and keywords. That's what you need to focus on. Just consistency and keywords. And don't be afraid if something like I said, if one
00:37:27
Speaker
image doesn't do well, don't dwell on it, just create something else and move on.
Resources and Personal Stories
00:37:33
Speaker
Cool, cool. I loved all these tips. I actually haven't looked at my Pinterest for over a year. So
00:37:41
Speaker
boo on me. Yes. Yeah, I just been so into Instagram. I totally forgot about Pinterest. So this is a good kick in the butt. I'm gonna look at my Pinterest and tailwind. It's probably not even connected anymore. I know it's important that actually very useful to
00:38:01
Speaker
tool for me for my coaching business. I could talk about like, tips for photographers and stuff like that. So you can help me with that. Where can people find you before I go into my rapid fire question? And how can we work with you? And I think you're going to give us a freebie. So tell us all about where we could find you.
00:38:18
Speaker
Yes. So I am on Instagram at Gabby Pinkerton and, um, everything is Gabby Pinkerton. So I have a YouTube account also where I share tips and tricks. So if you're definitely a more visual person, YouTube is a place to go. Cause I walk you through my screen and show you how to do things. Um, and that is also, if you type in Gabby Pinkerton, you can follow me there. And, uh, Gabby Pinkerton.com is my website. So there's my services and packages on there as well. If you want to work together.
00:38:48
Speaker
Cool. And are you going to give us a freebie today? Oh, yes. So I have a free Pinterest tip sheet and it basically has a way to kind of walk you through your ideal client as well as coming up with a few keywords. And once you have those keywords, there's a whole tip sheet on best practices. So a lot of stuff that we talked about today, as well as some other just what size photos should you use? Should you have text or no text on top?
00:39:17
Speaker
and all that kind of good stuff that, you know, is really just a little more technical and we don't always have time to chat about it. I know sometimes I like to hold a physical copy of these types of tips so you can print it out. And yes, I will share the link with you guys and Chrissy, you can just share away.
00:39:33
Speaker
Yay. Yay. Okay. Perfect. This is so helpful. I'm going to dive into my Pinterest. I totally forgot about it, but I know it's such an important tool, but I'm going to go into some rapid fire questions. These are more fun questions. Um, kind of not business related just to get to know you a little bit more, but I'm ready. What is the craziest thing you ever seen at a wedding? Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me. Okay. Okay. Oh my gosh. I have to think back to my memory brain.
00:40:03
Speaker
Craziest thing I've seen in a wedding. I mean, one crazy one that was kind of fun was they surprised their guests and had a whole arcade set up on the patio of the wedding venue. So like after dinner, people went outside and there were like legit arcade games there and you could sit down and like drive cars. I just, I've never done that ever again.
00:40:31
Speaker
And I just thought that was so fun and so creative. And yeah, that's the first thing that came to mind. Wow. Yeah. My husband would love that like playing Pac-Man at a wedding. I never seen that. So that's very interesting. Okay. So where did you meet your hubby and tell me a little bit about your wedding? We met on Tinder like seven years ago, which is so fun. And yep. And, um,
00:40:58
Speaker
Our wedding, it's so funny because we had a good time but we also had some disaster moments and I sometimes cringe thinking about it but overall we had a good time. We were in Joshua Tree and we had like the most amazing weather. We had a sunset that was like pink and orange and like you cannot be better than the the sunsets in the desert. I cried all the way down the aisle because I was just like all my favorite people were there
00:41:26
Speaker
And, but then at dinner, our caterer, we only had 65 people and our caterer ran out of food. And, um, it ended up being this weird investigative thing that I had to do because turns out she was a little bit of a fraud and I will save the story for another day, but I had to like file a claim with my, um, my credit card company and we ended up getting some money back, which was great. I was happy to pay for the food that we used, but like,
00:41:55
Speaker
girlfriend was out of her mind. So anyway, you know, no matter how prepared you are, sometimes these things happen and it was just a good lesson learned. But overall, we had a wonderful, wonderful wedding. Wow, that's so crazy. I'm glad people got fed eventually. But that sucks. Yeah.
00:42:14
Speaker
Okay, this question, let's see. I'm a wedding photography coach and we're always growing no matter how far you've come. But if you had a magic wand, where would you see your business and company in three months? Ooh, three months, that's a short timeframe. So that would be September to November. So the end of our wedding season. I would see our company literally taking a company vacation, all of us. So I have
00:42:45
Speaker
two other planners on my team and I would wave my magic wand and book us like some exotic vacation in a fun tropical place with all you can eat, all you can drink, everything and we can go and talk about all the hilarious moments and fun and frustrating moments we've had during the 2021 wedding season.
00:43:08
Speaker
Um, and then I just, I think we deserve like, we haven't seen each other in so long. We've been working our butts off and I think we just deserve like an all expenses paid vacation. So if I could, and one day I will, that is going to happen. Wow. I want to be on your team. You are, you're unofficial in-house, far away wedding photographer.
00:43:34
Speaker
Yes, that's so cool. Yeah, you definitely need to play when you're an entrepreneur, we can't just work, work, work, we have to give ourselves time to take vacations and blackout dates or we need a recharge. So, so important. And one compliment I have to say, you know, I've known you for a while, but, and you've helped so many people in like our Tuesday Together networking group, but you treat everyone the same. No matter if you're like the president,
00:44:00
Speaker
of the United States or if you're, you know, intern or someone that's so new that doesn't know anything about the game, you treat everyone with so much respect and you give, you know, knowledge to everyone, no matter who they are. So I really appreciate that about you. But tell me, I'm sure that goes a long way for your clients to just be a great communicator. But what is your biggest, like selling tip that you could give our listeners, since this is kind of like a sales podcast?
00:44:29
Speaker
Oh, well, thank you for saying that, Chris. I think, I mean, more than ever, if this wasn't a wake up call in the last couple of years for that equality and just making sure to treat everyone the same, like this is, yes, this is super important. And I think we're so fortunate in the wedding industry, too, to be a very collaborative group. Like it's no longer these gangs and wedding planners anymore. I think everybody, for the most part, is very, very collaborative. So I love, love, love being part of this industry.
00:44:59
Speaker
Um, but for sales, I, you know, this year I haven't been afraid to share my struggles a little bit more with not only my vendor friends and, you know, and share my frustrations. I think planners, uh, and I'm sure, you know, photographers.
00:45:18
Speaker
do this too. We try to put on this happy face and this can-do attitude all the time. But there reaches a point where I have to just be very honest with my clients and say, no, I can't do that on top of everything else. You do have to take care of yourself first.
00:45:35
Speaker
But for example, I think just this particular year, we've all been so, you know, our bookings have been condensed in a very short period of time. And normally in a normal year, we would be willing to go above and beyond and bend over backwards for every client. But there have been some situations this year where I've just had to say, I'm sorry, I am like maxed out in my giving capacity. I will honor the contract that we have. I will make sure I will be the best, my very best and give you my 110%.
00:46:05
Speaker
but I cannot go above my contracted XYZ. So I think just honesty with clients and vendors is super, super important because they want to help. And if they don't know that you are in a bind or needing some extra support, they can't give it to you. So don't ever be afraid to kind of reach out to both clients and
00:46:30
Speaker
vendors, they were always happy to jump in and help. So honesty would be my my selling strategy for this year. Oh, totally. I think it's been hard for me to because I had to reschedule everything and a lot of people, not a lot of people, but some people canceled and then they want like, you know, more
00:46:48
Speaker
and this and this and this and we're spreads and changing the albums. But I have to be very clear what I can do and can't do because I'm only human. We're all slammed as wedding vendors and we can't do everything. It's just we have to learn how to say no, but also know that we are on a team with our clients and we have to work together for everyone to be successful.
Coaching and Mentorship for Growth
00:47:15
Speaker
and for us to thrive in our businesses and execute. And if we're being sick in bed, we can't be our best versions of ourselves. So definitely the communication part is so key and learning how to say like, no, I can't do that. It's so powerful and being very honest.
00:47:32
Speaker
I love that you said that. And only a veteran would say words like that. But yeah, just to wrap everything up, can you just give our lasting advice to our listeners about if they're starting a new wedding planning business or photography? Just any advice from Gabby, just what you experience and your long career and what you could give to them?
00:47:58
Speaker
I would say don't feel like you have to have it all figured out from the beginning. I think different people jump in in different ways. Some people need a plan before moving forward, and some people just jump in and figure it out, right? So try to find an in-between. Don't be so afraid to start that it's holding you back way too long, but don't jump in so blindly that you're making critical mistakes that could mess you up early on, right? So like we said, ask for help.
00:48:28
Speaker
Um, I would say hire, do hire coaches. And I'm not just saying this because you and I are chatting, but I think this is something that wasn't as available for us 10, 15 years ago. And now that there is so much knowledge and education out there by the courses, hire the mentors and you're going to be one step ahead of everybody who doesn't, to be honest. And I'm not saying those people aren't going to be successful, but it is going to take a little bit longer to get there because
00:48:56
Speaker
People like you, Carissa, you know what worked and what didn't work to get you to where you are. And that is where you can tell people, hey, skip this part because I made these mistakes. Now let's focus on this part of it and you can grow from there. So I am just now in my last three years, am I investing in people, in courses, because we are still learning all the time and sometimes just having someone else's
00:49:24
Speaker
input on our business can help us click out of something or think of a new way to do something better. So yeah, that I am big, a big, big cheerleader for all things coaches and courses.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:49:37
Speaker
Yay, yeah, and I'm definitely gonna recommend you to all the people that listen to me, like to hire you to help them with Pinterest. And it's cool that you could use, you know, your niche is with your Pinterest program is all wedding pros. So that's pretty cool. I love that. And I just, I'm so excited to see your business grow because it has exponentially like every year and yeah, so proud of you girl. And I love this chat and I'll talk to you soon.
00:50:06
Speaker
Thanks, Carissa. This was so fun and so proud of you, too. Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine. See you next time, wedding pros.