Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Regarding word-of-mouth, I wonder how useful it would be to have a sort of mini-forum on the site? It could act like a testimonials page, but also make it more direct and personal. Y`think? Where people could directly write a public message about how fabulous the photos were, etc....

Maybe?

Hi Craig,

Your idea gave me an idea. What about if I had a type of forum for brides to ask me questions.  Sort of Like   " Ask the Wedding Photographer"

Brides could ask me any questions they might have about wedding photography. 

Do you think this idea is corny or do you think brides would like it.

I am confused ... is your developer the Roland from here, or another Roland?

I like the "Ask the Wedding Photographer". You could easily set that up with a blog and an email address where people could email you questions.

When I reply to Roland I am responding to posts the Roland from this

forum have made.  My web designer is Maggie. Whenever I ask her to do

something she is always able to do it. She doesn`t charge a lot.

I`m going to think about this "Ask the Wedding Photographer"  Like you said the Bride could email me a question. I could answer it  by  posting a response  on my website maybe.

I really need to design a Blog also sometime. I`m so behind the times.

Do you think I should have the "Ask the Wedding Photographer" in a Blog or on my website.

 

 

OK, sorry about that.

I read this
"Roland  my web designer made a lot of changes to my website today. I think the website is easier to naviage now.  I know it was really messy before."
and got confused because it doesn`t look like his stuff at all ... missing comma in there, I`m sure.

You put the blog ON your site.

This, for example, is an on-site blog that looks nothing like a blog. That is the idea you want. It just looks like a feature on your site, not a traditional blog.

I`m going to have to work on this blog idea. Having the question and

answer blog for Brides to be sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

I`ve got to talk to my web designer about this. How it can be incorporated into my website. Maybe it could even be like a talk forum. I belong to several of them and they are great sources of information.

 

I`d maybe consider calling it something like "Through the Viewfinder," but maybe not "Ask the Wedding Photographer." My reasoning is that "Ask The..." almost always goes with advice columns, and you don`t want to be confused with a wedding planner. Y`know?

Before you title it, jot down 20 questions you foresee someone might ask you. But the main point is that you want to focus (hah! a pun!) your site on photography, not "advice," per sé.

Your right Craig,

I don`t want to sound like another Dear Abbey  knockoff.  I will work on the

wording to use. I sure don`t want to be a Wedding Planner, I have enough

trouble getting my Photographer Husband to the weddings on time.

Think about the sort of questions a couple wants to know, regarding keepsake photos, the wedding album, and secondary products like video disks. Those could go into a FAQ, of course.

But if you have a forum, you could create a new topic in various categories, for each of these "shill" questions. It would get the ball rolling. The next issue is what kind of forum dialog could you expect to get?

One topic might be something along the lines of "Stories about lost wedding photographs." Another might be "Hired the wrong photographer." Yet another might be, "Used a family member to take pics."

OK, here`s your suggestion
Your New Website, in One Hour

They have a wedding-based theme.

You can add something on the sidebar to have people email you with questions.

And you can use the actual blog functions to answer the questions.

Voila?