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Just like teaching a fish to ride a bicycle. That’s just about how easy I think it is to navigate the undulating waters of being a successful, Caribbean online entrepreneur. I’m not writing this to scare you, the would-be netrepreneur, e-tailer or solo-preneur back into the boat but merely to perch you at a realistic, entrepreneurial vantage point from which you may either choose to sink or swim!
If you sink, well…don’t say I didn’t warn you but if you find yourself bobbing happily in the water, you will know too well the rewards that internet entrepreneurship can bring. I’ll tell you a bit about my experience in that boat… Three years ago, I started a website called www.trinidadweddings.com positioned as an online resource for engaged and newly-wed couples in Trinidad and Tobago. Basically, we serve two client bases – engaged persons and wedding industry suppliers. The services we provide to wedding industry suppliers vary, depending on the suppliers’ needs and budget. We sell internet advertising packages to them by offering directory listings, banner advertisements, dedicated web pages and direct mail services. In the beginning…. From our inception, we realised that the need to create awareness in the market place was two-fold. We had to build credibility with suppliers to gain their support and advertising dollars! And we had to encourage persons to visit us and support suppliers’ offerings. During our first 2 years, a major concern was the effectiveness of our advertising campaign. As such, we embarked on a campaign that was as integrated as possible. We used traditional press advertising, online advertising, a referral programme on the website itself, full-colour fliers, and public relations. At that time, one of the major lessons I learnt was that online advertising needed to go hand-in-hand with traditional advertising, in order to: - Achieve a fully-integrated marketing campaign (i.e. consistency across all media)
- Encourage those who were not aware or not regularly online to investigate the website.
In our first 2 years, we also realised that word-of-mouth advertising was crucial to developing the “Trinidad Weddings” brand, simply because of the “intimate” or personal nature of the site and its content. We also recognised the importance of cultivating a community of brides and grooms-to-be as well as their bridal party, relatives, friends and guests. And year two rolled in… After our first year, we pioneered the first dedicated wedding column in Trinidad and Tobago, which still runs every Sunday in the Trinidad Guardian Newspaper. This was our avenue into mass awareness of the site and a vehicle to encourage those who were not getting married (e.g. relatives/friends of the couple) to refer the website to those who were. Later, at the beginning of 2006, we launched our Discussion Forum, the first of its kind in the Caribbean for engaged persons. Ever year since our inception, we have also participated in the largest bridal expo in Trinidad: The Beauty, Bridal and Beyond Expo. Additionally, our traditional advertising was also reinforced by several public relations activities in newspapers and in Caribbean magazines. Today… During 2006 and 2007, because our brand awareness increased at a rapid rate, we slowed our online and press advertising considerably, and started to focus more on expos, magazine ads, promotions, direct marketing, events, retailing branded merchandise, PR, promotions and strategic alliances. Direct marketing (that is, sending out our clients’ e-flyers to our extensive 650+ member database) is one of our newer approaches, which we will definitely continue with in the future. We have used it commercially (i.e. to generate revenue) for a little over a year now and have been getting repeat clients because they have seen concrete results from it. On the non-commercial side, direct email to our database regarding updates to the site, industry news etc. has also been successful; since it encourages database members to click only on links that are relevant to them, forward our newsletters to those who are non-members and therefore further increase awareness of the site. Challenges Although some Caribbean advertisers embrace online advertising, many are scared by fresh approaches or are very conservative regarding online marketing strategies. They are unsure about the results they will get from online advertising; and as a result, are hesitant to invest in such non-traditional advertising. Sadly too, many larger companies in the wedding industry, feel they are established already and there is no need to have an online presence or even a multiple online presence (i.e. on several, different websites). Surprisingly, the small and medium-sized clients are the most enthusiastic since they recognize the need to “spread their nets wider” and get an international catchment of customers, plus of course, online advertising is so much more affordable for them than traditional advertising media. Successes I distinctly remember a few of the moments when I thought Trinidad Weddings “hit critical mass” (I’ll borrow the line from Seth Godin in his remarkable book, Purple Cow): - Random couples coming up to me to thank me for founding the website, since it helped them so much with their wedding planning
- Advertisers calling me to say that because of Trinidad Weddings, they now felt that they were “on the map” or saying that the hits to their website jumped exponentially, just from being featured on our site.
- Couples I don’t know, inviting me to their weddings!
But really, success for me means reaching out to brides and helping them make connections not only with suppliers but with each other. The successes of our suppliers are also successes for us. When suppliers get booked for weddings, it’s a win-win situation for us both. The lessons I’ve learnt as an internet business owner: 1) Find your niche and own it! 2) Network unselfishly with others to build their businesses and yours 3) Have something in common with your target market 4) Create a community amongst your target market 5) Start and maintain a buzz! Do the unusual or the usual in an unusual way 6) Entrepreneurship and administration are not always compatible bed fellows. Don’t cringe at hiring help, you will have more time to think of ways to improve your business! 7) Make it legal – get contracts and hire a lawyer 8) Have strong content and images 9) Customer care and referrals almost always wins new business 10) Word of mouth is the most powerful and cheapest form of advertising And so, after giving you our history in a nutshell, what I’d like to leave you with is this - it takes more than a head of dreams to set you down the road of entrepreneurship. It takes a mish-mash of unbridled determination, a thick skin, calculated risks, sound business theory, a pint of crazy optimism and hours and hours of plain, hard work. Internet entrepreneurship, in particular, also requires you to have more than an iota of blind faith, because you’re building a virtual world - growing something you cannot touch. Also, as many entrepreneurs would attest, having your own business is like an obsession. You think it, breath it, motivate it, grieve over it and nurture it. But it’s worth it in the end, not just because it’s your livelihood, but because it’s truly yours and no one but no one can take that away from you… Happy Sailing! Copyright: Simone Sant-Ghuran Manager/Founder, Trinidad Weddings.com, December 2007 Feel free to send feedback to
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or visit our website at: www.trinidadweddings.com. You can even join our mailing list! Go to this link: www.trinidadweddings.com/mailing_list.asp
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