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"Thank You" is just not said enough.
I'm guilty of it. I know I've received referrals from people in the past and felt extremely thankful but not expressed it to them. Never again.
This past week I booked a wedding as a result of a referral from White House Flowers - one of my favorite florists. I took it as the perfect opportunity to check off goal #38 from my 101 in 1001 list -- Develop a referral gift.
I knew I needed to come up with something that would appeal broadly and that would work for either one person or a group. Sprinkles Cupcakes had just the ticket. After all, who doesn't like cupcakes? Ok, some people might not but #1 - I don't understand them and #2 - I figured I'd throw in a Starbucks gift card and between cupcakes and coffee everyone should be happy.
Yesterday I went in to pick up my cupcake order. Well done on the branding Sprinkles: |
| My logo looks awfully scrumptious on sugar: |
| I made sure to attach a hand-written thank you card and the Starbucks gift card: |
I drove over to White House's studio to drop off the gift and got to catch up with Dennis, Freda and Thomas. They have about 12 people who work at the shop so the dozen cupcakes worked out perfectly. When Dennis found out there was also a Starbucks card included, I got an exuberant hug.
As the first recipients of my referral gift, they were gracious enough to pose for a photo: |
| Yay! What a fun way to say thank you and also check another goal off my list! |
53. Leave a gift on a friend's doorstep
I'm not a very thoughtful person. I think of myself mostly.
It's the truth. That's why this type of thing needs to go on my 101 in 1001 list. Otherwise it would never happen.
I was inspired to put this goal on my list after my friend Liene left a basket of get-well goodies on my doorstep a few years ago when she read a blog post where I shared I was sick. Totally out of the blue and it completely blessed my socks off.
A couple weeks ago I went out to lunch with my good friend Teri and her adorable daughter Kailey. Remember these two? |
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Teri and I went to high school together and I was in her wedding years ago. We were catching up over chips, salsa and bean dip when Teri shared how nervous she was about Kailey starting kindergarten in a few weeks. Kailey is Teri's only daughter and I can imagine the transition of having her home full-time to sending her off to school would be tough. So I marked Kailey's first day of school on my calendar and determined to leave a "I'm thinking of you and praying for you" gift on her doorstep that day.
It was fun to put the basket together -- a couple of my favorite books, a pair of comfy slippers and some lotion from LUSH that is supposed to be really good for super-dry hands that are washed all the time (Teri is an RN and a mom). It was fun driving it over and ringing the doorbell then speeding away in my car -- :). Hopefully Teri will take some of the extra time on her hands to relax and pamper herself.
It IS fun to be thoughtful. I need to make a point to do it more often. |
I'm so excited to announce that Melissa Jill Photography is now offering associate photographer packages starting at $3,000!
Michelle has been a good friend and 2nd shooter of mine for 6 years now and I'm so excited to announce that she is joining Melissa Jill Photography as an associate photographer! |
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Besides being one of the most photogenic people I know, Michelle is a total hoot. I love her personality and the humor with which she approaches life. And to top it off she is an unbelievably talented photographer. Her style is very similar to mine -- she documents the events and emotions of the wedding day as they naturally happen so each set of wedding images is unique. I feel completely confident having her represent my business.
Now brides who love the quality, service and unique style of Melissa Jill Photography, but who can't justify spending $6,000+ on their wedding photography, can still receive many of the benefits that come with the Melissa Jill brand. By booking an associate package, you will get Michelle as your photographer and all of your photo editing and product fulfillment will be through Melissa Jill.
If you are interested in seeing some of Michelle's work, click here.
To inquire about associate photographer availability and package and pricing information, drop me an email! |
Thank you to all of you who participated in my blog reader survey! I had so much fun reading through the results -- I can't believe I didn't do this sooner! It is so helpful to know who you are. Sometimes writing a blog can be an overwhelming and lonely endeavor. I know when I first started, I wondered who would even care what I had to say. And I still wonder why you guys care sometimes. But getting your feedback has been so humbling and encouraging. Thank you again for taking the time to share with me!!
As promised, I am going to reveal the results of the survey to you. Since there is a lot of info, I'm going to break the results up into two posts. So stay tuned for the second half later this week!
For those of you who are wondering, I used Google Docs for the survey and to tally the results. The nerdy-minored-in-math-in-college side of me had a blast with the charts and graphs! Aren't they pretty? :)
A total of 774 people completed the survey. As I suspected, the majority of you are women: |
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| Mostly in your 20s and 30s: |
| I have a lot of married readers: |
| To find out where you live, I tried to be clever and divide up the United States into three areas. This is the map I had in my brain which doesn't really exist in any other realm: |
| I probably could have done a better job with the multiple choice on this one -- I guess geography isn't my strong suit -- but here are the results nonetheless: |
Those who fell in the "other" category are mostly from Australia and Asia with a few from Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Those of you who thought Texas should have its own category -- sorry to disappoint. I put you in the "middle state" category :). But you get extra points for having the most state pride :).
Most of you are photographers or photo hobbyists -- shocker! |
I guess I need to figure out ways to keep my non-photographer readers happy so they'll stick around more. Good to know.
Only 19 wedding vendors filled out the survey and they range in type with most being planners: |
| I was interested to find out how long those of you who are photographers have been in business. I figured most of you would be newbies because of the tips I share, but was excited to find out there are some more experienced photographers out there as well. I've only been in business for 7 years myself, but I'm trying to bring more depth to the content of my posts to keep those of you who are more experienced in the conversation as well. |
| The next question was open-ended because I wanted to hear any of your stories about how you originally found my blog. I speak on blogging quite a bit and many newer bloggers want to know how to get people they don't know reading their blog. The web is a crazy place and most of the time you don't know how people find you. But the answers to this question shed some light on how those connections might work. Many of you couldn't remember how you first came across my blog, but for those of you who could, these were the results: |
A big thanks to Jamie Delaine, David Jay, Gail Werner, Amanda Pair and Promise Tangeman for linking to me on your blogs! You were all mentioned numerous times by my readers as their source for finding my blog.
It was interesting to learn how long you've been reading my blog. Thanks for sticking around! |
| Fully half of you never comment! No wonder many newer bloggers struggle with getting any comments at all. If my stats reflect the norm, only 5% of readers comment regularly! |
This survey was a great way to hear from those of you who don't feel comfortable sharing your thoughts regularly in the comments. I'm glad to know a little about you and hope that you will feel comfortable commenting in the future! I want my blog to be more interactive and a place for open discussion. So please share!
Later this week I'll post the rest of the results including what your favorite thing about my blog is and any changes you'd like to see made. Stay tuned! |
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Yay! I get to check yet another goal off my 101 in 1001 list. Since I have a wedding-free summer, I'm taking advantage of the extra time to plow through some goals I have neglected during the busy season.
#32 -- Write a letter to the child I sponsor in Niger
I have a mortifying confession to make.
When I was 18 I started sponsoring a child in Niger through World Vision. A few weeks ago they sent me notice that I am now sponsoring a new 3 year old child in Niger. I called to inquire as to what happened to my first child and they said that she was 17 and aged out of the program! What the heck!? She was only 3 when I started sponsoring her. How did she grow up so fast!?
So here's the mortifying confession: Besides the cards that World Vision makes for you to send to your sponsored child, I never once wrote a letter to her!!! I know...I'm a loser.
It's one of those things I meant to do for the last few years. It was even on the first edition of my 101 in 1001 list. But I never got around to it. Do any of you have to-do lists like that? Ones that have items on them that aren't necessarily urgent, so you glance at them every once in awhile until they just blend in with your desk or computer? And then you're so used to seeing them there that they are no longer visible to your brain? Maybe it's just a disease that's unique to me. Regardless, it never happened.
This weekend I was talking with my friends Promise and Brian. I mentioned that I was planning to write to my sponsored child this week and they added to my mortification by sharing that they traveled to Kenya to VISIT their sponsored daughter. They said that she had a baggie of their letters and photos that she slept with near her bed! Wow. It was so convicting to hear how important and precious letters and photos are to these children who live with so little.
So this week I sat down and finally put pen to paper -- something that took me minutes to do -- and finally completed this simple goal. Hopefully it will be the first of many letters to come. |
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