When the pandemic began causing the shutdown of weddings and events across the country, many of us thought it would be a short-term situation. Not having new wedding images to post on social media seemed like no problem... for a few months. But those few months have turned into nearly nine. How can wedding industry entrepreneurs still showcase their talent on social media without current wedding images? In this week's episode, we're chatting with a marketing expert about the best way to stay active on social media in spite of the lack of new images to show off.

About our guest:

Aleya Harris, CPCE is the founder and owner of Flourish Marketing, an agency dedicated to helping wedding, catering, and event professionals reach their full potential through fresh, cutting-edge marketing strategies that get and keep a consistent stream of clients. She is a firm believer that business owners should make good money doing what they love and she spreads this message through her role as a thought leader in the industry.

Aleya has made it her personal mission to support catering and event businesses in their growth and help them to reach their definition of success. Her decade-plus long career as a chef and catering company owner, paired with her wealth of expertise in marketing, are matched with a remarkable work ethic, providing her clients with an engaging and interactive experience that inspires them to take action. As a professional speaker, she fosters valuable discussion about actionable marketing strategies and profit-driven storytelling in an effort to inspire her audience to take charge of their businesses’ financial futures.

Her in-depth knowledge about social media marketing, branding, sales conversions, and effective marketing tools have earned her spots and top rankings on stages across the nation, including The Special Event and Catersource. She also serves as the marketing committee chair for NACE National and is a StoryBrand Certified Guide.  Aleya recently received The Certified Professional in Catering and Events (CPCE) designation to add to her list of accolades

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

How Aleya got started in the catering and events industry, including the famous musician for whom she was a private chef The purpose of social media as both a marketing and relationship building tool The importance of captions on social media and why they are just as important as the image itself Using captions to connect with your ideal buyer and their problems How to share your unique business and process in social media captions Why showing your face on social media is important if your business is also a personal brand Aleya's social media services through Flourish Marketing Aleya's Social Media Collective membership Get 20% off Aleya's Social Media Collective for the first month through November 13th using the discount code: TWIW20 Get 10% off Aleya's Social Media Collective after November 13th using discount code: TWIW

Want to connect with Aleya?

Online: https://www.flourishmarketing.co/  Instagram: @aleyaharris Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aleyaharrisgrowth 

-------

SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Have you gotten value from This Week In Weddings? If so, it's time to pay it forward! Your contribution of as little as 10-cents a day will help us offset our costs, like file storage, web hosting, and editing. Plus, a larger donation gets you perks, like access to a private Facebook group to discuss each week’s episode!

Check out the ways you can contribute to the show.