Checklist: What To Do On the Day Your Work is Published

The day is here!!!  Your work is being published on a wedding blog that you LOVE and you can't wait to show it off :)  And you should!!  There is no such thing as a SMALL publication of your work ... so even if you think "meh, it's not that cool" >> remember who your CLIENTS are: brides and grooms who will think it's the coolest!!  So, what to do now!?!?!? Here is a checklist for you:

1. Check all the credits and links associated with them!!!  Things get forgotten from time to time .... life happens and credits are left out or spelled wrong ... so double check and if one is missing remember this advice about what to do when your credit is missing in a feature.
2. Put that sh*t on Facebook!!  You may recall this advice I shared about posting photos to business Facebook pages << definitely make sure to follow it for ANY promotion of your work on Facebook.  If you were just featured on Green Wedding Shoes, I'd take a screen grab of the feature that shows a peek, then I'd 'right click' save 3 more images from the feature ... then follow the advice at the link provided here it is again for your reference and then make sure to tag in everyone who contributed to the wedding or shoot.  Then: as your personal FB page (as long as you feel comfy promoting your business stuff on your personal page) I'd go and 'share' the post from your business FB page.  That way you will increase the amount of views your business FB page gets ;)
3. Tweet it out!!!  Take the same screen grab you used to post on Facebook and include it in a Tweet to your feature and be sure to tag in the publication!  Running out of room in your Tweet?  Bit.ly the link to the published work and you just bought yourself a few more characters ;)  Your Tweets will always be more successful if you include an image << this is just a general rule of thumb to try and follow each time you use Twitter.
4. Spread word to your Instagram followers!!!  Remember when we talked about featured badges and what to do with yours??  I'd do 3 Instagram posts on the day of a feature ... one in the morning of your shiny new 'featured badge' for the publication and tag in the wedding blog ... I'd keep this post about YOU and YOUR company and talk about what YOU did for this wedding or shoot ... and then in the afternoon and in the evening I'd post images from the shoot and tag in the entire wedding vendor team who took part.  It's important to do both because you want clients to know what you did that stood out << thus the first post of your badge and keeping the focus on you in just that one Instagram.
5. Pin my pretty, Pin!!!!  You know you're going to be Pinning that feature!!  But, I'd make a few adjustments to whatever description comes up when you hit your 'pin it' button.  You may recall this post about what 'guy' isn't your friend and we want to make sure we apply that when YOU pin your work.  If the description comes up LIKE THIS you need to change it and I suggest something along these lines:  describe the image (is it a beautiful bouquet or tablescape or cake) | credit yourself by your business name and then include your website link www.yourwebsite.com | credit the photographer by name | then put 'see more here' and link the feature www.thefeaturelink.com
6. Wait to blog about it!!!  This can be hard ... waiting to blog about your feature ... but giving this post another life can help you! ;)  Spend the day of the feature promoting across all your social media and then try and follow this blogging schedule I shared for wedding pros and do a round-up of all your proud moments one the same day each week.  This way you can celebrate all over again and people who may have missed your social media posts will get to read about it ... because then: you get to do #1 - #5 all over again for this blog post!!  Do you still love me?? ;)

Another idea that is great to do, but not necessary in a checklist ... you could shoot out an email blast to any of your current clients or anyone who has been inquiring about your services ... keep it light with maybe one image and a link to the feature ... you could also include all your social media links and make a note for them to check out your social media blasts pertaining to this feature.  It's always a good idea to keep a newsletter email list running ... I love using MailChimp for mine :)

Also, don't forget to make a note that you now have a new featured badge to add to your press page!!  Here is a great post with ideas on how to best show off your featured badges.

XO~ Heather