Standing Out in a Crowded Marketplace

I just got back from Greece and wanted to share the best travel tip we got from a local with you. Don’t eat at a restaurant if a) they have mostly pictures on the menu or b) if there’s a guy standing out front trying to get you to come in. 

So there we were in Chania, a cute little port town with TONS of restaurants. It was lunch time and we strolled the inner harbor looking for a place to make a good excuse for day drinking white wine and snacking on lamb chops. 

Every single restaurant had one of the two things we were avoiding: lots of pictures or someone yelling at us. We must’ve passed 25 restaurants before we came to one that didn’t have pictures on the menu – but it did have the guy out front trying to sweet talk us inside. 

“The more you talk the less likely we are to stay,” I told him. He looked at me and smiled, then nodded and walked over to a couple having lunch to pour more wine for them.

We ended up staying and had the best lunch of the trip.

Stop yelling at your buyers

Wedding pros all tell me the same thing: it’s crowded, it’s saturated, they’re so many newbies. 

Yeah. So? 

That doesn’t give you permission to throw your hands in the air and give up. 

Nor does it make sense to put most of your effort into building an audience on Instagram. I’m serious here people. Couples aren’t going to buy your services based on pretty pictures of your products. Especially if everyone else is doing the exact same thing. 

You posting more for potential couples is like the restaurant owner talking more to me in Greece. It’s not going to turn out the way you want…

What should you do instead?

If you really want to stand out from all the noise in the market - simply shut up for a minute. 

Yep, just stop talking. Stop posting. Stop pitching. Stop trying to get people to buy from you. Just for a minute.

Start paying attention to what’s going on around you. Start listening to what your clients are worried about. Start learning more about what it’s like to look for a vendor who provides what you do. Start paying attention to what your comp set is putting out there. 

It’s not about you, you egotistical monster. It’s about what your clients need. It’s about what your comp set is doing – and not doing.

Experience is not good enough

Don’t believe me?

Okay, do this exercise with me. You just have to follow one simple rule: you can’t answer with something related to how much “experience” you have.

Ready? Answer this question: 

Why should couples pay significantly more than a competitor who provides the same or almost as good a product/service but for less than you do?

How’d you do? 

Would you buy from you?

Would you pay more for you?

(If you think so I’d love to see the reason(s) in an email reply!)