Abundance of Talent

It's no secret that the barrier to entry for businesses in the wedding industry is low. Very few of the sub-industries outside of food and beverage and cosmetology have government regulations. People can launch brands, print some cards and be in business in a matter of hours.

Of course, this leads to the industry being home to a number of inexperienced, mediocre businesses. The silver lining is that it means it is also home to a number of truly amazing artists and professionals.

In today's business world, there's no need to reward bad behavior. If you don't want to work with specific businesses, you have the choice not to. There's an abundance of talent. Choose to work with the companies you respect and like.

Time Management and Priorities

The best time-management thing I do is reflect an hour a week on the overall strategic plan for myself — what do I need to do to move my priorities forward? And then there are the 10 minutes a day that I spend thinking about, “O.K., so based on the priorities for the week, how am I going to prioritize my day tomorrow?” I don’t know how I could do what I do without spending that time. I am obsessive about that system because the world seems to be moving faster and faster, so you have to figure out how to still drive things proactively instead of just becoming completely reactive. -- Wendy Kopp, Founder of Teach for America

On Delegating Tasks

When you delegate a task, you have to allow for the possibility that people may royally mess it up.

This isn't a valid excuse for not delegating.




Valid Stubbornness vs Ego Stubbornness
How To Improve Your Clients' Experience

The Impact of Words

We all know the deadliest words and for the most part have scrubbed them from our vocabulary: "We've never done it that way." 

This sentiment manifests itself though in other equally deadly phrases including "you can only" statements: "You can only reach wedding guests through the bride. It's impossible to market to them without reaching her first."

Another success killer? "That's just how it is in __________" (fill in the blank with your city).

Your words carry life, if you let them.




Transparency in Social Media
Online Communication Etiquette

Serving the Bigger Picture

The last photo my family has of my grandparents before they both passed away is from a wedding. It's a pretty boring photograph as far as images go, but because of the people in it, it's the one hanging in all of our homes. We're fortunate to have that boring yet special photo because the photographer recognized the value of the bigger picture.

How does what you do serve the bigger picture?

Hint: the bigger picture is never the wedding.




On Assuming the Worst
The Ebb and Flow

Simple Solutions

We often overlook or dismiss the simple solutions because they seem, well, too simple. So we spend time and money making things more complex. The more bells and whistles, the better. After all, we get what we pay for, right?

An expensive software program with to-do lists and mind maps and alarms to remind us to stop procrastipinning and procrastitweeting and to get back to work. Yes! Surely this will be the program that turns our lives around and helps us achieve our goals!

Or maybe we just need a notebook and a pen to jot down our goals and the steps we took towards them each day.

Simple almost always trumps complex. If you don't seem to be accomplishing what you'd like to, try simplifying your process. You might be surprised at the clarity that shows up once the distractions are gone.




The Cost of Comparison
Marketing to the High-End Bride

When Things Go Right

We tend to notice when things go wrong. Out of dozens of flights, we remember the one where the airline lost our luggage. Out of hundreds of visits to restaurants, we remember the one with the lukewarm rather than hot dish. Out of thousands of phone calls, we remember the ones that were dropped.

What if this week we made a note of everything that goes right? Doing so requires actively pay attention, developing an acute awareness of the world around us. I'm curious to learn what else we'll start noticing when we stop taking our daily routines for granted.




Zen and the Art of Social Media
Four Ways a Blog Can Help Your Business