Tag Archives: Brand

Startup Wedding Planners Explore Niche Markets to Stand Out

Posted on by
Reply

Yes, I’m beating the drum of niching AGAIN. During my conference coaching sessions which consist of laser coaching small business owners on growth and development in 15 minute segments, the lack of a discernible niche is the number one problem for small businesses. It’s also the number one way for them to grow faster. Find that one ideal target client and that one thing that you sell to them. Make it very very specific. Then see the profits roll in.

Here is an excerpt from an article that talks about 3 differently niched Wedding Planners. I couldn’t resist sharing…

The Day-Of Coordinator
Helena Parker, Divine Events by Helena
San Diego

Helena Parker caters to brides who don’t want to spend thousands of dollars for a wedding planner but still need help. Clients hire her to deal with vendors in the final two weeks leading up to the wedding and manage the flow of events on the day, which typically requires about 20 hours of work. Unlike a full-service planner, she isn’t involved in early-stage planning and doesn’t help choose colors, flowers, food or music.

The Same-Sex Wedding Expert
Bernadette Coveney Smith, 14 Stories
Boston and New York

Bernadette Coveney Smith capitalized early on the same-sex marriage movement. When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in 2003 that same-sex couples had the right to marry, she quit her job at a Boston nonprofit organization and launched her same-sex wedding planning agency, 14 Stories.

The Destination Wedding Planner
Alison Hotchkiss, Alison Event Planning & Design
San Francisco and New York

In 2003, when Alison Hotchkiss started planning weddings in exotic locales, the term “destination wedding” wasn’t yet part of the lingo, and only three other U.S. planners specialized in lavish locations.

via Startup Wedding Planners Explore Niche Markets to Stand Out.

Other wedding niches could be Goth, Sexy, Country, Glee…you name it! There are as many different kinds of people as potential niches. It differentiates you if you choose one of them instead of trying to service all of them.

It just makes marketing sense…

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

Related articles

Don’t Talk About Your Hell While You’re In It

Posted on by
1

You are human (right?) and while as an entrepreneur you help solve your clients’ pain, sometimes you are also in pain. Sometimes, that pain that you make your living helping clients with is also, for a brief moment in time, your pain. Do you feel like a fraud every day and go on as if nothing’s happening?

While at the WIBN conference this weekend, the dynamite Danielle Laporte, channelling my hero Dr. Wayne Dyer in a tight leopard outfit talked about this very topic. She said that while she was going through her divorce, she was selling books and advice on how to sort out other people’s lives. Similarly when I first launched my coaching practice, I had nightmares for 2 solid months trying to think of ways to get new clients.

Are You A Fake?

When what you teach ain’t helping you, do you stop the teaching? Well, I think that what you’re teaching (and selling) wouldn’t have an audience if there was no need for it in the world. No matter the source of the message, doesn’t the message still help those who don’t know what you know?

Hell Strategies

What do you do when you’re a money coach and you’re in debt or a biz development consultant and can’t get clients? Well, first and foremost you DON’T TALK ABOUT it WHILE you’re in it.

Another thing that you can do is to get some help. There’s a reason you’re in the situation you’re in so fix it. That, in my mind doesn’t negate your power in helping others.

When’s It Ok To Share?

Hopefully the mess will have moved far far away from your current everyday reality and you can (as Suzanne Evans says) then “make your mess your message”. You gain instant credibility and liking with that kind of authentic honesty.

What’s NOT Ok To Share?

Don’t share details that will hurt others. Don’t close doors you can’t open. Don’t bring judgement into your message. Bring hope and courage. Then use the lessons you’ve learned to help even more people.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

Related articles

The Secret to a Strong Branding Message? Focus.

Posted on by
Reply

Can’t focus? Then you’re in for a tough time in business.

Here’s someone else who agrees with me about the need for a business to pick just 1 thing to sell to only 1 group of people–, (a cool ad agency dude).

He agrees that people are confused by your messaging if you’re telling them you do MANY things for ALL types of different audiences. In addition, he outlines the 4 musts that the 1 message you choose must have:

First, your core message needs to have an emotional and rational side. You  need to connect with people’s hearts and minds. Make no mistake. People are  driven by both. A simple idea like “Volvo makes cars that are safe” resonates on  both levels.

Second, it needs to be believable. I could tell you: “Adam is the next  President of the United States.” But wish me luck convincing you of that.

Third, your core message needs to be relevant to a group of potential  customers. If there’s no market opportunity, that’s not a good place to be. I  might own the only lemonade stand on Mars — a great positioning opportunity –  but not if there are no thirsty Martians to drink my lemonade.

Fourth, your core message needs to be simple. If people can’t understand,  remember or repeat your one thing, it’s too complicated. If it’s too  complicated, it won’t find a home in your prospect’s mind. And remember: that’s  where your brand lives.

via The Secret to a Strong Branding Message? Focus..

All the books I’m reading lately (Seth Godin’s Icarus Deception, Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind) are telling me about the new connection economy where left brained thinking jobs and tasks are moving en mass to China and that right brain thinking like appealing to emotions and empathy are essential skills to prosper in the economy of the future.

What does this mean for your business? It means that your brand has to stand for something that connects to your consumer’s emotions. Focusing that message on a single emotion like safety or freedom can make a huge difference in how much people remember and value your brand.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

Related articles

Do Customers Love You? 5 Questions to Ask

Posted on by
1

Your customers may ‘like’ your Facebook page but do they actually LOVE you? That’s such an overused word but I don’t mind. I use it for everything because like any consumer, I’m passionate about the products and services I spend my life with. How about you? Answer these questions to see if your customers are feeling the love too.

1. Does your company generate organic buzz?

What makes people want to share the word about your company?

2. Do you provide your consumers with a simple, compelling marketing message?

Make it easy to share your message by giving your customers the language to put to the experience.

3. How do you reward your customers?

Consumers want to feel special and valued.

4. Do you really, really know your target customer and where to reach them?

Where do your customers hang out online (and in person)? National organizations, community groups, high-profile blogs and online communities are important to your campaign.

5. Are you giving your customers a reason to keep coming back?

Your audience will naturally generate buzz if you give them a reason to talk about you, offer them a good laugh with a fun video, or touch their hearts through a program that gives back.

via Do Customers Love You? 5 Questions to Ask.

As a small business marketing consultant, I ask these questions of my clients every day. If you’re a small biz owner and you don’t know the answer, then it’s high time you started to hang out with your target peeps and get into their world to understand their perception of you and your competitors.

The real tell, of course is whether your business is growing or not. I still say ask the questions because no matter what, you should always know if somebody loves you.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

Related articles

Brandings Cardinal Sins: 3 Common Mistakes to Avoid

Posted on by
Reply

You probably know that branding started in farms thousands of years ago to distinguish one farmer’s cattle from another’s. In business, it’s one of the most important things to set you apart from your sea of competitors. Nobody’s born with this knowledge and you don’t know what you don’t know. I mean look at this ad from a cigarette maker.  Here are a few things to avoid when it comes to picking your own brand:

1. Choosing a bad name:
- It’s difficult or confusing to pronounce.
Restaurant chain, Au Bon Pain, or the shoe company, Saucony.

- It’s embarrassing to say.
Even diehard Apple fans rolled their eyes and laughed uncomfortably when the company launched the iPad, a product whose name sounded to many like that of a feminine-hygiene product.

- It’s impossible to remember.
Long names and those containing ambiguous descriptors, like “solutions” and “partners,” are generic and difficult to remember.

2. Imposing outlandish services, products or terms:
Qwikster was a sloppy attempt to gloss over a huge price increase in Netflix’s service offerings. The experiment went so badly that Netflix quickly reversed itself and reverted to a single brand, albeit one with separate streaming and DVD pricing plans.

3. Offending users:
Bic’s pastel-colored pens created to meet the “unique” writing needs of the  female gender sparked outrage and derision across the internet and represented a  major branding blunder for the pen manufacturer.via Brandings Cardinal Sins: 3 Common Mistakes to Avoid.
How sad is it that one of the offenders of bad branding mistakes is my alma mater (BIC) but it’s a great lesson about how important branding is to even a giant, let alone a small business like me.
Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!
Related articles