“What Business Are You In, Wedding Pro?”

“What business are you in?”

The first answer that comes is never the most complete.

Wedding photography. Entertainment. Wedding planning. Travel. Officiating. Venues.

A million other wedding pros could give that exact answer.

This dumps you into the same category as the competition. 

You look the same as everyone else, and when couples can’t tell the difference between you and a competitor, they go with the cheaper option. 

You need to know what makes you different so that you can communicate this in your marketing, especially if you want to charge (and get) higher prices.

If you want to find your point of difference, you have to go deeper by asking (and answering) the hard questions.

Or rather, answering the easy question five times, to uncover the unique distinction you bring to whatever it is that you do.

Here’s an exercise suggested by Chip Conley, hospitality disruptor and modern elder.

Have a friend ask you the question, “What business are you in?” FIVE TIMES.

Each time you must give a different answer.

One example:

“What business are you in?”

Wedding entertainment.

“What business are you in?”

The business of DJing.

“What business are you in?”

The business of celebrating.

“What business are you in?”

The business of making people happy.

“What business are you in?”

The business of showing people how cool, special and loved they are.

Do you see the evolution of meaning there?

This hypothetical DJ discovers that when she’s DJ’ing weddings, she’s doing all of these things as an expression of her difference. It’s the key to knowing what makes you unique.

I challenge you to do this exercise.

What you’re doing is never what you’re really doing. 

When you know that, you’ll know your difference.

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