Are you what I call a “slasher”? You know- the wedding planner/photographer/stationer/confection artist? OK that may sound a bit extreme, but the combination of wedding professions that I’ve encountered lately are getting out of hand. I’m seeing more and more of the wedding stylist, who also mentors, makes etsy items, bakes, and is a self proclaimed video blogger rock star. I mean really?
“Slashers” love to just do it all and they try to play it off that the more diverse the list of services they offer, the better their perceived value to the client. Wrong! If I go to your website or twitter page and still don’t understand what you do or what makes you different in a few seconds, you’ve lost me. There is simply too much going on. How do you capture your target market when you do this/this/and this?
The most alarming part is that many of us in the wedding community support this and praise that it’s a good thing do be everything to everyone.
How can you be a videographer turned wedding planner, plus you sell wedding favors, and have time to offer custom hemstitch napkins for events? Oh and you’re a wife, mom of 3 and volunteer too. My 2 big questions are: how do you keep up and are you making money doing all of that?
As a bride, how do I really believe that a vendor is the best at something if they claim to be the best of lots of things? It makes me wonder. When companies claim to do it all: wedding planning,/PR/printing/photography- to me it says that they don’t know what their core business is. Instead it seems like they want to capture a little bit of all the markets at an attempt to make money where they can. They see what someone else is doing right and think “oh I can do that too”. What if they could take away 2 of the 3 or 4 of the 5 different types of services they offer and just hone in on one? The message they’d communicate would be much more powerful.
As Seth Godin says, “When your brand is lots of things (like AOL became) then the expectations are all over the place and the emotional resonance start to fade.” Don’t be a Slasher! Pick one and do it well.
Photo by Jose Villa
Amen. Amen. and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
By far my favorite post to date.
So true! I wish people would focus on one or two core things – makes your business better!
Thank you for this post. Everyone in the wedding industry needs to read it! Too many “jack-of-all-trades” instead of focusing on what they are good at. Great post Leila and Happy Birthday!
Great advice! Thanks for making me think of how I can define my business better!
Very good post. You always have just such wise words.
I’m grappling with this idea, I know I love to work with food, I’m working towards specializing in pastry, but my ‘brand’ is very dilute at the moment. I should mention that I’m really just practicing at the moment, but I can already see that the work I do for people takes me in directions which I may not have fully intended. For instance my main focus seems to be childrens cakes, and it wasnt necessarily where I was planning on going, it just sort of happened, I now need to make sure this is where I want to be going!
Good post! And happy birthday to you Leila!
I am working on simplifying or consolidating my companies now. It’s been overwhelming to handle and I don’t want to spread myself too thin.
I am soooo glad someone finally addressed this. I get very annoyed when I see someone proclaiming to be one profession today, a different one in a few months and yet another a few months after that. My running joke is “what are they… a planner, a publisher, a pr rep, a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker?”
I agree with you 100%! Pick one thing and be great at it.
Great advice, and very timely for me. I am in the midst of creating my business/marketing plan and I can promise you I won’t be a slasher!
Happy Birthday, Leila!
I totally feel you on this one. You gave me this piece of advice when I first met you and it definitely proved to me SO FLIPPING TRUE. Thank you, again, for your honesty, and courage to tell us like it is.
First… Happy Birthday Aquarians Rock!! (1/27 Me!) there should be a banner “Avoid Slashers” you know the saying Jack of all trades and master of none!
Love this! It’s so true. And I love the reference to AOL. Such a good point. Thank you for a great reminder today.
YES! OMG, I’ve been trying to find a nice way of saying this for WEEKS. Every “slasher” out there (thanks for the term) is ultimately hurting themselves. Choose the thing you are BEST at and truly LOVE the most, and stick with it. If I decided to be a cake baker slash dress designer slash floral designer, I don’t TRULY know who or what I am. And frankly, I’m totally skeptical of every wedding industry “slasher” out there, no matter how nice they might be.
Hahaha! too funny and yes too true!
Hi Leila,
There were so many positive tweets about this post that I couldn’t wait to get home and read it! Your couldn’t be more on the money with this one. Thanks for putting it out there, and hope you’re having a fabulous birthday!
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Be the best at one thing and rock it out.
It seems like technology is continuing to decrease the barriers of entry for all types of offerings allowing us to think that because we CAN do something means that we SHOULD. Another one from Godin… If you create something for everyone, you’ll have created something for no one.
jeremy! totally agree… and thanks for your input!
Jenny-
your business can evolve and take you places you never imagined which can be a good thing- but you have to be intentional about where you are going and where you end up. working on random products or offering services doesn’t just happen on their own- you choose them. You have the power to choose differently!
I’ve definitely noticed a proliferation of ‘slashers’ lately, and I agree with that you completely. Just because you think you can do it all does not mean that you should. Everyone shines at something – focus on that and cultivate your talent instead of doing a million different things and diluting your time, effort and branding. Great post. 🙂
Leila, You completely nailed this post! I’m seeing that more and more wedding professionals are selling themselves in so many different facets in order to bring more ‘value’ to the table. Thank you so much for this post! I also wrote a similar entry on this topic a while back. http://mybridestory.blogspot.com/2009/11/dear-wedding-professionals.html
This post made me laugh! So true…thanks for that 🙂
This is the absolute BEST message that I’ve heard in a very long time! At least now, I don’t feel like I’m not crazy by NOT being all things to all people.
I agree! It’s the same way I feel about going to an eatery that sells Chinese Food and Donuts (real place by the way) or Pizza and Gyros. I don’t think it’s appealing at all.
been there, done that! after working in the wedding industry for 4 years, i tried to be a coordinator/floral designer back in 2006…it wasn’t happening 🙂 you cannot give yourself fully to a career and expect it to take off it you are still trying to be something else…in our daily lives we already wear so many hats – wife, friend, mom, volunteer, granddaughter, etc. why make things crazier by trying to be 4 different professions?! stick to what you’re best at and people will take notice…plus it will make life a lot easier 🙂