WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING BUSINESS ADVICE: WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO??

Dec 5

My line of business is VERY tricky: Designing websites for maybe the pickiest and most opinionated people on the planet (and I say that with LOVE!!!! ... I am one of them!!):

WEDDING AND LIFESTYLE PROFESSIONALS

Am I crazy!!?? Haha!! Just kidding ;)

One of the things I hear often from my clients after their website launches is some variation of the following:

My friend pointed this out and I feel maybe we should change it?
My husband feels that this page is too wordy .. can we make some adjustments?
I had a girlfriend tell me that these images don't speak to her ... should we use different ones?

I get it: you have friends who you value .. who never lead you wrong ... who .. wait: are they young brides wanting to spend major money on their wedding???

((SOUND OF RECORD SCRATCHING TO A STOP))

... no?? Ok, maybe they don't know then!!

Here is the problem with listening to your friends when it comes to your business and what you should do and what you shouldn't do: they aren't your target market!!! Your husband is NOT your target market (in most cases) ... and quite honestly: if you are looking to CHANGE your business and attract a different type of client or get more bookings and you've been taking 'their' advice all along and you hire me (or someone else) to rebrand you and recreate you: it's going to take changing YOUR patterns of listening to the wrong advice to make it work.

BUT, HEATHER: THAT'S SUPER HARD TO DO!!

Absolutely!!! Changing is hard. But you can't get different results with the same actions ... so you have to change something. This is what I do for my clients: I change something ... I change their brand, I change their website ... I create something that is DIFFERENT based on the goals they have for their business. When clients come to me after their new site has launched with ideas to make it more comfy to the 'old way' I get very concerned ... being different from what you are used to can be difficult ... it can feel weird ... but my advice: GIVE IT A CHANCE ... let it play out ... if you start getting more qualified clients and the type of client you were hoping to get: