Most wedding pros I talk to have a love-hate relationship with social media. You love scrolling your own feed, but hate posting on your own account. Kidding. But not really.

Social media is hard. What do you post? How do you write the caption? What cards do you drop in your Story? What images look good in this Carousel? Do you put your face on the screen? If so, what do you talk about? How much of your personal life do you include? How often do you go through this cycle of pain and misery every week with posts?

And yet, it’s a crucial part of your future success. Instagram is a place to be found for the first time, but it’s also an important layover on the way to your website when you get a referral from a vendor or client. 

Today, I sit down with Abby Jiu, my long-time client and now-business partner with Duet Social Media. We discuss

A few weeks ago I did an episode about how wedding business owners are being sold a single version of luxury and told it’s the only version available. It struck a chord with many of my clients and others who reached out, because I busted this myth that if you want to find success you have to do it a certain way - usually represented the way the people on top have done it themselves. 

I think that road to success is well-paved and well-travelled by people who want the same kind of success. Million-dollar budgets, Lake Como and the Amalfi Coast every weekend, clients who all look like models. 

But I’ve talked with thousands of wedding professionals who have a different version of what success can look like, of what it means to build a business they’re proud of, one that gets them what they want in life.

And their ideal clients look different too. Just like there’s more than one version of success, and more than one version of luxury, there’s also more than one version of an ideal client. Sure, we all want couples who pay higher prices - but what else should we look for?

And how do we speak to them in our marketing and in our sales process?

Today I bring in Katy, my wife and business partner - and ideal client expert - to talk shop about ICAs.

What’s the difference between simple and easy?

It’s pretty nuanced, but the distinction is important. 

Here’s what a quick search turned up on Google:

While simple and easy can sometimes be used interchangeably, simple refers to something that is not complicated or complex in its structure, while easy refers to something that requires minimal effort to accomplish.

Let me say that again, because, as I said, the distinction is essential.

Simple refers to something that is not complicated or complex in its structure, while easy refers to something that requires minimal effort to accomplish.

It’s the new year, so we’ve all got goals on our minds. One of mine is improving my health, which can be a rabbit hole of information and approaches. But most experts agree: 

If you eat real food in modest amounts, cut booze from your diet, move your body for an hour a day, sleep well, and spend time around people you love you’ll be in pretty darn good mental and physical health. 

Simple, right?

But is that easy? Right?

It’s the same thing with your business. If you want to get it in shape, you can choose to go the complex, convoluted approach - or you can use the KISS method. Keep. It. Simple.

Today’s episode follows the new year, new you theme with what you need to DO in order to reach your goals. As you’ll see, I’ll keep it simple for you.

Welcome to part two of my top 10 Engage takeaways.

The first five aired last week, so if you haven’t listened to them yet, you should go back and start with that episode. I provide useful context to the conversation, and it’s all done in my most gravelly, shot out, baritone voice in 173 episodes. 

Here’s a quick summary of the first set of takeaways:

Today, I’m going to dig into the remaining five big insights I took away from the summit.

I hope you get some inspiration as you plan out your 2025 business strategies.

11 years ago I attended my first Engage. It was like a roller coaster. At first I was scared to got, but then once I was on it was the time of my life. And when I was done, I wanted to jump in line and go again.

Engage has been a big part of my life since that first one in Scottsdale, Arizona. I met my wife, Katy, at my 3rd Engage, in Grand Cayman. I got a job running Todd Fiscus’s companies at that same one in Grand Cayman. Katy and I got engaged on a birthday trip we piggybacked on to an Engage in 2017. And later that year I spoke at a breakout session for the first time.

Engage Amelia Island was my 17th Engage and 6th time speaking. My topic was about how to educate your clients the right way.

Earlier this year, I hosted my annual State of the Industry panel, where we discussed what’s happening in the industry and what business owners should be focused on for success.

This year’s theme was “educating” your clients. Everyone talked about it multiple times. In fact, I ran a 14-second clip at Engage showing all the times one of the panelists said “education.” 

But what does it mean to “educate” your clients? How do you do it well? And when in the buyer’s journey? And what’s the best way to do it?

These were the questions I answered in my talk last week, and I’ll share some highlights with you on my podcast today.

But I’ll also include what I picked up from others who shared the stage over the week, because there was so much to think about based on the content I heard. 

I’ve done this Engage wrap-up after every one I’ve attended since 2017. I hope you get as many takeaways from this summary as I did from the summit itself.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth.

The wedding industry pushes an unrealistic version of what it means to work in “luxury.”

Million-dollar budgets? Amangiri and the Amalfi Coast for every wedding? Couples who look like models in every photo?

Sorry, but that’s not the luxury wedding market. That’s ultra-luxe. The top 1%, not 10%. 

And that pie-in-the-sky version of “luxury” is a lot harder to achieve than most industry leaders let on. 

The simple fact is you have to make it to the next level of luxury before you can rise to the top.

How do you do that in a way that feels true to you? How do you do that working with clients you love, not neurotic, narcissistic monsters?

Tune into today’s episode.

We’ve all heard of “growth mindsets,” but what does it really mean? Here’s a definition:

A belief that intelligence, abilities, and talents can be developed through effort, hard work and guidance from others.

I first heard about it in the book Mindset by Carol Dweck, a Stanford professor who coined the term back in 2006. In her research, she found the growth mindset was the #1 predictor of long-term success.

Now you might think, well duh, of course people believe they can improve themselves. Ahhh, but that’s actually NOT the case.

Many people believe for many different reasons, they can’t improve.

Look at the current conditions in the wedding industry. It’s tough out there, and will be for a while.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the down market is an explanation for why it’s harder to fill your calendar, but it’s not an excuse.

Someone with a growth mindset sees the challenge in today’s industry and wonders, how will I adapt to the new environment in order to achieve my goals. 

The opposite is a fixed mindset. They see the exact same scenario, and think, well crap, I hope things get better soon so I can fill my calendar or raise my prices.

Today, I bring on to the podcast one of my dearest friends in the wedding world, Anja Winikka, former right hand to the founder of The Knot, industry innovator, and CEO of Freeda, a new kind of community for established wedding pros who want genuine community with other wedding pros. 

I always feel better about the world when I hear what Anja has to say about things. I know you will too.

We all know it’s a crowded marketplace out there right now. I’ve never believed there’s enough business for everyone who wants it (well, maybe in 2022). But now, more than ever, wedding pros are feeling the pinch of not enough business to go around.

Even if you are filling your calendar, it’s harder than it’s been in a long time. Not counting the early days of the pandemic, I’ve not seen times this tough since 2008-2010 during the Great Recession - and it was BAD back then.

So what can you do to stand out in this competitive market?

One thing is for sure: Couples want to know the person they pick to produce a certain part of their wedding is the absolute best they can get for the money they’re spending. 

Yes, of course, everyone wants the best. But unless you can afford the absolute best, you have to settle for the most you can get with the money you’re willing to spend.

This means every wedding pro at every price point needs to do all you can to convince buyers not just that you’re worth it, or to like you, but to TRUST you. 

And one of the best ways to do that is show yourself to be an expert in whatever it is you do.

The measure of your unhappiness is the distance between where you are and where you want to be.

For many right now, that’s a big gap.

You should work smarter and harder to close the gap - but don’t fixate on how far you’ve got to go. 

When times get tough, it’s more motivating to look at how far you’ve come.

At my family for Thanksgiving, we did that cheesy thing where you hold hands and say what you’re most grateful for.

2024 was a hard year for many in the industry. It’s easy to look at what you don’t have on the books, instead of what you do have that will help feed your business through lean times.

Today, I talk about overreaching, overambition, and its negative effect on not just the journey, but also the likelihood of making it to your destination. In business, and in life.

One of the things we’re seeing with couples is their lack of decisiveness. It’s taking a lot longer to make a decision. 

I see lots of reasons for this, including overscheduled lives, multiple decision-makers, a noisy marketplace, and general concern about the economy.

As a business owner, you can’t control ANY of these things. Sorry, I wish it was different - but it’s not.

Instead, I want you to focus on the things you can impact. 

One of those is called “purchase intent.” How much does someone want to buy your services. You have to create desire with messaging, and tap into momentum in the buyer’s journey.

Unfortunately, most wedding professionals aren’t doing these things well. Either of them. 

Marketing and sales messages aren’t clear or communicated frequently enough. 

And too much friction is injected into the sales process, which makes it harder, not easier, to buy.

Today, Katy and I will show you how to talk about the right aspects of your business so you can increase the desire for your services.

If you like buyer psychology, get ready to geek out!

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