Post It Notes – 15th July 2011: Sticking to your Guns & Defying Conventions

July 15, 2011

Photography Credit: Amy Radcliffe Photography (full wedding coming next week!)

A few tips I gathered from my twitter followers this week…

@PeteSmyth “My tip would be to stick to your guns. Do it your way, not your parents way.”

@INHousewifey “The best wedding planning tip I learned (too late!) was if you can’t find something you like…make it yourself…don’t settle!”

@levansphoto “My tip is for all husbands-to-be … as much as we appreciate “whatever you want is fine by me” 99% of the time occasionally we appreciate your input!”

Today’s tip follows on quite nicely from last week’s actually. In talking to a friend over coffee this week, I had a bit of a light bulb moment. In business it’s really important that the path you take represents exactly what you want it to, and not what you (or others) think it should. Let me clarify…

I’m a wedding blogger and I love love love weddings. I love looking at them, swooning over the details and original ideas and getting to know the couples and suppliers behind the day. However I don’t have any desire to plan these weddings. This isn’t an area I want my business to cover.  However when I try and explain what I do to people who don’t inhabit this crazy land we call blog, they automatically assume I’m a wedding planner. Erm no… I’ll leave that to the professionals thanks!

The way I usually describe what I do to a wedding blog novice is that it is basically like a wedding magazine, but just online (they then always ask me how I make money but that’s another topic all together!)

I am essentially an after-the-event reporter. A showbiz magazine might report on a red carpet event or celebrity party, however the magazine doesn’t actually plan these parties do they? Nope, they’ve got in on the party action in the way they saw best for them – by reporting and sharing the photos to the masses afterwards.

I guess what im trying to articulate, in my own random and slightly roundabout way, is that ignoring what people expect you to do and instead focussing wholeheartedly on what you really want to do is bloomin’ brilliant. Break molds, defy conventions and turn the industry in its head.

What is your niche? How do you see the world/industry differently?