What's your positioning statement?

You must have misunderstood my explanation at the end as being the actual statement which was contained in the middle of the post.

Joe you are a genius, and enormously generous. I've learned quite a bit from the earlier positioning makeovers and your useful articles. Here's my attempt:

To brides and wedding professionals everywhere who want to be more confident and skilled about managing the inevitable challenges of wedding planning.

Positively Wed, a relationship management and mediation firm, offers happiness consultants that work with you by phone to get to the heart of the matter and find the right words or actions to thoughtfully resolve it, making your wedding experience happier.

Because Dina is an award-winning mediator with 17 years experience who has trained over 1000 people, you will easily gain skills and tactics to be more comfortable, eliminate stress, positively resolve lingering issues and avoid new ones, in an affordable, private, and time efficient way that let's you get back to the wedding 'fun'.

Ok, that's it. Just a bit of explanation. I'm trying out the term 'happiness consultant' because weddings planners reject anything that smacks of conflict or negative vibes. I could substitute mediator, but that sounds dull and I'm not sure people get what mediators do.

I used firm because eventually I'd like to add more mediators from across the country to my network. However, I'm concerned it sounds stuffy when working with me is anything but that. Clients say working with me is comforting and inspirational, often-times fun.

Who knew telling people that I can help them figure out what they want and what to do/say to achieve that would be so difficult? When I was an Ombudsman I jokingly said I was like a 'corporate Mom', someone you can go to when you're in trouble and want to talk privately. But that doesn't work here- real 'mothers of the brides' might object!

How do you make conflict sound appealing?? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. And, thanks so much, Joe.

Lots of water and a big nap should help! I'm eager to hear your thoughts, Joe Thanks

Glad to see you're feeling better, Joe.

As usual, your comments are astute. I think I wasn't as clear, which your feedback helped me realize. I'm a mediator not a wedding planner, which is why I shy away from that term.

Also, planners argue that resolving disputes is part of their domain so I think they might be offended or threatened by my use of their title. Actually, I'm a great partner for the professional who either wants to deal only withe the wedding details (no drama) or feels so overwhelmed/uncomfortable that she wants my guidance. ( that word is spot-on;thanks!) A good analogy is that planners are the general practitioners and I'm the specialist.

Wedding facilitator works well to differentiate my services but still maintain the frame of reference. Or maybe I should be called 'the fixer' like Michael Clayton, huh?

Today, I'm writing a survey to determine what benefits brides think I offer. I'd say the biggest ones are having a neutral 3rd party for guidance, getting a fresh perspective, learning tactics to communicate/negotiate better, feeling more confidence and comfortable with conflict.

I'll mull over all this incredibly helpful thought and come up with something better. Thanks!

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@Joe, I'm just an old romantic :) Been reading through your posts and website. Some great advice there! Thanks.

Great tagline, Joe. Still waiting on survey results before my next attempt at a positioning statement. Even running a contest it's hard to get brides to participate...Sheesh.

OK, I'm back. Survey is ongoing but offered some good insights into what my two markets: brides and wedding pros want. So, here's my second attempt at clearing the high bar, Joe.

To brides everywhere who want to feel more skilled and comfortable managing the emotions and concerns of planning a wedding.

Dina Eisenberg, the Bride Whisperer and founder of Positively Wed, will guide you though the tangle of feelings and decisions so you can enjoy planning and your wedding day.

Because, unlike most wedding professionals who focus on the mechanics of your wedding, Dina's background in mediation (combined with her friendly support and love of life) uniquely qualify her to see the underlying issues and preserve the important relationships that are part of your big day.

Working with Dina during a 'thinking session', brides appreciate having a safe space to hear a fresh perspective, blow off steam and find new ways to have their voice heard.

She's always happy to share details of her award-winning work.

I'm hoping this is at least an A attempt. Can't wait to hear...Thanks!

Joe, thanks for the tweets. I agree with your thoughts.

I narrowed this statement just to brides. I'm still confused about how to relate to brides and wedding professionals in one site. That might mean I need two differently focused sites. Like Positively Wed and Positively Wed Pro.

How would you suggest that my practice is virtual instead of everywhere? My polls indicate that brides prefer email conversations over in person meetings. (Didn't see that one coming so the survey was incredibly valuable)

My 'to whom' lacked emotion, oddly enough. I like your suggestion better. Same problem with my differentiating statement. It's factually correct but lacks ummph.

What I really think is although I didn't particularly want to do a positioning statement, this exercise has been like a laser scalpel, allowing me to trim away flabby thinking and get to the precise elements of my offer. That has to be a good thing, and I owe it to you. Thanks

I hear you, Joe, about the email. I had concerns which I brought to a discussion in Biz Talk. My services are high quality, high value so it didn't feel like a good fit to me either.

No one was absolutely against it, but no one was cheer leading either. However, since this is an option that brides say they way, I'll have to figure out how to make it work. I'll launch with ebook products, weekly 'happy hours' for customers and one-to-one coaching and add email later, if really necessary.

One way to look at offering email consultation is that it will allow a segment of my market to reach me that might not be able to (or want to) afford the expense of time with me directly.

Hi Joe. I'm pretty new to Biznik, but think I could really use your help with my positioning statement. Here's my first attempt. I'd love your feedback.

Thanks!!!! Daphne

Creative Image Photography’s team of two experienced photographers seeks engaged couples in the Puget Sound area looking for a fun and affordable approach to their wedding photography. Our unique style is photojournalistic with a hint of tradition. We document the wedding day as it happens with minimal intrusion (we’re not the wedding “papparazi”) and with just a few posed photos. To ensure we capture the wedding day and deliver the beautiful photos the couple expects, we spend time with the bride and groom before the wedding getting to know them and making them comfortable with the camera. This usually involves at least one pre-wedding photo shoot like an engagement shoot or a “save-the-date” shoot. In addition, pre-wedding and post-wedding photo shoots give us the time we need with the couple to create unique and artistic portraits that can’t be captured on the wedding day without a lot of disruption.

Our easy-going style and our creative approach are the tools we use to help make the wedding day less stressful so the bride and groom can focus on celebrating their day and not on documenting it. We know this because our couples are telling us how happy they are with feedback like, “We loved our photos! Daphne and Craig’s talent and creativity really captured our special day beautifully, we really enjoyed working with both of them and would recommend them to anyone for wedding or special event photography!”

Thank you so much for the feedback!

You're right about the warmth - people are tending to want us to become their family photographers for events that happen after their wedding (babies, etc.). I'm going to think about how to incorporate that into the approach.

Regarding pricing. The economy is making alot of photographers offer more value for the same price. We're actually thinking about modifying our pricing to offer a few different packages at different price points to address this, but won't go below our basic price. High end weddings do go for alot more, like 10-15K, but we're not in that market yet.

Thoughts about that?

Again, thank you so much for your feedback. I'll post a rewrite tomorrow with maybe less copy but the same positioning.

Exactly! I am working a a rewrite now that I think will better incorporate this concept.

Hi Joe, This is my first attempt at a positioning statement. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.

To everyone experiencing essential moments in life, I am Ramona Lynne Photography. I am an expert at photographing your essential moments from music, portraits or small weddings or events. I have a special way of expressing your essential moments in every photograph because your moments are unique, individual and heartfelt.