LEARN THEN APPLY

Hi there!

So I might go Mac.

For anyone that hasn't kept up, last summer I bought NINE different laptops to end up with a Dell XPS 17. There's a lot that I like about this laptop (long battery, big screen, pretty quiet), but I just can't deal with the hardware and software issues that constantly pop up.

People recommend Macs all the time but, until Apple released the new M1 chip, the value wasn't there. I'm not looking forward to a 13" screen (🤢) but I'll give it a shot.

Now onto some exciting updates! 👇

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        The Challenge

You should get compensated for the value you provide.

There isn't necessarily a problem with chasing opportunities just to make a buck, but I want people to be happy to pay for the value my products provide.

This weekend I got my first sale for the wedding marketplace.

Quick recap: Two weeks ago, I was debating how I should monetize the marketplace. I decided to try free basic listings with paid options for a better profile and greater visibility.

I reached out to 65 vendors and had 9 people fill out info for a free account and one person sign up for the highest paid tier!

The one that paid was a DJ/entertainment group. It showed me that vendors with higher-cost offerings might view the cost as trivial. Even for an unproven platform.

But how do I make it a no-brainer for everyone?

        Resources

📄 Is WedMeGood a Scam?

I found out about WedMeGood from the Netflix show "The Big Day". They're basically the WeddingWire of India.

In the review, a photographer reflects on paying $700 for a six-month subscription where felt he got nothing out of it.

He said that the leads that came through the site were mostly spam. So not only did he not get any bookings, but he had to spend valuable time wading through bad leads.

This made me think about how to properly price the offering and make sure the quality of leads is high.

        Insights

I'm not too worried about the quality of leads.

I am being intentional about my methods of user acquisition. (Some ideas are paid promotions on niche IG pages, features of ideal couples, and word of mouth by sharing the platform with priests.)

But the fair value to vendors is going to take some time and discussions to figure out.

I'm still thinking of charging venues like churches and reception halls to be on the platform. But I want to get consistent monthly traffic to the website before I pitch them.

For the smaller vendors, I might explore a cost per lead model. Another idea is to help those vendors with the booking process (scheduling and payments) and take a percentage of the transaction.

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✌ See y'all next time

Have a great week!

<3 Aswin

p.s. follow me on Twitter