The Business of Word of Mouth

A referral is the greatest form of a compliment. I’m not sure who originally quoted that but it couldn’t ring more true.

This month Vitaily and I embarked on our sixth year owning our own business. I couldn’t be happier or more thankful to be doing something I truly love. Growing up, I always pictured myself as a business woman, but I never imagined owning my own business. I definitely have the heart of an entrepreneur, but it’s my husband’s adventurous spirit that brought it out of me.

Starting and then running your own business is truly a journey. As I reflect on the past 5 years, I’m amazed at all the lessons we’ve learned and ways we’ve changed. But the lesson I’m thankful to be learning right now is that there really is no such thing as an overnight success. I used to want that for myself. But I now see the need for the journey. I see God’s grace in giving us bit by bit. I see the beauty in the dedication, hard work and perseverance required for the journey. You all remember The Tortoise And The Hare, right? The tortoise always wins! That’s our new visual reminder.

Though it does require tenacity to run your own business, it also requires community. And we have the best! We wouldn’t be where we are today without all of you – our friends, family, amazing clients, and fellow wedding professionals. Our friends and family sharing their love and support by sending weddings our way. And our sweet clients and fellow wedding professionals voicing their compliments in the form of a referral. I repeat, we could not do this without you.

While our business grows predominantly from word of mouth referrals, I’m always excited to see who the internet will bring knocking on my digital door. Style Me Pretty has introduced us to some incredible clients and vendors I’m so happy to know. Our relationship with SMP has been a huge blessing in 2013! I’m excited to add a new vendor relationship with Once Wed this year and see who they send our way. SMP and Once Wed are two brands I admire and I’m thankful to be working with them both to help add value to the Pictilio brand.

2014 is a new year and a new chapter on this journey for us. And it’s our most ambitious year yet! We are praying (key word “praying”, because all that we have is from Him) for 25 weddings this year. I’m afraid to put that in writing, but Lara Casey has taught me the power of writing things down and sharing it with others. If you would like to join us in this journey by praying for this goal or referring a couple our way, we would be most thankful. But most of all, thank you for everything you’ve already done. It always feels good to know that we have a crowd of supporters both near and far.