Candice (00:00.288)

All right, a hot topic episode coming up for you today. Should you pay to play? That's the question that I'm asking. And I think my opinion on this is going to shock you. So let's talk about the truth behind those as seen in features. You're here to grow a business, but not just any kind of business. You want to grow a profitable business with purpose, a business where you wake up every single day driven.

to serve your customers and make a difference in your own life. I'm Candace Coppola, published author, business coach, and your guide to building a profitable business with purpose. Join me here every single week as we explore how to build and grow your business with purpose. Get ready to dig in and have meaningful conversations about the strategies and techniques that will help you build your dream business. This

is the power in purpose.

Candice (01:06.638)

Hey there friends, welcome back to the Powered Purpose Podcast. It's me, your host, Candace. And we're back for a new season of the show. I want to say thank you so much for your patience. I took a little time off in the months of October and November. We hit pause on new episodes so that I could travel. And also I had a couple of really big projects that I needed to put my full attention and energy behind. So we hit pause on new episodes for the time being and it feels so good to be back.

with you this week and the start of a new season. We are recording right now episode 199. That is what you're listening to. And so that means we're on the eve of our 200th episode of the show. And I'm preparing something really fun and special for next week. I hope you'll join me again to celebrate 200 conversations of the power and purpose. But I think

199 is a pretty big achievement. And I'm so excited to spend it today doing what I love to do, which is a little shit talking, a little hot topic talking. Kind like the views hot topics, but without 18 people's opinions, just mine, the way I like it. We're talking all about those pay to plays and whether it's worth it or not. And if you should really cringe,

when you see people doing this, or if you should be more curious about the strategy. And as I mentioned at the top of the episode, I think my opinion on this is either A, going to shock you and you're gonna be like, wow, I expected you to have a different opinion, or you're going to be like, yeah, and this is why I listened to Candice's podcast. Because Candice sees things a little bit differently than maybe most, and she's always coming with the strategy side of business, which believe it or not, paying to play,

It's all about strategy. And if we're going to be playing this game of business, sometimes we have to pay to play the game. And that's what these features are really all about. Now, listen, you might disagree with me today and that's okay. I love being disagreed with. think it challenges us both. And I know that not everything I share here you may agree with, but somebody needs to say that most of the hot takes that you see around this issue on threads.

Candice (03:20.726)

about pay to play or features in Vogue or Town and Country, and that's mostly what I'm discussing here today, are honestly dead wrong. They're dead wrong. And I appreciate the sentiment and I appreciate that people think that this is not authentic and that paying to play is scammy. I appreciate that position.

And I appreciate that it is a heated debate in spaces like threads and acts and Instagram. I also appreciate that sometimes it's nice to dunk on people, which as a society, we seem to really enjoy. We really seem to enjoy dunking on one another, whether it's business, know, or hot takes and dunking on people in business, or we're dunking on people in politics, or we're dunking on people in social issues or stupid issues.

or housewives issues, which is really where I like to dunk quite frankly. That this conversation seems to get so heated and about every 90 days I'll log onto threads and I will see somebody just exposing the pay to play side of the industry. And I always get so curious about why it triggers people so much. And I do think

There's some subcontext behind why people find this so triggering and why people really dislike it and think it's inauthentic. I first think that people misunderstand how PR actually works in business and just in general. So many of the brands that you know and love pay for PR and the PR game is an important game to play if you're building a business that you want to be found.

through public relations, through press, through features, through exposure. And in order to get PR, you often have to pay for things. You have to pay for features. It's pretty standard. Wedding industry aside, I also think that there's a bit of judgment behind this because people do think a paid feature, they equate it to being some kind of scam, which it's not.

Candice (05:38.656)

It is business, is advertising. It's not false advertising, it is advertising. And the people who choose to do it are doing it for reasons that we will describe below, reasons that I think many of you should also consider doing it for too.

I do think that some people who might be approached for some of these opportunities have a fear of investing in something like this. So that also muddies the waters a little bit. We're going to talk about fear of investing today too, because I think maybe your fear of investing in your business is actually one of the biggest things holding you back. And then finally, a very small subsection of people, not all, but a very small demographic of people I think are jealous obviously of the features that other people get.

and would like those same opportunities, but may not be willing to pay for it or may not be able to pay for it. And for some reason, the industry has kind of created this purity test when it comes to marketing. And you might log into threads or log into a social media platform and see this discourse happening and think, well, I don't want to be dishonest. I don't want to be a

person who is paying to play. If the whole industry doesn't like this, I don't want to do this. And of course you'd be right. I mean, you want to be ethical. You want to be an ethical marketer. You want to be an ethical business owner. And so there is this pressure from somewhere about purity in marketing and this kind of morality in marketing to a level that I think sometimes is just incorrect. And that's what we're talking about.

today. So this is my take on it. And this, this, this might actually shock you. You might think, and I've come around to this over the years. I've also paid to play. So I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do, but this is where I'm going to plant my flag on today's episode. If Vogue approached you and said, we would like to feature your business as one of the top photographers,

Candice (07:50.606)

one of the top planners, one of the top invitation designers, one of the top makeup artists in the world. And to do this, we need $5,000 to feature your business. Why wouldn't you do that? Why wouldn't you give Vogue $5,000 and say, here's everything about my business. Please feature me. If you have the budget and the ROI aligns with

being featured in Vogue, why wouldn't you pay to have your business associated with the, the top publication that holds social, cultural, and luxury clout? Why wouldn't you pay for that? I mean, for me, no question, no question, I would be dropping down my MasterCard so quick.

So quick. would be like, take this out immediately. Why? Because that aligns with the brand that I'm building. And I know that in the grand scheme of growing a business in today's economy, in today's market, with today's social media algorithms and how AI is going to completely and continue to upend our industry, it already has, but it's really going to shake things up.

I know that attention and visibility are two things that I can't skip on and two things that I need to be paying attention to in the next year because it's going to get harder and harder for all of us to be visible. Whether we are using email marketing, we're using social media marketing, even networking, it's become harder and harder to be visible. If you've gone to a networking event recently, maybe your local WIPA chapter, maybe you've gone to a local networking group.

There's so many people, it's hard to just stand out in a room. And so if Vogue came up to me and said, me $5,000 and I will feature you as one of the top planners in the world, I would say, say less. And I'm wondering why you aren't saying the same thing. You may already be paying for advertising just through different channels. I think it's a little hypocritical because everybody's fine with paying for wedding wire.

Candice (10:07.594)

Everybody's fine with paying for the knot. It's almost expected when you start your business. And you know how I feel about those two platforms. I would tell you, go back into the archives and listen to my podcast episode about wedding directories for my hot take on that. But we have no problem paying for that. We have no problem paying to be a part of Little Black Books and Facebook ads, Google ads. But Vogue? Guys.

Come on, your business alongside Vogue? That could do incredible things for your business, which is why I think it's a miss to have the opinion that you shouldn't pay to play. Hey, friend, hear that noise? That's the sound of HoneyBook depositing cold hard cash into your bank account. HoneyBook is an all-in-one client flow platform that helps you manage your leads

send wedding proposals and sign more contracts all with the click of a button. HoneyBook also offers a variety of resources and materials to help you grow your wedding industry business. One of my favorite features of the HoneyBook platform is actually the community of creative entrepreneurs just like you. HoneyBook is offering listeners of the Power and Purpose podcast 35 % off any of their three plans for your first year. 35%, it's an amazing deal.

Use the code PURPOSE at checkout or go to CandaceCoppola.com slash HoneyBook to learn more. That's CandaceCoppola.com slash HoneyBook. And thanks to HoneyBook for sponsoring this episode of the Power in Purpose podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by our partner, Flowdesk. Flowdesk is an email marketing software used by thousands of creative entrepreneurs just like you to grow their business and their brand.

What I love most about Flowdesk is just how easy and simple it is to create stunning and effective email marketing campaigns in just a few clicks. It's perfect for the wedding industry and for anyone looking to grow their business with email marketing. Go to CandaceCoppola.com slash Flowdesk to sign up for your free trial where you can start designing beautiful email campaigns while I teach you about marketing here on the podcast.

Candice (12:30.83)

That's Candace Coppola.com slash flow desk to start your free trial and use the code Candace 50 at checkout to save 50 % off your first year. Check it out and see what's possible. And thanks to flow desk for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. Now let's get back to the episode. Now that you know my opinion on paying to play, I want to actually share with you why I have this opinion and what

paying to play could really do for your business and why smart business owners that want to align their brand with the likes of Vogue and other top publications, why they make the decision to invest in this type of PR. Because the real game of business, this is where we really start to see strategy and we really start to see bigger pictures coming into play. So this is what's really going on when you pay to play and to be featured in let's say Vogue's top

photographers in the world. First of all, you're borrowing brand equity. You are aligning your brand next to a household name and that elevates the perception of your brand instantly. Instantly. When you borrow brand equity from Vogue and you're suddenly now one of the top photographers in the world, people want to know your name. Planners want to know your name and they want to work with Vogue's top photographer.

Clients, of course, want to know your name. That puts you in an entirely different bracket of client. And if one of your goals is to work with clients who have more money, who have greater fashion sense, greater style, who are getting married in Italy or pick a very luxurious, gorgeous destination, aligning your brand and borrowing that brand equity from somewhere like Vogue is going to put you on the map and put you in front of more of the right people.

Also, luxury consumers use shortcuts. so high-end clients, often scan for recognizable markers when they're looking at your business and your brand. That's why social proof on your website is so important. Not just testimonials, but those logos that we love to put on our website because it says, look, I'm aligned with these publications. They vouched for me. They featured my work.

Candice (14:52.428)

Well, luxury customers, all customers, but especially luxury customers are going to be looking for some of those recognizable markers like Vogue, Town & Country, and Harper's Bazaar. And when they see those visual markers on your website, they see those logos or they go to your Instagram and they see, you know, the pinned Vogue logo on your Instagram, that helps to establish trust and credibility and authority and expertise.

all things that clients are looking for. It also signals power and as seen in logo at a badge, it's, it is about trust. And so being able to see that is a shortcut to establishing trust and trust is getting harder and harder to establish. I mean, I don't know if these publications

will continue to hold trust with their audience. That's an interesting thing for us to discuss in the new year relating to Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and Town & Country. Should they maintain their journalistic standards and disclosures, I would hope that they would continue to maintain trust, the media and publications have weathered trust with audiences.

But still seeing your business associated with these brands signals trust. It also is strategic for visibility and not all visibility is created equal. An Instagram post once a week is a lot different than getting featured in Vogue. A lot different than being featured in Harper's Bazaar. So these types of pay to plays allow you to borrow authority, allow you to borrow brand equity. And there is elements of.

luxury psychology baked into aligning your brand with these brands. And quite frankly, it's smart business. It's a very smart strategy to pay for visibility that helps you reach the people that you want. spend thousands of dollars every single month in advertising. Why? Because I want to reach people that want to work with me or that have problems that I have solutions for.

Candice (17:14.242)

I have great organic marketing. mean, honestly, I have top organic marketing in the industry. I've got all the keywords on lock. I've got great resources, but that only takes me so far. Paying to play helps to accelerate my business growth, my financial growth, my reach, my brand visibility. What could be possible for you if you invested in advertising, in PR, and in marketing?

So I think the misjudgment around this is very misguided and it's misguided for a couple of reasons. The first thing is you don't know someone else's goals. You don't know somebody else's business model, their financial plans or their strategy. You don't know what their business coach is advising them to do. So if you scroll Instagram in the next couple of weeks and you see the best of or end year recaps featuring in spotlighting people and it is pay to play.

You have to really stop yourself from being snarky, stop yourself from thinking the worst and start getting curious about why they might have invested in that. And if that investment is going to pay off because you don't know what their advisors are telling them. And you don't know whether that investment is the missing piece in a larger brand strategy that they have for themselves.

And personally, just think moralizing someone else's marketing spend is very, it is a pointless activity. You can't be the morality police on what people spend their money on. And in doing that, I think it's very short-sighted and even a little immature. You are responsible for how you spend money in your business. And I know that you don't appreciate anybody coming in and telling you what you should spend your money on or what you shouldn't, especially money you've already spent.

And so I think that, you know, we have to bestow that same courtesy on other people and dunking on people on threads is misguided. And I think it, quite frankly, it shows people's hands. Like I just think that it shows that the person doing that lacks understanding about visibility, marketing, PR, brand, authority, and the list goes on and on. So I want to encourage you always to stay in your lane. I want to encourage you to keep your eyes on your own paper.

Candice (19:40.468)

One of our past guests, Megan, from all she wrote notes, dropped that little nugget in her interview with me many years ago. We talked about competitiveness in her market and competitiveness in products. And she said, you know what I try to do? I just try to keep my eyes on my own paper. And that has stuck with me since our first interview. And I share it with you again today. Stay in your lane, keep your eyes on your own paper, focused on your growth, focused on the strategy that is going to support

your vision for your business and don't worry about what other people think. Now, outside of the morality issue, I think the bigger issue here is, and this is me having coached thousands of people, okay, at this point in all my programs, all my students, shout out to my students. I see this and I see it more now than I think ever before. And it's unfortunate, but

Wedding pros don't want to spend money on visibility. I don't know why. Why don't you want to spend money on visibility that helps you make more money? For some reason, a lot of people in our industry expect credibility to be free. I don't know why. They want luxury clients, but they don't want to make luxury level investments in their business. Whether that is on a website, a proper website and brand, whether that is with a business coach that is going to...

give you the shortcut to get to where you want to go, whether it is an office space, team members, and yes, visibility. You have to pay to play the game of business. And if you want to attract higher value clients, you have to likely make higher value investments. So for some reason,

wedding pros want visibility, but they don't want to pay for it. And they also don't want to do it organically. Like they don't want to market their business. They don't want to pay to be marketed. And, know, they wonder why they're not getting clients and why they're not making money. I often say, when somebody comes to me and they're like, my sales are down. I'm not making money. What's the problem? Fix it for me, Candace. What do I do? My first question is, well, how's your marketing?

Candice (22:00.386)

What's going on? And most of the time, 99.9 % of the time, their marketing sucks or it doesn't exist. They dip in and out of marketing. You have got to take visibility seriously. And I know it's hard. I know it's not fun. You can always hire somebody to help you. You you don't have to do this all by yourself, but if you are not content with where your business is at financially,

with the clients it's serving and with the brand awareness that you have developed in your business. If you feel invisible, you need to focus on visibility. And guess what? Visibility costs money, period. It costs money. Whether that is time investment or financial investment, it costs money. And the industry's only getting noisier. It's only getting harder to stand out. So you have to figure out where to invest.

in the places where your ideal clients are looking for those signals that you are trustworthy, that you are credible, that you are going to bring the expertise that they're seeking for their wedding. So looking ahead into the new year and looking ahead towards the budget that you might have for your business in 2026 and what you're building and what your goals might be, I want to give you a little bit of a roadmap for investing. And maybe considering putting your name on the list.

for some of these features because I can tell you with firsthand insider knowledge, I'm not gonna burst open anybody's business files, but I will tell you in firsthand knowledge, I have seen what this has done for people's businesses. And when I tell you it has done incredible, amazing things, I am not exaggerating. I'm talking about, you know, price point, average clients into the stratosphere of business.

by simply aligning their brand with the right brands, including publications. So when we look at the new year and we look at your investments, I want you investing in platforms and publications that your ideal clients trust. And trust can be eroded very quickly. So make sure that you are always paying attention to what types of publications continue to maintain trust. We'll see what happens with Vogue with their new

Candice (24:24.814)

editor, I know when Tori's out after so many years. So we'll see what happens with Vogue in this new era. Hopefully they'll be able to maintain their trust. But I mean, guys, you open up any Vogue, it's just, it's just advertisements, the whole entire magazine. Everything you see is an advertisement. One of my favorite magazines was Real Simple. Okay. Real Simple Magazine is a literally a walking catalog. It is not.

your better homes and gardens, all all magazines are walking catalogs. And then this is how they're able to produce through advertisers. So pick platforms and publications that your ideal clients trust and make sure that you're continuing to pay attention because trust erodes very quickly. You also want to invest in brand alignment. So you want to find brands that you can align yourself with that will help to

elevate your brand to where you want it to be or where it actually already is. And please invest in marketing assets that are going to help to build brand recognition and authority industry wide. It is getting harder and harder to stand out. And so your marketing assets, your branding assets need to help to build that authority. And if Vogue or Harper's or Town and Country are the shortcut, girl, take my foolish advice, shortcut it.

Drop that credit card down. I wish they were paying me to record this, but they're not. And if a niche publication speaks to your dream clients, then invest in that. It doesn't have to be exclusively Vogue. Some of you guys could care less about Vogue and could care less about luxury clients, but no matter the publication, if it is positioned in an authority way to the people that you want to attract,

And they look to that publication as a trusted source. You need to be featured in it. The point here is to be intentional about where you invest your money and how you strategize when it comes to pay and play. So if you want to be seen as a leader, I don't want you playing small with your visibility in 2026 and really even right now. So stop worrying about what the internet thinks, especially if you've let that dictate your decisions in the past and do what's right for the businesses that you're building because

Candice (26:44.958)

Nobody on the outside really knows the vision for your business. That's between you, your coach, maybe your partner or spouse, and a trusted friend or advisor. The internet has no idea what you're striving for or what you're trying to do. So if you have listened to some of those naysayers about pay to play, and you have allowed it to influence your decision, I hope that this episode gets you thinking a little bit differently. And I'd love to hear from you. So DM me your thoughts. Do you agree with me?

Do you disagree? Did I make you rethink your stance? Or are you 10 toes down saying, I still think it's shitty? I want to hear. And I also want you to forward this episode to a friend who you think is stuck maybe in fear-based visibility thinking. They are so worried about what other people think. Or maybe they have the opposite opinion that I do and you think that they should listen to this episode to enlighten them. Send it their way.

All right, friends, I am so excited for our 200th episode coming up next week. I want to remind you there's so much power in your progress. I'll see you next time.

Thanks so much for tuning in to this week's episode of the Power and Purpose Podcast. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode and consider leaving a review. Head over to powerinpurposepodcast.com to access all of the resources and links mentioned in today's episode. That's powerinpurposepodcast.com. I'll see you next time.