I was upsold to in the weekend and didn't even know it. Now that I do though, I'm ok with it. Over the last few weeks my fiancee and I have been looking out wedding bands for us both. We'd again done our homework, been put off by another raft of useless sales people and ended up where we always knew we would, with the same jeweller I'd bought her engagement ring from. I blogged about that experience a while back. An hour later I walked out of the shop with a quote for a wedding band thicker, wider, with a bigger diamond and in higher quality gold than I'd gone in thinking I wanted. Kayla made To View More >>

There's a man on the side of the road selling dreams ... a guy comes up to him and says, "How much for a dream?" The Dream salesman says, "That depends, do you want a good dream, or a bad dream?" "I want the best dream I can get." "Did you know that your dreams are drawn from your own experiences?" asks the salesman. "Now I do. Maybe I could have somebody else's dream then," says the guy, hoping for a happy experience, and realising that his lacklustre life was not the material of amazing dreams. "Funny you should ask – I have a brother who sells books and lottery tickets, maybe he can help you." To View More >>

Because you'll probably (hopefully) never be engaged again, or plan your own wedding again, or be single again... Sure planning a wedding can be stressful, and frustrating, and hard work, and all those other things that make you want to run off to Vegas and elope - but it's also exciting and fun and romantic. It's now only two days until our wedding, but we're still taking time to relax, reflect, and enjoy the process. Wish us luck, rehearsal tomorrow. Cheers, Nigel To View More >>

In 25 days I get married. I’ve known my beautiful fiancée, Kayla, for over 10 years, dated her for over five and we've been engaged for one. We’ve been through some tough times together, shared plenty of good ones and believe that the heart of marriage is the relationship we create. I don’t consider myself uber romantic, funny, sensitive, or wealthy. But Kayla thinks otherwise. And that’s part of why I love her. I’m not a wedding planner or a photographer, just a normal guy in love, getting married … who happens to work at Queensberry. As you'd expect the photographers we work with To View More >>

Every time I go out to buy something I start thinking about ... Marketing. Sorry. Anyway, a new camera is on the cards, a point-and-shoot (I'm not a photographer, OK!) I know what I want in a camera, I've done my homework and I've whittled down the list to a couple or three that all fit my criteria. They all offer me great image quality, enough control and they cost about the same. I'm not a camera brand 'fan-boy' so I'd be happy with any of them. How do I decide which one to buy? I don't know. But when I go out to buy, one of them will tip the scales in some way. Reputation, customer service To View More >>

He always found it difficult going to a new supermarket ... so he stuck with the one he had used for the last five years. He knew where the dried apricots were, and the gluten free pasta was always down the third aisle on the second shelf up. He didn’t see the need to be a supermarket slut chasing the best price on freshly dug potatoes. He felt safe. He shopped safe, and a diversion from the standard shop might be an adventurous purchase from the delicatessen's department. He liked that nothing changed except the weekly special. On holiday recently he went shopping with a friend and suddenly To View More >>

Caring is an attractive quality we're all drawn towards on some level. We notice when people care for us, or someone else, or some thing. And it makes us feel good. Take Gail or Natasha or Sonya here at Queensberry. They make people feel good all day because they genuinely care about the person on the other end of the phone. And trust me, people notice it. When looking for a wedding venue, we noticed how much one venue cared even before we'd visited. They wanted us to have the fullest experience possible when visiting their venue, so suggested we come by one Saturday morning before a wedding, and To View More >>

James makes fabulous coffee. He brings in the beans, roasts them, cures the roast, grinds the roasted beans, and extracts the sacred juices. People know that he makes the best coffee you can get. Not many know why, or how. Not many people understand the difference between the brew they get from the Lyttelton Coffee Company and one from Anyoldcafe. They still have their coffee here because they love the food, or the staff, or the environment. Meanwhile in the background James is quietly fizzing over the arrival of some single source Cuban beans that will raise the coffee experience to another level. To View More >>

Remember your first time? Doing whatever. Maybe photographing your first wedding? Years back when Subway turned up in New Zealand it took me 10 minutes and enough questions to drive mum up the wall to finally place my order. Why? Because I didn't know how. I've just committed to spending a lot of money on our wedding photography, but before I did, I was nervous. Not so much because of the money, but because I wasn't sure what I'd get for it. It was my first time. I'm in the industry, talk to photographers all the time, and write articles about marketing and business every day.  But I still felt To View More >>

How much is an experience worth? (Contains a movie plot spoiler...) If I said to you, "Yeah, in the end the shark gets it," would you still go to the Jaws movie? I could tell you there was blood, pretty girls, lots of really stupid people in boats and a very big angry shark. It could never match the experience, just spoil it. What is that experience worth? Apparently it was worth $260,000,000 in the US alone. If you give your clients a good experience, what is it worth? What is it worth when they tell their friends? I can't tell you enough how valuable the experience of you is to the Bride and To View More >>