When I was 10, we went on a family holiday to Blackpool – the paragon of British sophistication.
The tram service, I mean.
We were there for around 4 nights and the highlight of the trip was definitely the day we spent at Pleasure Beach- the UK’s most ‘ride-intensive’ theme-park, home to Britain’s biggest and fastest rollercoaster, ‘The Big One’. 180 seconds of pure magic. Naturally, I dragged my dad on. It was sublime – a total out-of-body experience which, surprisingly, dipping and diving through tracks at 100km/h had little to do with.
No, my sense of the third person was more to do with the fact that there are apparently 33 million different gods in Hindu mythology… It took 3 minutes and a migraine to learn all that the hard way.
Thanks again, dad – impressive recall. Maybe next time you could pray for your life a little quieter?
Later that day, we stepped into the shade of a café for something refreshing. we’d been walking around for a few hours (queuing for things mostly) – so the rest of my family weren’t thrilled at the prospect of jumping in line again. But there were ulterior motives behind the choice of this particular cafe. Plastered on the windows were posters of bone-shaped containers filled with vibrant, semi-frozen liquid – ‘Slush Puppies’.
We all got one. My bother and I were both obnoxiously eager and ended up demanding a sample of every flavour (sour cherry, pink bubblegum, orange, mixed fruit, lime, tropical and blue raspberry). Dad – sporting an intermittent tremor from his (brief) encounter with G-force and the divine counsel, went for a plain orange. Mum chose neutral territory and got 3 random flavours. In fact, every other grownup in the room seemed to also be limiting themselves to a single or double flavour. At the time, I remember thinking, ‘don’t ever let me get this old.‘
The first sip was exquisite. I was revelling in my decision. In hindsight, I guess I must have thought myself a connoisseur mixologist -some bold pioneer setting benchmarks in the history of chilled beverages. Such zest was bound to serve me well in future. That is, if I’d actually been any good…
It wasn’t long after I’d worked my way through the first few layers that I noticed the vibrant rainbow colours of my drink gradually morphing into something rather sinister. Thick murky sludge, not unlike the gunk covering December streets in the northern hemisphere. It was also starting to taste funny. At first, I assumed it was just my unruly imagination trying to violate rainbow-flavoured art. But one glance at the small pools collecting in my 3-year-old brother’s eyes confirmed rising fears: we’d set ourselves a trap.
Thanks to an agglomeration of summer heat and poor life choices, the experience blazed from candied frost in a cup to tepid freezer residue faster than Dad could say ‘Shiva’. Within an hour of purchasing the ‘delight’, it looked/tasted vile. However, not wishing to appear anything short of enlightened visionary, I made a point of smacking my lips and patting my stomach… before promptly emptying the contents into a nearby bush. So much for mixology as an adult pursuit. My future now depended on living up to the Asian stereotype – ‘solve for x’.
Ok, like every good children’s story, there’s a moral to this one.
Besides learning enough religious stuff for this lifetime (and the next few hundred after that ;)), and that passing my exams was the only thing perched between me and a 1 way ticket back to Kathmandu’s squatting toilets, it was the first time the phrase ‘less is more’ really hit home.
*Start Post Here*
Whenever you find yourself acting on creative impulse, whether it be starting a blog, novel, YouTube channel, or just any sort of business, make a point of asking yourself:
WHAT THE &#%! IS GOING ON.
First of all, let me be plain about this. I’m no expert. The information I’m sharing with you has been taken from many reputable sources (some of which I’ll link below) with just a little dusting of my own experiences to add some context. I do not – and never will – claim to be all clued up when it comes to ‘running with ideas’ or ‘cultivating one’s artistic expression’. Seriously, what does that even mean? But with the modest intention of providing some omnirelevant, worthwhile content, I have presented my thoughts and findings in the form of this blog post.
Market-Fit
Having clear objectives when starting a new venture is essential if you want to get the most out of the journey it will take you on. Finding out what you’re doing, and why paves a clearer path toward your next biggest question; Who? Who the hell is this actually for?!! Yes, we know it can be readers, viewers, creators. But what sort of people are we interested in?
This is something else that requires categorisation. It goes without saying that you should definitely look to market something if you’ve poured emotion, ambition and effort into getting it consumer-ready. The cost-energy requirement for building, maintaining, and upgrading a product is not to be neglected. But if your target market is 18-30-year-old women, a handbook detailing the ins and out of Post-Menopausal Pilates probably won’t sway things in your favour. Along the same vein, there would be no sense in creating an online course on racking up the Tinder numbers for anyone past their prime (though I’m told a handful of senior citizens are really killing it out there). And please, don’t consider starting a YouTube Series calling to boycott the local steakhouse over their refusal to entertain the idea of ‘Meatless Mondays’. If word gets out, your mugshot will be stuck on dartboards and clay pigeons up and down the country.
Just a literal heads-up 🙂
I appreciate that – to most self-respecting folk – this all seems pretty self-explanatory. But what’s perhaps even more dangerous than missing the mark is not even aiming for something specific in the first place. Adopting a mentality often phrased along the lines of;
“‘I don’t have a target audience, really. I want this to be for everyone.
Look, it never hurt to dream big. Consider authors such as JK Rowling whose creations have captivated the souls of young and old alike. Her words are the stuff of epics and box-office-hits. But for a first-time writer seeking to make his/her mark on paper, this can also be quite misleading.
Let’s think about what it actually means to make something ‘for everyone’. It’s saying that your product appeals to a broad spectrum, flitting between the dividing lines of age, interests and experiences. History has proven to us time and time again that it’s certainly possible. there are household names in every genre under the sun – people accepted and cherished by Baby Boomers and Generation Pandemic alike. However, I’m sure it’s also possible to mix the perfect slush drink and enjoy it ice cold. Unfortunately, this takes time and patience. Indefinite amounts. When trying to create something for everybody, you’re effectively distilling the nectar of your product and attempting to spread it over an astronomical range. It will be spread too thin. True, your work may be exposed to countless wandering eyes. But will that be enough for them to buy your book, subscribe to your channel, bulk-order your merch, join your email list?
Unlikely.
Instead, why not ask yourself what would happen if, instead of trying the whole crowd-pleaser thing, you honed in your interests and appealed to a specific group of people? This group is allowed to be quite general, provided it can be distinguished from other societal subsets easily.
That way, you get to make stuff for whoever you want to make for. There’s no longer a need to chop and change your design into a one-shoe-fits all. Granted, the sample size maybe a little smaller. You may initially cringe at the thought of compromising on all the people that could’ve truly been inspired by your content. Numbers equal profits, right? But let’s look at it this way: Ensuring 10 people are 90% convinced to buy an iMac is far better than 90 people who are 10% convinced. It underlines the difference between Apple potentially earning tens of thousands or – simply put – nothing.
In saying this, it’s unnecessary to fuss over minute details during the fetal stages of your product. Market research is hugely over-rated at the start, especially when every other risk is so small compared to the myriad of potential customers. Selling your first product will teach you more about your consumers than if you were to commit that time learning the theory instead. Tread fast and take light touches. Build something that you would want to see out there. In doing so, intuition will trump crowd suggestions every time.
After the earliest phases, connecting with your customers becomes the pivotal action. When you explicitly define your target audience, you focus on forging a relationship with them and only them. The aim becomes to understand their biggest problems and come up with an array of viable solutions.
As a brand, you don’t want to appeal a little to the big crowd, you want to appeal a lot to the die-hards.
“If you’re talking to everybody, you’re not talking to anybody.”
Cherry-pick your customers. If you already know what kind of people they are, then great. If not, get the gist of it, but don’t go overboard. Investigate, don’t interrogate. Learn to speak their language – it can enable you to step into their shoes and find out what piques interest. Learn of their careers hobbies and aspirations. Discover what matters to them and what doesn’t. Send an introductory email explaining a little about yourself and your mission, then ask them to hit reply with a little something in return. It’s a great place to start. After gleaning the essentials, it’s time to incorporate that knowledge into your product.
One of Seth Godin’s email newsletters sums up this post in perfect style :
“It might not be for you”
If you walk into a noisy bar and ask why they don’t have Chopin on the jukebox, they’re unlikely to accommodate you. The same is true if you go to a BBQ joint and insist on sushi. Most of the brands we truly care about stand for something. And the thing they stand for is unlikely to be, “whatever you want, we have it.” It’s also unlikely to be, “you can choose anyone and we’re anyone.” A meaningful specific can’t possibly please everyone. That’s the deal.
Nailing the basics can set you up for a lifetime of wins. Authenticity and finding one’s voice is vital, thus stepping outside your comfort zone to add a thrilling twist to your stock is by no means discouraged. But oftentimes, when seeking to mix all the marvellous slush-puppy flavoured ideas into some tasty entrepreneurial blend, the result can be really quite garish…
You can quote me on that.