When I share new content, the audience falls into roughly three categories:
90% ignore it.
7% give me private feedback on cosmetics: that photo was blurry, something is out of order, etc.
3% like, comment, and share it.
At least the 90% are honest. It’s too bad. I try engaging with the content of anyone I know personally, just to follow the Golden Rule. But I get it, not everybody cares for Excel.
Ironically, the 3% are often people who I think wouldn’t be impressed with my content themselves. They’re already successful entrepreneurs, trainers, and Excel experts.
But, they see the value in the content, and they know the most important thing they can do for me is develop an audience that I can serve.
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(Savor this book.)
The 7% want to be helpful. But a beautiful product, with the un-blurry GIF or perfectly-synched video, is arguably not even a product.
Why? If a product has no audience, is it really a product?
I’ve been reading The Lean Startup, a book that has completely changed how I think about building my blog.
In the early stages, find your most rabid customers, however few. Don’t be afraid to collaborate with them. Never assume you know what they want. Build and modify products rapidly.
This is quite different than spending hours and hours to cut the most perfect video or to make sure every word is correct on that blog post.
Am I advocating sloppiness? No. I am advocating that you work with and not assume you know what the customer wants.
Put it this way, from The Lean Startup:
“Imagine if Craig Newmark, in the early days of Craigslist, had refused to publish his humble e-mail newsletter because it lacked sufficient high design.”
The 3% gets it, the 7% is still learning.
This tangent may end up as part of my course on networking for analysts. Learn more here.
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