4 builders who never spoke to each other

Fish where the buyers already gather

A small share of sellers take most of the customers by working the few places buyers densely congregate, so spend the effort on location rather than on technique, and ask customers outright where they go to learn about the subject. Sell to people already in motion trying to fix the problem, because coaxing an unmotivated audience is a targeting fault rather than a copy fault, and a struggling product often just needs a different group who both want it and can pay.

The method

1. 01

   Concentrate your effort on where the buyers densely congregate rather than on technique, because a minority of sellers take the majority of customers by consistently working the best spots.

2. 02

   Ask customers and prospects one question: where do they go when they want to learn about this subject. Then put yourself there.

3. 03

   Sell to people who are already in motion trying to fix the problem. If you catch yourself coaxing prospects into trying the product, you have picked an unmotivated audience rather than written bad copy.

4. 04

   Before you abandon a struggling product, try selling the same thing to a different group who both want it and have money - the fault is often the audience, not the offering.

5. 05

   Aim at a subject where the audience is growing, already congregating somewhere, and openly discussing it.

What it returned

• 20%

  Angler Tony Bishop's figure that 20% of fishermen catch 80% of fish, echoed by Charlie Munger's first rule of fishing.

• $5

  Justin's contrast: he buys whichever cereal is discounted at Safeway and counts a $5 saving as a win, but the night before Valentine's Day he shopped for flowers without looking at a single price tag.

• 95%

  An arborist struggled for years because his local market was retired farmers who prune their own trees; after retargeting an affluent executive suburb twenty minutes away, 95% of the following year's revenue came from the new market.

• The founder frames acquisition as fishing where the fish are, and says the way to find out where they are is to ask them.

Sources

• Fish where the fish areJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Fishing for business · undated
• What affects customer motivation?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How motivated is your customer? · undated
• Change your market, save your productJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Change your market, save your product · undated
• 🧩 How to Build Profitable Browser Games with AI? - Trends.vcDru Riley · trends.vc · 📘 Read This · 2025-03-04
• Friday - From side project to raising $450kLuke Thomas · failory.com · Which were your marketing strategies to grow your business? · undated
• Evolution Happens via IterationsPreetam Nath · preetamnath.com · 2. Iterate · 2021-02-21