2 builders who never spoke to each other
Pick one audience and say no to the rest
Name the specific group you serve and which of their needs you address, then refuse the rest, including the ones you currently sell to if they are not who you want. Addressing everybody is what keeps a blog and a list at zero, because a homogenous group shares a language and a place you can reach cheaply.
The method
- 01
Pick one specific audience and accept that it's a painful choice; addressing everybody is what keeps a blog and a mailing list at nothing.
- 02
Decide who the blog serves and which of their needs it addresses before you publish; a blog that ranges across whatever interests you won't gain traction.
- 03
Aim to lead a tribe rather than just market to one, because a homogenous audience shares a language and a location you can reach cheaply.
- 04
Aim your content at the people you want to work with rather than at the people you currently serve. Natividad shifted her target from marketers who might buy her agency's services to the marketers she admired, and one of them, Rand Fishkin, followed her back and later hired her.
What it returned
- 10
Five years of unfocused blogging produced 10-12 views a post and 20 email subscribers; after narrowing to business people and then product entrepreneurs, the following grew and side projects earned nearly $40,000 in 12 months.
- 2012
Amy Hoy told Justin in 2012 that his blog was unfocused; traction only came once he narrowed it to product entrepreneurs, having previously written about Apple TV, photography and toilets.
Rand Fishkin followed her back and she ended up working with him at SparkToro
Sources
- How to choose an audience for your blogJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How to choose an audience for your blog · undated
- It's different nowJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · It's different now · undated
- Amanda Natividad — Mastering Content Creation and Audience Engagement – The Bootstrapped FounderAmanda Natividad · thebootstrappedfounder.com · 2023-12-06
- Spreading the Word: How to Do Marketing on a Shoestring Budget – The Bootstrapped FounderArvid Kahl · thebootstrappedfounder.com · The Power of Tribes · 2020-06-11
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
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