The right faces & places
It’s not unusual to fall into the trap of thinking because we like something everyone else will. Have faith in your judgement, You’re not 100% wrong though.
There is some truth to that idea, some.
It’s because “some” is the key ingredient to focused marketing, sales and yes; success.
Yup! Finding the few that matter..matters most.
I think Seth Godin said it best when he pointed out the best way to start is to
“Begin instead with the smallest viable market. What’s the minimum number of people you would need to influence to make it worth the effort?”
Here are some 7 reasons why it makes sense to follow the viable amazing important few:
1- Cents & dollars make sense
You’ve all heard of the vast amount of time, energy and money that goes into trying to win over a market segment.
Here’s some numbers to chew on
- Chief marketing officers around the world spent around a 100 billion dollars on content marketing alone, bypassing tv ads for 2019 by $30 billion.
- The US remains highest spender at $197 billion followed by China $79 billion.
- The rest of the world spent $231 billion same period.
- Retail spent the most $22 billion
- Auto was second with $12.6 billion
- Companies allocate between 10–13% marketing and advertising.
- Global content marketing revenue to surpass $300 billion based on a Cision report.
- Social media ad revenue 38%
- Online video ad revenue 27%
- Search ad revenue 18%
Those companies have done their homework and know what’s getting seen and by who. It’s a lot of spending, again these are industry averages, some are paying so much more.
The sad thing is many are just spending without any viable returns on investments.
That’s where you as an online freelancer, small business, young enterprise or small shop owner around the corner need to take note.
It’s not really about trying to spend as it is about capturing, yes you have to spend both time and money to capture.. but sometimes less is more.
Takeaway: focus your time and money on the select few that appreciate what you offer and give them more of that time and investment.
2- They Get you and Give happily
This magical small crowd of admirers get what you do and why you put in the hours and years. They too are hustling. They too respect effort and hard work.
They will listen when you have something to say, because over the years they know you always have something worth saying, worth sharing, worth their valuable time.
It’s not rocket science to know that, even though it’s valuable and beneficial info, (don’t know why I put rocket science here?)
Not only do they get you they also want you to succeed, they will try what you have to offer and tell you the hard core facts, no bullshit, no strings attached.
If you’ve been honest to yourself over the years and actually paid it forward by going out of your way to help people without them asking, without knowing who needs it, without wanting anything in return… you’ll get what you ask for, it’s ok, you deserve it.
Not only that, they’ll feel great helping you out.. it’s like they’re succeeding with you.
3- Honesty at its best
What I hate about closed focus groups is the very nature of the practice. You gather some people to test some idea, product or service for a small fee or free stuff?
What is that? No matter what you tell me and all the scientific and physiological work that goes into it.
What do you think is going on in the person being tested upon before, during and after the focus group?
If you want to real hard core talk about whatever it is you do, would you talk to a stranger or a fan of yours?
The answer is both actually, and it’s your job to filter out the exaggerations or ass kissing that goes on.
Your fans didn’t just appear out of nowhere, they’ve been eying you ( in a good way not an evil stalker way.. well maybe?) from a distance and observing your growth over the years.
They offer solid advice that you can actually take to the bank.
4- Succeed and they succeed
This needs no explaining, when a fan sees their idol or individual or favorite brand succeed it gives them the same feeling.
Don’t believe me? Go online or offline and check out how fans fight for their brands.
Don’t let the ideas of failure manifest themselves in your mind by listening to every voice out there telling you NO!
Filter the negative pollution and seek the fans out there that get you.
Success, real success is best shared with others, others that really care for one another.
5- Fix, remove, improve & pivot
Many ideas don’t end up the way they were initially designed. Actually the most successful ideas in our world today have been adjusted along the way to meet new usage and crowds.
These crowds proved to be more profitable and more willing to take on these adjusted ideas.
The word that’s buzzing in your head right now is pivoting.
It’s when you as an idea creator start off in one direction and then along the way you find out that your idea is more beneficial in another area all together.. so you guide your ship in that direction bravely into the highly profitable unchartered seas.
Fans or the select minimal viable few give you that.
They offer you a chance to make mistakes, they welcome them because they know that mistakes happen.
They accept your continuous search for a better idea, they are your best supporters and this acceptance comes with the package.
6- Trusted, solid & familiar ground
We all need to be confident while taking on new risks in our career or business life, we need that at least.
Confidence isn’t something you go out and buy or find in a store, it’s something that grows as you grow, expands with failures and lessons learnt over the years.
The only other place you can find it is in support groups, your most valuable support group is never going to be everyone you meet in life.
Most probably your support group will be a select few people from all walks of life, some you know closely and others loosely.
These amazing people are your solid grounds, your launch pads into the future, your trusted advisors that will do anything to see you take off.
Find them, surround yourself with them and offer them so much more than they can ever give you without ever expecting anything in return.
7- The greatest word
If you look up the most powerful form of marketing you will most probably find out that it’s word of mouth. Did you actually just search that?
Word of mouth is the act of telling others or even showing off to others what you found and think is awesome!
You’ll come to a point in your conversations when they ask you if you actually work for these people you speak so highly of?
Word of mouth happens when you’re not only satisfied but totally happy and can’t wait to tell someone about it, your excitement is apparent in your words and body language.. cause you can’t hide something as amazing as this!
When you’re focused on the minimal select few delivering what they want exactly you trigger word of mouth.
How can you not give these select few what they want when you know them inside out and vice versa?
Getting close and personal with a few hundred people in today’s connected world is so much easier and cheaper even more viable than trying to please hundreds of thousands with random emails and promoted annoying ads that pop up here and there.
Choose wisely, choose the few solid ones.
Have a great day, Mamdooh
