As I pointed out in my last post, “A generic ‘blah blah blah person has insights’ podcast promotion doesn’t excite me, and worse, it dilutes the value of my future messages.” I didn’t realize this before I “got lazy,” so I spent a lot of time trying to shotgun blast mediocre tweets and blurbs that interested no one. All this, because I felt that was what marketing was supposed to be. In actuality, the world is filled with shitty marketing. Shitty not because it’s bold and wrong, but because it doesn’t actually stand for anything. It’s completely inoffensive and pointless. Good marketing will reach some specific people, people who think a particular way, and turn away others.
So this led me to rethink what I’m doing. For example, if the problem with most marketing is that it’s “bland,” then I should strive for the opposite of bland. Everything I do needs personality. It needs to generate some reaction to be valuable. Valuable isn’t just “will people share it and help it go viral,” it’s about creating a connection between yourself and your audience. Eventually, you’ll want to sell something, and when you go to do that, you’ll find that it’s not the size of the audience that matters, it’s the strength of that connection.
This is the law of the internet: You can get away with pissing off 99.99999% of the world, so long as that last 0.00001% are fierce believers in what you do. I think Tim Ferris floated the idea of having 1,000 true fans, who are each willing to pay you $100 a year for your services (thus netting you a salary of $100,000). But you could even go further. You can find one rich person who is willing to pay you $100,000. You could be the most hated person in the world and still run a successful business based on that one person.
There’s a personal aspect to this too. You need to be you. Don’t be something you aren’t, and don’t be nothing. Let your own personality out, and you’ll not only be happier, but you’ll connect better and more meaningfully with others. Interestingly, I got my biggest boost ever after getting on FB and Instagram Live to talk about Turkey. Not entrepreneurship, but how to cook a good bird. Why? Because it’s useful, sure, but more importantly it’s because I have deep-seated enthusiasm for it and that comes cross.
Market yourself in a way that give you energy. Be funny and irreverent. Go on rants about stuff that bugs you. Have fun. For the love of god, have fun! If it’s not fun, what are you doing? People can tell when you’re having fun, and the right ones will love it. It doesn’t matter if you’re turning off a different 10% of your audience every month as long as the ones that remain become even bigger fans. Odds are, you’ll actually grow virally at a certain point because your “real fans” will spread the word for you. Taylor Pearson has post about “Jesus Marketing” where he talks about starting from a small group of downright fanatical fans, and the effect they can have over time. Jesus pissed off most of the powerful people of his time, and most people living in the world didn’t know who he was. But after 2000 years, because of that initial fervor, now literally everyone on the planet knows who Jesus is/was. In fact, it would be extremely surprising to encounter someone who had never heard of or encountered Jesus or his teachings.
The more you let loose, and show your passion for what you’re doing, the better your message will resonate. And that’s what matters.