It's a late night for me--currently it's 2:00 in the morning and I can't sleep! I decided to put my insomnia to work and check out my blog list. Maybe do a little reading.
I subscribe to a lot of blogs. I regularly have a backlog of 200+ blog entries waiting for me to peruse them from various folks around the internet. I don't regularly check them, but when I do, it's a battle to wade through it all--there's so much interesting stuff out there! People are so creative and thoughtful! It's really hard not to simply wile away hours and hours reading about other people's endeavors. Sometimes I have to simply step away. But not right now--it's 2:00AM and I read something I need your help with.
One of the blogs I subscribe to is Seth Godin's. A lot of people can't stand him, but I find a good portion of what he says to be worth at least contemplating for a while. His latest blog discusses two different kinds of potential consumers--those that are "guarded" and those that are "hungry." In a nutshell, those that are guarded are people who are in defensive mode--they may have a limited amount of time, or a tight set of parameters that define what they're looking for. Woe to the person distracting them! They compare and contrast and have a laser vision of what they like and don't like.
Hungry folks are curious about things. They're exploring. They may be simply browsing or killing time. They don't really have a strict agenda, and spend time allowing themselves to traipse down paths they may not necessarily be primarily interested in.
Godin says that at any one time, a person is either marketing to one type of person or another. That we, as consumers, are either looking for something specific, or browsing for something that we know we'll want once we see it.
I'm curious about this. Is this how you all feel? When applying this approach to my blog list, I realized that I've got a lot of blogs I found through browsing and decided to try out, and a lot that I specifically subscribed to for a particular reason--local, same field, useful techniques, etc. I realized that when writing this blog, I am speaking to two audiences--those with a passing curiosity and those with an intention for reading the content.
And that applies to everything I'm making for my business. My art wear is being viewed by those who are either looking for something specific, or browsing for things that are interesting. They're either open for contemplating something different, or they're actively trying to weed out what isn't close to what they want. It's the difference between window shopping and having a grocery list.
Godin says that in order to have an effective "market strategy", we have to decide which one of these two camps we're marketing to. And that will dictate how we plan.
I'd not thought about this. And revelations are coming as I mull it over in my head.
It boils down to knowing what you're making and saying with your work, who it will appeal to, and getting it in front of them.
And now I think that maybe I've been a bit lacking in the development of some of those ideas.
Do you all struggle with this? Do you know who you are marketing to? Do you even "market" your art/creations/crafts/expressions to others as a practice? Do you know who is most interested in your work--or who you want to be?
Well. So much for unwinding at 2:00 in the morning. I think my brain is a bit stimulated now... Maybe I should go back and catch up on some more blogs. : )
Until next time, Live Life with Relish!
Image from Sreejith K via Flickr. Creative Commons License.
I subscribe to a lot of blogs. I regularly have a backlog of 200+ blog entries waiting for me to peruse them from various folks around the internet. I don't regularly check them, but when I do, it's a battle to wade through it all--there's so much interesting stuff out there! People are so creative and thoughtful! It's really hard not to simply wile away hours and hours reading about other people's endeavors. Sometimes I have to simply step away. But not right now--it's 2:00AM and I read something I need your help with.
Hungry folks are curious about things. They're exploring. They may be simply browsing or killing time. They don't really have a strict agenda, and spend time allowing themselves to traipse down paths they may not necessarily be primarily interested in.
Godin says that at any one time, a person is either marketing to one type of person or another. That we, as consumers, are either looking for something specific, or browsing for something that we know we'll want once we see it.
I'm curious about this. Is this how you all feel? When applying this approach to my blog list, I realized that I've got a lot of blogs I found through browsing and decided to try out, and a lot that I specifically subscribed to for a particular reason--local, same field, useful techniques, etc. I realized that when writing this blog, I am speaking to two audiences--those with a passing curiosity and those with an intention for reading the content.
And that applies to everything I'm making for my business. My art wear is being viewed by those who are either looking for something specific, or browsing for things that are interesting. They're either open for contemplating something different, or they're actively trying to weed out what isn't close to what they want. It's the difference between window shopping and having a grocery list.
Godin says that in order to have an effective "market strategy", we have to decide which one of these two camps we're marketing to. And that will dictate how we plan.
I'd not thought about this. And revelations are coming as I mull it over in my head.
It boils down to knowing what you're making and saying with your work, who it will appeal to, and getting it in front of them.
And now I think that maybe I've been a bit lacking in the development of some of those ideas.
Do you all struggle with this? Do you know who you are marketing to? Do you even "market" your art/creations/crafts/expressions to others as a practice? Do you know who is most interested in your work--or who you want to be?
Well. So much for unwinding at 2:00 in the morning. I think my brain is a bit stimulated now...
Until next time, Live Life with Relish!
Image from Sreejith K via Flickr. Creative Commons License.
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