Yesterday I had the pleasure of being a guest (again!) on my friend David Cohen's radio show, Be a Beacon.*
We talked about filtering out the not-quite-right-people (by, for example, calling your signature product The Starship) so that you can focus on the just-right-people. David said something like “Why's that so scary, to think about leaving people out and just focusing on the people who love it?“…and that's what I want to talk about today:
Focusing on your Right People IS scary.
When you're starting out, and you have NO people, you think, “I want everyone! I want to appeal to everyone!” You can't imagine ever wanting anyone to walk away from your product.
But the simple fact is: There are people who won't like it. There are people who won't “get” it.
And that's ok.
That's perfect, in fact. Because you can't make something people gush over and long for, if you don't make something that is dislike-able by others.
The secret to not going completely crazy (well, one of them) when you put your very heart and soul into what you make, and then you put it in front of people, is to focus all your attention on the people who do (or will) love it.
Write your product descriptions for them.
Take photos for them.
Show up in the shops and the craft shows where they're at.
Love them with every new product, with every blog post, and ignore the others.
When you meet those you don't want it or get it (or even if you're imagining them!), remember: they're not for you. And that's ok! You've got (or soon will have) people who do love it, who do want it.
*You can listen to our whole conversation here: