“How is your meditation practice coming along?” the nun asked me with a piercing gaze.
It was the January of 2018. I was sitting in a small cabin at a Vipassana Meditation center in Lumbini. Yes, the same Vipassana meditation retreat, where you are not allowed to talk, write, read or communicate with anyone else. Meditation is the only practice that is encouraged.
The nun (Ven. Bhaddamanika) was one of my teachers and she was trying to assess the progress that I had made.
I sighed and said, “Actually I am struggling with walking meditation. I am trying to be mindful of the exact sensations that I feel in my legs when I walk. But in spite of trying hard, I am not being able to understand those sensations.”
She looked at me and with a certain assertiveness said- “I need you to slow down.”
“Slow down?”
“Yes, slow down and let go. When you slow down, you start seeing things the way they are. Your mind is no longer clouded with all the rushing thoughts. There is less for you to focus on. And you can go deep into one moment, instead of going shallow into multiple moments.”
Can Creators let go?
The moment Creators let go of their dream of becoming a popular Instagram influencer and focus on a tiny audience, magic seems to unfold. Let’s look at 3 advantages of focusing on a tiny audience.
Tiny audience = Impactful stories
If I am building a story, should I mention Lionel Messi in it? Or should I mention Roger Federer?
Well, that largely depends on my audience, doesn’t it?
Do they feel closer to Tennis? Or do they associate with football?
The problem gets really complicated if I have a big audience. The larger the audience, the more diverse the beliefs. Really hard to build a story that addresses all the beliefs.
A tiny audience, on the other hand, is more likely to have commonly shared beliefs. They have common problems. They follow similar (or same) people. And hence, your messaging and your stories speak to them.
– The Headlines
– The testimonials
– The Objections
– and everything else falls in place.
Have you read Paul Jarvis’ ‘Company of One’?
If you explore the book Company of One, by Paul Jarvis, you would quickly realize that the messaging speaks to a very specific audience. It talks about the problems of growing too big, too fast… something that a specific audience resonates with. Picking a small audience has certainly helped Paul craft an impactful story.
What’s the deal with channels?
I don’t know about you, but I find editing YouTube videos quite boring. It’s more boring than watching a golf match (sorry golf lovers). But what I do enjoy is writing and editing. And thank god, my audience likes to read.
When you focus on a bigger audience, the challenge is that you need to focus on multiple mediums (Text, audio, video) and also multiple channels (YouTube, Instagram, Podcasting, Linkedin, medium, etc.). This can quickly become overwhelming and expensive.
When we focus on a tiny audience, we know where they hang out, and we can focus all our energy on those channels.
You become a neuro-surgeon
Look, I love general physicians. But I would never want a general physician to operate on my brain. I think this analogy has been used wayyyy too often so you know where I am getting at.
As we focus on solving problems for a specific audience… we become good at solving these problems. Our skills become better by the day. Much better than what they would be if I focus on solving all the problems for all the people.
Better skills = Better impact.
It’s just better for business.
How Growthx grew by focussing on the tiny
GrowthX has become a formidable brand in India for growth leaders in India. Growthx teaches start-up founders, Product Managers, and Product Marketers the art and science of ‘Growth’.
But not many would know that the founders – Udayan Walvekar and Abhishek Patil started very small. Their strategy consisted of baby steps for a tiny audience, and then gradually expanding from that.
They started their journey by making helpful videos on Linkedin. Through these videos, they were able to earn the trust of this community.
After that, they started conducting invite-only, Harvard-style case study meet-ups. These meet-ups typically lasted for 3 hours. Only 5 members were allowed. Each member had 30 minutes to present their problem and get feedback from other members.
But the community wanted more. And so the Growthx, a 2-day workshop was born. And while the community loved it, they weren’t completely satisfied.
Finally, Growthx launched a cohort-based learning program. Today, their learning program is extremely popular and is changing the lives of Product Marketers, Founders, and Product Managers in India.
Austin Hattox – The website guy for non-profits
My friend, Austin was brave enough to narrow down his focus to “Website strategy for non-profits”.
This focus allowed him to –
1. Build deep expertise in a very focussed area – Websites for non-profits
2. Direct his marketing efforts to a very small audience
He is passionate about serving the audience and was brave enough to not get caught in the trap of serving the masses. Today, Austin has been able to carve out a nice, profitable niche for himself.
“But I don’t know my audience”
It’s true. Finding an audience can be a long, painful process. If you are early in the process, here is my suggestion – Start with your story. Start with the change that you want to see in the world.
With time, some people will resonate with the story that you are telling. And later, you can take a closer look at this audience. This data will give you further insight into your audience. Just start. And examine the audience later.
What if this tiny audience can’t sustain my business?
The tiny audience that we start with may not be the audience that will support your business forever. These are just the early adopters of your idea. Gradually, the word spreads.
In Conclusion
Focusing on a tiny audience makes our life easier. It helps us craft better stories. It allows us to focus on fewer platforms. And it helps us build an insane skill level to solve specific problems.
And whenever you find yourself trying to speed up, remember what Ven. Bhaddamanika said. Just slow down.
“How is your meditation practice coming along?” the nun asked me with a piercing gaze.
It was the January of 2018. I was sitting in a small cabin at a Vipassana Meditation center in Lumbini. Yes, the same Vipassana meditation retreat, where you are not allowed to talk, write, read or communicate with anyone else. Meditation is the only practice that is encouraged.
The nun (Ven. Bhaddamanika) was one of my teachers and she was trying to assess the progress that I had made.
I sighed and said, “Actually I am struggling with walking meditation. I am trying to be mindful of the exact sensations that I feel in my legs when I walk. But in spite of trying hard, I am not being able to understand those sensations.”
She looked at me and with a certain assertiveness said- “I need you to slow down.”
“Slow down?”
“Yes, slow down and let go. When you slow down, you start seeing things the way they are. Your mind is no longer clouded with all the rushing thoughts. There is less for you to focus on. And you can go deep into one moment, instead of going shallow into multiple moments.”
Can Creators let go?
The moment Creators let go of their dream of becoming a popular Instagram influencer and focus on a tiny audience, magic seems to unfold. Let’s look at 3 advantages of focusing on a tiny audience.
Tiny audience = Impactful stories
If I am building a story, should I mention Lionel Messi in it? Or should I mention Roger Federer?
Well, that largely depends on my audience, doesn’t it?
Do they feel closer to Tennis? Or do they associate with football?
The problem gets really complicated if I have a big audience. The larger the audience, the more diverse the beliefs. Really hard to build a story that addresses all the beliefs.
A tiny audience, on the other hand, is more likely to have commonly shared beliefs. They have common problems. They follow similar (or same) people. And hence, your messaging and your stories speak to them.
– The Headlines
– The testimonials
– The Objections
– and everything else falls in place.
Have you read Paul Jarvis’ ‘Company of One’?
If you explore the book Company of One, by Paul Jarvis, you would quickly realize that the messaging speaks to a very specific audience. It talks about the problems of growing too big, too fast… something that a specific audience resonates with. Picking a small audience has certainly helped Paul craft an impactful story.
What’s the deal with channels?
I don’t know about you, but I find editing YouTube videos quite boring. It’s more boring than watching a golf match (sorry golf lovers). But what I do enjoy is writing and editing. And thank god, my audience likes to read.
When you focus on a bigger audience, the challenge is that you need to focus on multiple mediums (Text, audio, video) and also multiple channels (YouTube, Instagram, Podcasting, Linkedin, medium, etc.). This can quickly become overwhelming and expensive.
When we focus on a tiny audience, we know where they hang out, and we can focus all our energy on those channels.
You become a neuro-surgeon
Look, I love general physicians. But I would never want a general physician to operate on my brain. I think this analogy has been used wayyyy too often so you know where I am getting at.
As we focus on solving problems for a specific audience… we become good at solving these problems. Our skills become better by the day. Much better than what they would be if I focus on solving all the problems for all the people.
Better skills = Better impact.
It’s just better for business.
How Growthx grew by focussing on the tiny
GrowthX has become a formidable brand in India for growth leaders in India. Growthx teaches start-up founders, Product Managers, and Product Marketers the art and science of ‘Growth’.
But not many would know that the founders – Udayan Walvekar and Abhishek Patil started very small. Their strategy consisted of baby steps for a tiny audience, and then gradually expanding from that.
They started their journey by making helpful videos on Linkedin. Through these videos, they were able to earn the trust of this community.
After that, they started conducting invite-only, Harvard-style case study meet-ups. These meet-ups typically lasted for 3 hours. Only 5 members were allowed. Each member had 30 minutes to present their problem and get feedback from other members.
But the community wanted more. And so the Growthx, a 2-day workshop was born. And while the community loved it, they weren’t completely satisfied.
Finally, Growthx launched a cohort-based learning program. Today, their learning program is extremely popular and is changing the lives of Product Marketers, Founders, and Product Managers in India.
Austin Hattox – The website guy for non-profits
My friend, Austin was brave enough to narrow down his focus to “Website strategy for non-profits”.
This focus allowed him to –
1. Build deep expertise in a very focussed area – Websites for non-profits
2. Direct his marketing efforts to a very small audience
He is passionate about serving the audience and was brave enough to not get caught in the trap of serving the masses. Today, Austin has been able to carve out a nice, profitable niche for himself.
“But I don’t know my audience”
It’s true. Finding an audience can be a long, painful process. If you are early in the process, here is my suggestion – Start with your story. Start with the change that you want to see in the world.
With time, some people will resonate with the story that you are telling. And later, you can take a closer look at this audience. This data will give you further insight into your audience. Just start. And examine the audience later.
What if this tiny audience can’t sustain my business?
The tiny audience that we start with may not be the audience that will support your business forever. These are just the early adopters of your idea. Gradually, the word spreads.
In Conclusion
Focusing on a tiny audience makes our life easier. It helps us craft better stories. It allows us to focus on fewer platforms. And it helps us build an insane skill level to solve specific problems.
And whenever you find yourself trying to speed up, remember what Ven. Bhaddamanika said. Just slow down.