Who is This For?

Martin Stellar
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

Seth Godin once wrote that the most poweruful message in business and marketing is “I made this for you”.

Which is in stark contrast with something I saw the other day.

Gordon Ramsey, the famous British TV chef with the no-BS (and often: no consideration) attitude to giving feedback, went to visit a Ferrari-themed up-market hotel in the US.

And he wasn’t very impressed: The furniture was so hiply designed that sitting on it made it fall over, there was a bathtub in the middle of the room, the food was served in takeaway boxes… the overall experience was far less than what you would expect from a $750/night hotel room.

But then he asked the owner what had motivated him to create a hotel like this, and the guy said:

“I created the hotel that I want to stay in”.

Oops. Bankruptcy alert.

Because while it’s not wrong per se to create a product that you yourself would want, it’s not very smart to bypass what your buyer would want.

In other words: It’s perfectly fine to create a ‘scratch my own itch’ product or service, but make sure it’s something other people will want to pay you for.

And this becomes even more relevant where it comes to your marketing.

Many entrepreneurs are 100% focused on delivering an ‘about me’ message.

Meaning, their marketing speaks only of themselves, but not *to the buyer*.

And that right there is a major reason for low sales.

Sure your story matters, and your inspiration, and your methods. All good. Talk about that stuff.

But never forget that for someone to buy from you, you need to appeal to their hopes, ambitions, problems, desires, concerns, or whatever other element in their life makes them want to buy from you.

Put succinctly: It’s never about you — even if you highlight personal stuff, it’s always about the buyer.

And yes, it can be tricky to get that right, and to communicate in such a way that even your own story and stuff appeals to people.

And that’s exactly why it’s so useful to work with a business coach who understands marketing and has experience as a former professional copywriter.

So if your sales are slow and you know that your product or service appeals to people and should sell more, let’s talk.

Together we’ll answer the question ‘Who is this for’ and find a way to communicate that in such a way that sales go up.

Cheers,

​Martin


Originally published at MartinStellar.com.

    Copywriter, ex-monk, marketer, singer, recovering artisan. Lover of life, helper of people. http://martinstellar.com

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