I’m Afraid of Crickets

No, not the tiny insect that lives in the woods. But crickets when I launch something.

Over the past months I’ve pushed myself to create and launch many things — from coffee to posters, daily videos to web apps. Some of these have been well received. Others have generated sales you could count on one hand. Over this time I’ve discovered something. For me, my largest fear is not people hating what I create. My biggest fear is getting nothing. Nada. No response whatsoever. You see, even with a critical response I can possibly build from it (unless of course it’s a generic ‘you suck”). But when I get nothing, I have nothing to build on. It leaves me wondering if what I’ve launched was an absolutely waste of time.

Launching anything is usually a bumble-jumble of emotions and fears — some founded in fact, others just resident in our heads. It’s essentially the equivalent of stepping off a cliff and hoping for the best. While we can’t prepare for everything, I’ve discovered a few things to reduce some of these fears, specifically the “fear of crickets”.

Make sure I’m solving a real problem

While solving real problems don’t necessarily make the “fear of crickets” go away, they do reduce the likelihood of getting zero response. If you’ve created something that solves a pain point or struggle, people are likely going to be receptive. And after that it’s simple math — a receptive person equals one less cricket.

Set reasonable expectations with myself

Have you heard of someone who’s working on the next “Uber for X” or “Facebook for Y”? Someone hoping to create the next big thing? The fear of nobody caring is especially hard if we load up on the additional pressure. If product X or Y needs to be mega-successful in order for us to survive, it’s extremely likely that the results will disappoint. We’ll freeze before we even start. We won’t bother. We’ll get focused on the outcome, and stop doing it for the right reasons. Speaking of…

Doing it for the right reasons

I was the type of kid growing up that took things apart just for fun. For the simple reason of figuring out how things worked (and, more often than not, they didn’t work after). Even though times have changed, I can’t say it comes as a big surprise that I still share this mindset. If you’re always trying to create things to answer the question — what happens if I try X? You’re likely not going to be worried about how it resonates with your audience. Any positive outcome in this regard ends up being gravy (mmm, gravy) to the effort you’ve put in figuring things out for yourself.

Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that no matter how much I prepare, validate the market, and ensure everything is set to go right (it never does by the way) this “fear of crickets” never truly goes away. But I know if I root myself in doing things for the right reasons, set reasonable expectations and make sure I’m working on real problems that perhaps the sudden stop will be a little softer once I step off the cliff.

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Originally published at www.thelaunch.ca on March 29, 2016.