Who Are Your Peeps?
Written by Deb Dorchak - November 23, 2010 0 Comments
Peeps. Usually that’s a word we only hear around Easter and always in reference to those neon yellow marshmallow treats best eaten stale.
That’s not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about your audience. Your people. The ones who visit your blog, or come to you as clients. These are who Christine Kane calls your Peeps.
A Common Misconception
When many people start out with a business, or even a blog for that matter, there’s usually a huge flood of ideas. You have so many things you want to do at once it’s hard to know where to begin. This happens with defining your target audience as well. Sometimes it’s really hard to narrow down who’s right for you, so what happens?
You end up marketing to EVERYONE.
The wider you cast the net, the more fish you’ll get, right? Sure, you’ll get more, but are you getting herring when what you want is Yellowfin Tuna?
Rule number one is you don’t have to market to everyone under the sun. Let’s take a closer look at why not.
It’s Expensive
Recently my roommate showed me an ad for the much anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops video game. Not only was this video entertaining as all get out, it struck me as a stroke of marketing genius. Go ahead and watch it.
What struck me about this was the makers of Black Ops were trying to extend their reach beyond what I would see as a mostly male target audience. This video prominently features women (real women, not your stereotypical gun toting bad-ass babe) and men from an older demographic than the younger adults who we often envision playing.
These few minutes of film weren’t cheap, I can tell you that. Until you have a multi-million budget you want to figure out who your Peeps are first. You can bet in the beginning that’s what Call of Duty did. They built their base of loyal followers from what they knew and did best.
Once word got out about the game, all the other walks of life followed. I’m not a big video gamer, but I’ll tell you, after watching that ad I wanted to find the soldier in me.
I saw the same thing at the Uplevel LIVE retreat. Christine Kane spoke about how when she first started in the music biz she thought she had to market to a certain type of audience. These were guys in baseball caps drinking beer. What she found out was she resonated with the working class woman. Her songs struck a chord with them (no pun intended) and they wanted to know how she got so successful. These were Christine’s Peeps. From there the rest is history.
She spent a lot of time and money marketing to the wrong crowd. Once she did find it, it became effortless.
You’re Coming From a Place of Lack
Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar: It’s nearing the end of the month, bills are due and the bank account’s looking mighty thin. You need to get some jobs in, need your clients to pay their outstanding invoices and you need money fast!
This is where panic mode sets in. Right away you start on that nasty spiral of doing anything and everything to get money through the door. Panic is not the right mindset for making decisions. It clouds the mind and makes for poor choices.
It’s very easy to focus on your Peeps when things are good, but when things get bad, you have to focus on them twice as much. The answer to breaking this feast or famine lies in marketing products geared towards the people who are open and receptive to your message and the way you teach it, which leads us to our next point…
You Can’t Please Everyone
Not everyone will want to hear what you have to say. The naysayers and those who are not your Peeps will tell you things like “This is nothing new. Tell me what I don’t know already.”
This may be true, but you know what? There’s nothing new out there and since you’re not a mind reader, you can’t tell what everyone knows or doesn’t. The biggest take away from this is…and listen closely…not everyone will like you.
Yes, that’s right. There will be people out there who will not like you, no matter how nice you are or how you bend over backwards to cater to them.
I know that sounds harsh and it is, the first time you come to grips with it. We all want to be liked, right? Well, here’s another newsflash: These are not your Peeps.
It’s okay for everyone to have their opinion. I’m sure there’s plenty of people you don’t like either. This doesn’t make them bad or evil. There’s simply no chemistry going on, that’s all. It’s not the end of the world.
This was one of the hardest lessons for me to learn and I still have these backsliding moments of “Why don’t they like me???” But…the one thing that turns my perspective around is the realization that I’m not talking to my Peeps.
Let me tell you something about your Peeps. Your Peeps will listen, they will hear you. You may not be saying anything new, and it might sound like sunshine and rainbows to the rest of the world, but you’re speaking to people who understand the way you talk. They get it. You speak to them in such a way it all makes sense for them.
For your Peeps, your message is loud and clear, spoken in terms they understand. There’s no wasted effort, no mixed messages or misunderstandings. You and your Peeps are speaking the same language right down the line. They know you’re the one who can help solve their problems, they have chosen to work with you. And most of all? They’re perfectly willing to pay you what you’re worth for the knowledge you give.
Take a moment to think about a couple of the best clients you’ve ever had. What made them so special? Was the project an effortless collaboration between the both of you? What common traits do they share?
Once you have that, you’ll be able to spot your future Peeps and help them on their way to success.
Want to learn how to conquer your fear of success and get back on track?
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