Yesterday, around 1 a.m., I was overthinking the hell out of my life before actually going to sleep.
It’s something I do almost every day, unless I’m extremely tired. Everything was smooth, and I was getting sleepy. I could feel that a nice night of rest wasn’t that far away.
However, out of nowhere, a question suddenly popped up like a cartoon light bulb above my head during those “Eureka!” moments.
“What audience am I trying to reach?”
“Oh, that’s a good question. I’ll answer tomorrow. Let’s go to sleep. I’m tired and it’s 1 a.m. already,” I answered hoping that I’d be able to escape.
“No. I want the answer now or we won’t be able to close our eyes to sleep today.”
☠️
I had no choice but to answer the question right away.
“Damn you.”
When I started to reflect on the question, at first sight, it looked like a trivial doubt. It’s kinda normal to know the answer right away.
But I didn’t.
This made me a little worried because:
- I was tired.
- I knew that I wouldn’t be able to have a nice night if I didn’t manage to answer that damn question.
So, in order to find an answer as quickly as possible, the first thing I started with was the audiences I didn’t want to reach. Those include hustle buddies, get-rich-quick fanatics, and money-driven folks.
And one of the best ways to find what you DO want is discovering what you DON’T want.
By knowing which kind of people I didn’t want around me, I had a subtle idea of who I’d like to attract. Essentially, these people are exactly like me.
Well, let me make a quick disclaimer… I’m not trying to create an army of clones in a weird self-love obsession demonstration.
What I meant is that the people I’d like to gather around are the people who are going through what I went through.
Those people are ESL (English as a second language) writers who are struggling to create a writing-based business because they have no confidence and nobody similar to look up to. Most influencers inside the writing business niche are native English speakers. It’s hard to relate to their problems.
I particularly have never found somebody from a third-world country or similar, who was actively trying to build a writing-based business entirely in English.
I don’t know if that happens because it’s simply extremely hard to the point where you could be called insane for trying, or if it’s just something poorly explored.
What I know is that it’s a problem I’m dealing with right at this moment.
That’s why I claim, “I am my target audience.”
By being part of the target audience, I know which problems afflict them the most, what their desires are, and what their struggles are.
That’s exactly what you need to attract the best audience possible for your writing business.
Be part of their group.
If you’re the target audience, the content you create will naturally impact people who can relate to it and repel those who don’t. Because the language you’ll use, the way you talk, and the problems you address are directly linked to these people’s interests.
Another way to “replicate” this effect is by DEEPLY researching your target audience.
I don’t think you can reach the same level of familiarity as you would by being part of the group itself. But if you’re trying to do it for a client, you’ll need to know everything about the people you’re trying to sell to or create content for.
Only then will you be able to effectively create compelling copy that will truly impact them and make them do what you want them to do.
“Are you satisfied?”
“Yeah. You may sleep now.”
“Thank you.” 😒
Daniel Costa