It’s one of those things everyone “knows” is true — feedback is the cornerstone of success.
So as we all know, the smartest thing content creators can do is to ask for feedback. If our readers unsubscribe, cancel, or stomp off in a huff, we want to know why so we can make our content better.
Right?
Actually, we don’t think so.
We once heard that marketing teacher Dan Kennedy doesn’t give out those “tell me how I can improve” cards when he gives a talk. He’s interested in one thing and one thing only: how much did he sell. (Kennedy long made his living by selling information products on the speaking circuit.)
We think he’s onto something with this one. Although this bit of behavior goes against what 98% of people will advise you to do, this approach is actually followed by most of the successful business owners we know, especially online.
You tend to move toward what you focus on
It’s a basic tenet of good driving. If you put your focus on a certain point in the road, you tend to steer the car there, consciously or not.
Focus on the wall and you will tend to hit the wall.
Focus on the center of the lane just ahead of that tight little curve and you’re much more likely to nail it gracefully.
When you focus on complaints from people who don’t like you, your natural tendency is to steer your blog (and your business) in a direction that will make it more appealing to them.
Why would you want to do that?
The red velvet rope
We’re long-time fans of the business writer Michael Port and his book Book Yourself Solid. Port teaches solopreneurs how to market their businesses without wanting to shoot themselves. His ideas are very helpful when you’re getting started.
In chapter one, Port asks readers to put together a “red velvet rope policy.” In other words, a well-defined understanding of who you want to work with, and just as important, who you don’t want to work with.
Would you rather spend your days working with incredibly amazing, exciting, supercool, awesome people who are both clients and friends, or spend one more agonizing, excruciating minute working with barely tolerable clients who suck the life out of you?
Seems kind of simple when he puts it that way, doesn’t it?
He doesn’t say, “Don’t work with evil people.” It’s not about dividing the world into the Good and the Bad.
It’s more like dividing the world into “good fit for me” and “bad fit for me.” Your repulsive toad may be someone else’s Prince Charming.
So a client we may find “high maintenance” and on the No list could be, in your eyes, “results-oriented with great attention to detail” and be a resounding Yes.
The right kind of feedback
It’s not that we don’t believe that feedback can be helpful. But most people who criticize you aren’t ever going to be a good fit for what you have to offer.
They may not be in the market, at all, for what you’re selling. They may be looking for a very different personality or style. They may love text, when your best medium is audio. They may love audio, when your best medium is text.
The very best kind of feedback is along the lines of “I wish you offered this so I could buy it from you.” Also good is “I am so frustrated trying to find a resource meeting this description, do you know where I could find one?” and you realize you’d be the perfect person to build it.
And of course, negative comments from people who are otherwise a great fit are also often very useful. It’s called “constructive criticism.” Just be sure it’s not actually passive aggression in disguise.
Is this person my customer?
This is one of the most important questions to ask yourself when you get a negative remark.
If someone’s angry with you for having the audacity to offer a product for sale, it’s productive (and sanity-preserving) to ask yourself, Is this person my customer?
If someone quits your email newsletter with a 47-point diatribe on how lame you are, it’s productive to ask yourself, Is this person my customer?
If someone leaves a comment about all the reasons they wanted your blog post to be on a different topic entirely, it’s productive to ask yourself, Is this person my customer?
Carving out a unique position
Your business needs to stake out a position in the marketplace — a unique spot that couldn’t be held by anyone else but you.
Today, take some time to think carefully about your business’s positioning.
- What’s different about your business? How do you help customers in a unique way?
- Who do you serve? What’s special about them? How well do you know their needs and desires?
- What’s the story of your business? What story could you tell that no other business could? (This could be a story about you, but it might also be a story about your customers.)
- What’s the big idea that makes your marketing message hold together?
Out of these, the audience you serve is probably the most important, but it’s not the only element. You need to put yourself into the mix, too. Think about who you are, what you contribute, what qualities you bring, and who you do (and don’t) want to work with.
Your homework: If you’re serious about creating a strong marketing message, spend around 20 minutes actually writing down answers to the questions above. Put them somewhere you can re-read them a few times a day. In a week, look at your answers again and see if you’d change them in any way.
When you know who you are, you know how you can serve. And that’s what makes marketing (and businesses) successful.
– The Copyblogger Team