It’s so easy to want everyone to love what we do.
When we’re writing, we want everyone to think it’s great.
In our work building a service or product, we want everyone to buy in – to join us, or support us in some way.
This leads to problems:
- By trying to make something that pleases everyone, we end up making something boring and lukewarm. We’re not happy with it, and lots of people might think it’s okay… but no-one thinks it’s that great.
- Trying to make something that pleases everyone sets the bar impossibly high. Nothing is loved by everyone. And nothing will ever be ready to share if “universally adored” is what we’re aiming for. We’ll be paralysed.
The answer is to be clear in our mind who this is for – even if it’s just for us. Make something for the smallest possible audience, and build from there.
If you don’t like it, why should anyone else?
If no-one likes it – it’s either not very good or you haven’t found the your audience.
If some people like it – and you want to serve that particular “some” – then you’ve got something you can work with. Serve them well. Serve them again. Make it better.
And for everyone else – the people who don’t like it, don’t get it – that’s fine.
Its not for everybody – it can’t be for everybody. So you can smile when you say it: “It’s not for you.”
Note
I’ve absorbed this idea from some of the thinkers I’ve found most helpful in learning how to do what I do well. On the one hand, it’s almost pure Seth Godin. But it’s also Steve Blank, Lean, and the mvp (more on that another time). And Tim Ferris riffs on this too. There are probably others but for now, thanks to the above.