A Million to One?
A million to one… are these the odds for success?
Not necessarily.
Hedge your bet by inverting this assertion. It should read one to a million…
In radio, DJ’s and hosts are trained to speak as if they’re broadcasting to an audience of just one person (note: not all professional broadcasters in radio I’ve worked with endorse this approach however. Some prefer to focus on a ‘small group’ of people instead of just one. Call it a “niche” perhaps).
Regardless, the idea is to keep the feel of the “conversation” intimate and personal. To establish and keep a connection… This philosophy is sage advice for any circumstance that involves interacting and influencing others.
The target audience needs to begin with just one.
Maybe it will get to one million, maybe it won’t.
Either way, it doesn’t really matter if what you’re doing really matters.
Matters to who?
To you.
Because if what you’re putting out there is important (to you), and if your content is impactful (to others), then the size of the audience, especially in the beginning, is less important than all of the aforementioned factors. If those elements are there, you will eventually attract interest. Many get this whole thing backwards. They’re planning for, and marketing to the big audience before they’re even sure who their small audience is.
Connecting with just one person…
Making a difference to just one person…
Impacting just one person…
Getting through to just one person…
Helping just one person…
… is the ONE thing worth millions.
The world tells us that the numbers matter; the heart tells us that they don’t.
So work toward being one in million, instead of worrying about a-million-to-one odds.
Odds are, the truth of the matter… your truth within the matter… is what really matters most.
Stay tuned-in…
Reminiscent of the Dave Grohl convo- surprised to see you champion the meritorious standpoint. Would have expected you to be a “selling yourself” proponent
I most certainly am a “sell yourself” proponent, but as I’ve indicated many times, in many places, smart selling married to talent married to a great work ethic are not mutually exclusive. All are required in the right quantity, required for one’s “industry” to make a difference.
Despite Grohl’s ‘everyman-approach’ flag that he loves to wave to continue to build his fanbase (selling), he’s certainly cashing all of his ‘successful artist’ checks. I can just see him tweeting his philosophies in the Benz on the way to the bank. As it should be… The starving-artist-types will cling to Grohl’s rhetoric as much as the hardcore-capitalist-types would salute mine.