The Wonderful Words for this Wednesday are: ‘Target Audience’
Are you thinking, “Target Audience?”, these are not the typical types of words Kim uses for Wednesdays? You’re right! But I promise, you’re going to like this!
STEP 1 in Building Your Business – Identify Your Target Audience
When you start a business, or a BLOG (like this one), the first step you are supposed to do is to identify your target audience.
I’d like to start by saying that I have come to dislike the phrase, ‘target audience’. I picture an auditorium with an ‘audience’ in their seats, passively awaiting for the presenter (me) to speak, and me on stage with a bow and arrow trying to figure out which person to shoot.
This is not for me, I strive for a two way conversation, as if you and I are sitting on my couch having a cup of coffee. And I want to have coffee with each and every one of you!
Many of the classes I have taken actually tell you to create an ‘avatar’ in your mind of who you are writing to, or advertising to, or whatever your business is there to do. Avatar?! This does not speak to me. Are you picturing a blue ‘person’ out in the woods? I am, and no thanks.
Blurry Target
You see how the target in the pic above is blurry? That’s how it’s been for me thus far, this blurry target off in the distance. I’m shooting at it, most of the time hitting the board, sometimes missing it altogether, but rarely getting a bullseye.
No wonder I glaze over when I read a book about how to start a business or a BLOG and the first thing is “Identify your target audience’. I’m geared up, got my bow and arrow in place, but that darn target is way too far away and impossibly blurry.
So I’ve just been skipping this part and moving on to the nitty gritty details that I need to know like how to deal with all the tech stuff you have to know etc. Meanwhile, the question, “Who am I speaking to?” haunts my mind. I really do not like unanswered questions, and I like to be a good student so it sticks in my craw a bit that I forgo this part of the assignment each time.
Well friends, I had the serendipitous pleasure to meet the embodiment of my ‘target audience’ recently. This is HUGE.
The Breakthrough
Here’s how it happened:
So there I was (this is how my husband tells me I need to start stories), advertising for my upcoming Play Art Workshop on-line. I had posted about the workshop on a community page in Facebook and one lady had responded that she’d like to join me. Right off I loved that comment.
I responded in kind by saying I looked forward to playing art with her and that she could sign up with the link in post. Days went by and I noticed she hadn’t signed up.
I despise being pushy, but I thought I should private message her to see if she was still interesting in ‘joining me’ (insert warm smile here) and if she needed help dealing with the sign up process.
She messaged back that ‘Yes! She definitely is going to sign up for the workshop’.
As we messaged back and forth a bit, her story began to unfold. Turns out, her husband has cancer and she is the caretaker. She said she had been neglecting herself for over a year while she did the hard work, both physically and emotionally, of caring for her husband (that last part is my words, not hers).
She said this:
“This past year I have been so inundated with caring for him that I have forgotten about myself and this popped up on my Facebook and I thought it would be perfect to get me back to doing what makes me whole.”
How do you feel reading her words? Does your heart go out to her? Can you relate?
I sure can! Learning to access this creative side of myself didn’t happen for me until my forties. In the early years of parenting my boys, I could barely keep my head above water much less do anything for myself. When we hit a few really hard years, I lived in survival mode and did nothing but, well, survive! So I definitely know what it’s like to not feel ‘whole’.
BULLSEYE!
Interestingly enough, I knew she was the embodiment of my “target audience’ when I found that I was working even harder to make this workshop a fun, relaxing, and encouraging time.
I picture her and I work harder. BULLSEYE! So this is what it means to have a target audience! The target has come into focus clear as day now.
If I can serve you, if I can provide a space and a calming creative activity to help you find a spark of joy and feel ‘whole’, what greater purpose is there in a mission statement?
That being said, I somehow feel I need to add to this that ALL are ALWAYS WELCOME. You don’t have to be in the hard years to come, I’m hoping that’s obvious!
Meanwhile, I’m warming up to the whole ‘target audience’ phrase. Stay tuned for part 2 next week!
Kimberly Snider, Virtuoso, Signing Off
Website:
Photo Credits
Blurry Target: Photo by Adam McCoid on Unsplash
Black and White Target: Photo by Mauro Gigli on Unsplash