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Will They Pay for It or Not?
Recently, a friend of mine expressed his frustration about a dilemma he was facing with his business. For the sake of privacy, I'm going to change a few of the categories in this article to reflect topics I'm personally familiar with. But first, let me tell his story.
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My friend started a Facebook group way back when. Let's just say, for the sake of the story, the topic he built the group around was email marketing for business. The group thrived for years. He even launched products and services inside the group that helped his bottom line immensely. Quite a few of the group members showed interest in his offers and his income steadily increased.
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Everything was great... until it wasn't.
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Eventually, he realized his topic wasn't generating the same kind of excitement that it had several years earlier. The focus had moved on to other things. It was similar to how viewership in a once popular TV series can drop off over time.
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Frustrated by the slow-down, he decided to try building a video channel and podcast around the topic. Neither of those efforts yielded much of a return. And that's when he summarized his situation with this question - "Can I find enough people interested in this topic to build a business around or not?"
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The Reality of Shifting Interests
Let's talk about shifting interests for a minute. The other day I was looking through my music folder. I downloaded most of my favorite music back in the Napster days. If you're too young to remember the 90s, that was one of the first, big "free music" services. The other day I browsed through the hundreds of songs I'd downloaded over the years.
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I even listened to a few. While some of the songs certainly brought back memories, they didn't have the same effect on me today that they did back then. I'm guessing it's probably the same for you.
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Do you spend your money on the same things today that you did in the past, or have things changed? Sometimes, things change quickly, and it's difficult to pinpoint the why or the how. It just happens.
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Retain Your Audience or Find a New One?
In my friend's case, he concluded that it was time to diversify. The fact that he wasn't able to build any momentum with YouTube or Podcasting told me that, in all likelihood, others had already accomplished on those platforms the same thing he did on Facebook. If the trend is moving away from the topic, changing platforms probably won't bring the kind of results you're looking for.
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That said, he didn't want to abandon his current group altogether. Instead, he decided to create another group around other topics that fit the same general category, but with a different niche focus.
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His intent was to cross-promote both groups. He was hopeful that some of the members in the first group might join the second group as well. Some topics can serve as bridge topics that move people between the groups.
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At this point, he's in the testing phase and hasn't committed to a path forward yet.
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Maybe it's the same for you?
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Exploring New Platforms for Your Message
When we talk about platforms, the well-known ones come immediately to mind. I'm talking about Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, etc. That said, there are more lesser-known platforms out there than you may realize. I found a few of them while doing marketing tests for clients.
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A market or topic may be saturated on your platform of choice, but that doesn't mean it won't find new life somewhere else. It's just something to think about.
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The #1 Question: Will They Pay for It?
Sometimes I unwind late at night by watching YouTube videos. I watch videos that have nothing to do with business and marketing. Lately, I find myself drifting off to sleep listening to videos about strange creatures that are being spotted in national parks around the world. It's a true niche topic.
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Almost all of these channels have exclusive content and memberships available for people who are willing to pay for the "extras." I, admittedly, am not one of those people. I may be consuming their free content, but they can't build a business serving people like me. I'm guessing that I probably make up a good percentage of their audience.
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Let's bring this back to you and I. We need to find people who are willing to pay for the solutions we bring to the table. If ninety-five percent of your audience enjoys what you do, but only five percent are willing (or able) to pay for it, you may not have a business.
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You may have to run a fund-raising campaign once a year and invite friends and family to contribute to stay in business. Just kidding.
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Adjusting the Focus of Your Business
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When it comes to the online world, change can be accomplished quickly and affordably.
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One of my clients was an art teacher. She produced high-end art classes in a particular niche. The interest in her sub-topic had declined over the years and she was wondering what to do next.
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When I asked her what other topics she could talk about she shared a few ideas with me. Then I asked, "Would you be able to teach this on a Zoom call?" She thought for a moment and said, "I don't see why not. As long as I can share my PDF's on the screen."
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So, I told her she could email her list of subscribers, and include a pay link for a live Zoom workshop. That way, she could gauge interest in a new art-related topic as well as get paid for her time. It worked. She had success with this approach and has since changed the focus of her business. By the way, she's not a kid. She's in her 70's.
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Final Thoughts on Shifting Interests
For years my umbrella topic has been online marketing. Under that topic are many sub-topics. Today, marketing information is so plentiful, you could probably find some under your couch cushion along with some snack crumbs. It's not a coincidence that many of the old-time internet marketing gurus went all in on teaching crypto investing a few years back.
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It's hard to guess what the future holds, especially with the rise of AI. Maybe we can sum it up by saying - all you need to do is figure out what people are willing to pay for, and then start selling them that.
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That may be easier said than done, but it sure does simplify the general direction we'll be heading in.
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Moxie - Built for Freelancers
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This is probably the last time I'll mention a tool like this for quite a while. I'm talking about Moxie - an app made for the “the unemployables.” Moxie was developed with freelancers specifically in mind. In other words, solo entrepreneurs. It strikes a balance between keeping things simple and being robust enough to handle an entire business.
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Moxie's Features
Client management
Project management
Accounting
Proposals & contracts
Calendar
Mobile app
Sales Pipeline
Invoices
Time-Tracking
Collaborators
Meeting Scheduler
Client Portal
Communication inbox
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Yes, I know there are at least 1,001 programs out there that do the above. What I like about Moxie, however, is the fact that figured out how to keep things simple. Everything was designed with time-strapped freelancers in mind. Also, unless you need your accountant to have access, you won't even have to upgrade to the next tier. The $39 tier will have you covered.
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I bought Moxie for myself and I'm going to buy another subscription for a business that Lori and I run together (to do this on Appsumo you need a 2nd account with a different email address).
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If you're interested, check out the reviews before you buy.
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*Disclaimer: for you software addicts out there, if you're happy with your current solution to all the above, don't let me talk you into buying something you don't need. I've mentioned other products like this in the past. They're all decent, but ultimately, I've found that more often than not, they slow down my workflow because I can't get comfortable using the tool. Moxie has been a breath of fresh air in that regard.
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Anyway, that's all I have for you today. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next month.
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