2174: [Part 1] Don't Build an Empire, Find a Few Friends Who Care by Jeff Goins on Marketing

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[00:00:31] This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required compatibility and availability varies 18 plus.

[00:00:56] This is Optimal Work Daily. Don't build an empire. Find a few friends who care. Part 1 by Jeff Goins of Goinswriter.com. The best marketing you can do for your work is not to build an empire, but to find a few friends who care. We all want to reach the masses and see our work get into the mainstream. We want to have an impact. But the only way to reach the many is to first reach the few.

[00:01:22] This is all marketing is. Finding a handful of misfits who appreciate your work before anyone else does, then giving those people the tools to help spread the message. The way we get a Harry Potter, Apple, or Amanda Palmer is not by trying to reach everyone all at once. Quite the opposite, in fact. The true artist does her work well and often in isolation. But then she does the hard labor of finding a fan or two who gets it.

[00:01:48] She seeks out those handfuls of aficionados who are obsessed with the kind of work she does. Whether it's reading mystery novels, antiquing, collecting vintage cameras, or whatever, she diligently seeks out her few and goes deep with them. If you cannot do this, you have no hope of reaching the many, and your only choice is to get better. The job of an artist is not to make something for everyone, but to create the right thing for someone.

[00:02:14] Marketing, then, is not pushing something onto people who don't want it, and certainly not creating something for everyone. It's making something and searching for those who resonate with it. It's faithfully serving the few until they see how serious you are. And if you make it about them, they will always make it about you. When you go out of your way to wow a handful of people, they become your ambassadors. Maybe you'll end up reaching the masses doing this, but at that point it won't matter, because you will have found your people.

[00:02:43] Here are three examples, with three different strategies, that I think work quite well. The Gatsby Method Hobnob with Big Wigs When F. Scott Fitzgerald released The Great Gatsby, he was disappointed with the book. Although the book sold over 20,000 copies in the first year, the critics lamented that neither the book nor the author lived up to readers' expectations.

[00:03:04] Frustrated and somewhat disillusioned with his attempts to live up to his potential, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood, took up screenwriting, and faded into near obscurity. Forty years later, long after the death of its author, Gatsby landed at the top of the bestseller list. How? How? Fitzgerald had somewhat unwittingly built a small but powerful network of people who admired his work. By the time of his death, he was practically penniless and considered himself a failure.

[00:03:31] His handful of friends who cared about seeing his work endure worked hard to ensure his writing was remembered. They did this by writing about him in books and articles, trying valiantly to keep his memory alive long after his death. This culminated in a fan mentioning his book to the wartime council for books, suggesting it be added to the list of titles the United States government was shipping overseas to soldiers during World War II.

[00:03:55] They ended up shipping 155,000 copies of Gatsby overseas, each copy being read by six or seven soldiers before the paperback copy literally fell apart. Over a decade later, the book was back in mainstream circulation and eventually read in almost every single high school in America. The fact that Fitzgerald had a few friends who cared was the only thing keeping his work in circulation until Gatsby eventually caught up with the times and became a bestseller. This is essentially what I did when I launched this blog.

[00:04:25] I understood that in any industry, there are a handful of voices most people listen to, no matter what. In my world of online marketing, blogging, and writing, that included people like Michael Hyatt, Steven Pressfield, and Seth Godin. Intuitively, I understood that if I could get them to vouch for me, that I would automatically have an audience. But how? I implemented what I now call the case study strategy, which I talk more about in my book, Real Artists Don't Starve.

[00:04:53] Essentially, I sought out influencers I wanted to vouch for me and my work. I did not ask them to vouch for me, but simply let them know how their work had impacted me. And I continued doing this for months, and in some cases, years, before ever asking for anything. The case study strategy is still, in my mind, the best way to build influence quickly. You can spend a lot of time trying to build an audience one by one, or you can go to the tastemakers of your industry, whose opinions are respected by the masses,

[00:05:23] and spend significant time winning them over to your side. Of course, this requires that you actually put their advice to use and aren't simply blowing hot air. Over and over again, you have to demonstrate their stuff works. This goes beyond sending a nice email or leaving a review on Amazon, although those aren't bad places to start. You have to become a student and ambassador of their work. You have to become a case study. You don't need to do it perfectly, but you ought to do it humbly.

[00:05:50] Remember that influencers don't want someone who knows everything already. They want someone who is humble. As a burgeoning literary voice in America during the 1920s, F. Scott Fitzgerald made friends with many of the literary elite of his day, which allowed his work to endure when it otherwise would have likely disappeared. So, no, it's not just luck that helps your art endure. Many artists become famous because they know how to make a friend. The Secret Behind The Shack Get a Street Team

[00:06:19] One of the best-selling books, not only of the last century, but of all time, is The Shack by William Paul Young. However, many don't know this short novel was initially self-published and did not rise to instant success. In fact, the author was not a well-known super-influencer with an email list of half a million people. He did, however, have a powerful story. It was originally intended to be a Christmas gift to his children. As his family resonated with it and recommended it to friends,

[00:06:47] he realized there might be a greater potential for this book to reach more than just a handful of people. Young ended up partnering with a couple of other friends who liked the story and started an independent publishing company. In the first year, he shipped over one million copies directly out of his garage. He and his partners employed a number of local street teams who employed a number of grassroots marketing campaigns, including placing copies of the book in windows of local coffee shops all over the U.S.

[00:07:15] A handful of friends helped the book reach their friends and those people's friends and so on until eventually the book sold over 25 million copies in the past 10 years. To be continued. You just listened to part one of the post titled Don't Build an Empire, Find a Few Friends Who Care by Jeff Goins of GoinsWriter.com Labor Day savings are happening now at the Home Depot with select appliances starting at $399.

[00:07:45] Plus, save up to an extra $1,000 and get free delivery on appliance purchases of $998 or more. Get a Whirlpool laundry tower featuring industry-first UV clean technology designed to reduce bacteria in the wash without fading fabrics. Plus, with great prices at the Home Depot, you can save on select appliances designed to make laundry day easier. Shop Labor Day savings at the Home Depot today. Offer valid August 27th through September 16th. U.S. and LAC. Store online for details. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome.

[00:08:13] You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. And thanks so much to Jeff, who is a super popular writer and the best-selling author of five books,

[00:08:42] including The Art of Work and Real Artists Don't Starve, which he mentioned in this post. On his site, you can hear his thoughts on writing, life, and creative work. And you're going to hear him narrated across a few of our shows. So if you're looking to share your work, but you're afraid of becoming the starving artist, Jeff's site is for you. Lots of great advice there. So come on and check it out at goinswriter.com. And thanks again to Jeff for letting us share his work. Okay, that is it for part one of this episode. Hope you enjoyed it and that you're having a great weekend if you're listening in real time.

[00:09:12] I'll see you back here tomorrow where we're going to finish up this post from Jeff and where your optimal life awaits.