Adam Street's Blog
The spiritual and practical path to freedom to do your art

Chernobyl, Zombies, and why going small matters

Let’s talk about ZOMIBES! 

But first, let’s pick up where we left off with Seth Godin’s Marketing in Five Steps.  To recap, here’s the first steps:  

1.  Invent a thing worth making, with a story worth telling , and a contribution worth talking about.  

2.  Design and build it in a way that a few people will particularly benefit from and care about.

And the third step is:

To tell a story that matches the built-in-narrative and dreams of that tiny group of people, the smallest viable market.

I would have thought this was crazy talk had I not read Kevin Kelly’s essay, 1,000 True Fans.  If you haven’t read it yet, do it now!  https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/

1,000 True Fans is about how an artist, musician, author, etc. needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

Back then I was racking my brain trying to figure out how I could make it as an indie comic creator.  Web comics were just taking off and I just couldn’t see how I could survive doing the ‘indie comic thing’.  

When I read 1,000 True Fans that all changed.  

I realized I didn’t need a horde of fans just yet.  I just needed a few.  A small viable market of people who liked what I did.  

This was empowering.  Every time someone told me they didn’t like my art instead of my self-esteem taking a hit, I had a different thought.  My art wasn’t for them.  So I built my audience one fan at a time.

Back then, I started from scratch but you don’t always have to.

You can also find and ride the wave of an existing small viable market.

Did you notice zombies were kinda popular for a while?  

Before the zombie craze went Chernobyl, my friend Adam Miller (and his buddy Rich) released a comic anthology series.  And let me tell ya, they milked it for years.  

Miller knew not everyone liked zombies.  But ENOUGH people did and that was enough.

An old saying comes to mind…  “Think global but act local”.  Have your big goals in mind but act on finding and satisfying your minimal viable audience.  

If you need help finding your smallest viable market contact me today. 

https://adamstreet.net/contact-me/

Adam

New Rules [and not Dua Lipa’s…]

About 15 years ago I realized something…

I loved doing business with artists.  Gary, my favorite barber,  was an artist with hair.  

My favorite landscaper was an artist.  My lawn was flawless like Dua Lipa’s hair at the Grammys.  My next several landscapers sucked.  

Well, they didn’t suck.  They just weren’t artists.

Entrepreneurs are the same way.  I vibe with the creative ones a little differently.  John Carlton is one of my favorite copywriters.  I recently learned he draws.  One of my favorite marketers is Ben Settle.  He’s into writing and comic books.

When I say “artists” I’m not taking about people who can draw or paint.  I’m talking about people like you and me who are creative draftsmen who approach what we do like an art form.

We’re not entrepreneurs.  We’re artistic entrepreneurs.

My Shifu Perry Marshall (with Megan Madedo’s help) broke it down like this:

The traditional business paradigm rules:

  1. The thing that counts is the work you can get paid for.
  2. Your number one job is to serve the market and build the business.
  3. The guiding question is “What will generate a profit?”

But the artist paradigm says:

  1. The thing that counts is your real work, your art, the work you care deeply about that only you can do.
  2. Your number one job is to serve the work and build a body of work you can be proud of.
  3. The guiding question is not “What will generate a profit?”  The guiding question is “What’s worth doing even if it fails?”.

That’s why so much “marketing training” out there sucks for us.  Tons of traditional business paradigm people out there shrieking about marketing plans.  Your USP and all that hardcore business paradigm stuff.

That information is ok.  Even helpful but it doesn’t ‘feel right’ to us.  It’s like that cause it’s NOT us.  Especially in the beginning.

If I lost it all tomorrow and you saw me driving an Uber.  I’d know everything I’ve done since I left my old job mattered!    You would too!

There’s nothing wrong with traditional business paradigm advice.  It has it’s place.  It’s just not the first place we go because it’s not who we are.

We’re artists, baby!

Adam

I’m Ranting Cats and Dogs!

Yesterday, I blogged about Seth Godin’s book This is Marketing.

I called it his newest book but a quick trip to Amazon told me I was wrong.  This one came out in 2018 and The Practice is his newest book.  Whoops.

While I was on Amazon I glanced at the reviews and this one caught my eye (also above)

“I like Seth a lot but sometimes his ideas are not a reflection of the real world. There are some products that benefit from telling a brand story but 99% of products don’t need a story. When I buy a frozen pizza or cereal I don’t need a brand story, just give me a good product at a fair price. If marketers should want to change the world why do some brands who have violated consumer trust still grow and make money? Yes, some products solve my problems but most just meet my basic need as a consumer.”

This guy does have a point.  The average person who goes to buy a frozen pizza may grab any old pie off the shelf but that’s NOT everyone.  

Not all brands tell stories but ALL brands are storytelling.  What’s the difference?

Digiorno Pizza tells a story (which is also their USP).  It’s not delivery, it’s DiGiorno.  Their pizza is like ordering from a restaurant.  Not really, but that’s what they say.  And back in 1995 when DiGiorno came out, it was a lot better than most frozen pizzas.  

Now on to storytelling.  

Every product is storytelling.  The price tells a story.  The font on the box tells a story.  The color of the packaging tells a story.  When you package a product or service everything matters.  

If you think like that guy, you’re gonna be stressed.  And you’re gonna shell out tons of time and cash trying to keep clients from running away faster than Usain Bolt.

I will admit, some commodities or his “basic needs” type products do require little brain power.  Like hangers.  Hangers are not particularly exciting to most people.  Even though I saw an article where two experts reviewed 32 different models of hangers for over 8 hours.

This guy helps make my point from yesterday clear.  If you make a product for everyone I hope you have a rich and generous uncle.  But if you focus on a small niche, you’ll find people who actually give a damn about you.

Winston Churchill said, “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” There’s nothing wrong with all animals.  But if you like pigs, market to pigs.  Cats and dogs will be fine without you.

Adam

Old School Marketing is so Gangsta

Seth Godin is an OG (original gangster) of marketing.

I would recommend you read all of his books.  The man is just that good.  His audiobooks books can be a little monotone but his content is off-the-wall good.  

His newest book, This is Marketing is a new “old” book.  Brand new book but what Seth talks about is old school.  Forget the glamour and glitz of trying to reach the masses.  Reach a few people instead.

   

It’s really important if you got pulverized by 2020.  It’s like starting over again or you may have started a completely new biz altogether.  Your transformation starts with your marketing.

I wanted to do a break down on Seth’s Marketing in Five Steps.

The first step is to invent a thing worth making. with a story worth telling , and a contribution worth talking about.  

Why are you offering coaching or marketing courses?  And why should anyone buy it from you.  The transformation?  Well, duh but you can get that from anywhere with a good google search. 

Your story and your why is what makes ‘your thing’ worth making and telling.

Look at Lily Born, this kiddo started her own cup company.  You may think the story is that she is a child entrepreneur.  That’s cool, but those story grows on trees.

The real story is when Lily was 8, she noticed her grandfather, who has has Parkinson’s, spilled  his drinks a lot.  She made him a cup from moldable plastic and later a ceramic cup for coffee.  She eventually started a business and made The Kangaroo Cup.

Yes, her cups solve a problem.  But she invented a thing worth making, and her story is worth telling.  And people talk about it.  Kinda like now…

That’s actually the litmus test for your product.  If it’s not unique in it’s own way that people talk about it you need to do two things.

You either need different people to show your offering to or you need a different offering.  

Sometimes it’s both but iterating will get you there.

Next time we’ll talk about Seth’s second step.

Adam

Angry Enough to Slap Jesus

My wife has had a bipolar relationship with her weight most of her life and a few months ago she hired a weight loss coach.  His name is Chris but I call him Jesus.  

Jesus is perfect.  All I ever hear is…

  • How fine he is.
  • How he knows calories and macros. 
  • How great his recipes are.

He’s helped her drop about 20 pounds and I’m happy for her.  But when she talks about him, I throw up in my up mouth a little.

Yesterday she told a woman at the gym she’s NEVER lost weight before.  My wife is like Oprah, she loses weight all the time.  But now that she’s found Jesus…

It drives me crazy because his ‘plan’ is all stuff someone (usually me) has told her before.  

But it didn’t matter.  Now that Jesus says it, it means something.  

It’s annoying.  It’s make me wanna run off and slap somebody.  But you’ve probably spotted the problem already.  Haven’t you?

People who get free advice rarely use it and don’t value it the same as paid advice.  Charge for your advice.

You may need to offer freebies to get started, or to test your course, and that’s ok.  But this ain’t charity work, baby.  Charge for what you do.  And charge the right amount.  Don’t bill what you think they can pay.

Action and lack of action have a price.  Your clients will eventually pay.  That dinero may as well go to you.

Adam