This week in the world’s #1 newsletter on leadership communication:
- Do You Know Your Content Market Fit?
- Celebrate Freedom with Julius Bachmann
- The Four Foundations of Powerful Speaking
- The Narrative Age: How leaders can inspire change in a polarized world
Do You Know Your Content Market Fit?
Have you ever wondered if your content truly resonates with your audience?
As a creator myself, I've grappled with this question countless times.
In this newsletter, I'm excited to share a guest article by Laura Lewandowski, the creator behind the popular Smart Chiefs newsletter.
(The article has been translated and slightly adapted. Click here to read the original in German.)
One of the next Unicorns in the New Economy won't be a company like Google, AirBnb or an industrial conglomerate. The next company to be valued at a billion dollars could soon be a "3-person business".
I'm not saying that – Peter Diamandis is. He is the co-founder of Singularity University, a US start-up center for disruptive technologies related to robotics and artificial intelligence.
His message behind it: AI enables unimagined opportunities for individuals that were otherwise only possible for companies with money and lots of resources.
I find that fascinating! But I know that this means one thing above all: individuals have to think like companies - and they are looking for one thing above all else at the beginning: product-market fit.
The math behind it is simple. Products are solutions to problems. The more people have this problem, the more you sell. It's no different with content. The renowned creator economy expert Li Jin calls it the "creator market fit", the interface between three things.
a) Content: "Do I enjoy making this?"
b) Business model: "Can I sustain myself?"
c) Audience: "Do people want this?"
Nevertheless, I have long ignored the fact that I really understand what my readers really need. I wrote the newsletter just for myself! I solved my own problems and addressed my own interests. And they changed regularly in nuances. However, it is difficult to build a business from a vague thesis. I understood that I had to get to know my target group.
These are the five steps I have taken:
#1 Analyze yourself:
I first tried to find out what I was curious about. At the beginning of my self-employment, I therefore observed myself closely: When I went into bookshops - which shelves did I get stuck on? Which articles did I click on? I found out that my interests at the time were in mental health, health, sport and business development.
#2 Start producing content that covers your interests:
My first newsletters then revolved around the topics just mentioned. The more I wrote, the more feedback I received. Readers marked well-performing posts with many hearts - and I slowly began to develop a feeling for my target group.
#3 Check your topics again:
We all evolve, interests change. That's why I did the exercise from the beginning again: What am I interested in now? I found out that my interests had shifted towards business and the new economy as a result of my involvement with the creator sector. Tech was suddenly also a topic.
#4 Enter into a dialog with the audience:
I now had more clarity about myself. But what about my audience? Would they even be able to do anything with my new content? I phoned subscribers and launched surveys: What do you want more of, what do you want less of?
#5 Bring passion and target group together step by step:
With the knowledge of my audience, I have further customized my content. An ongoing process: I am still adapting individual details of the newsletter. It's just nuances, slogans and the like, nothing major. My interests and the target group now match very well. But: there's always room for improvement.
OLIVER'S RECOMMENDATION CORNER
Celebrate Freedom with Julius Bachmann
You may know Julius Bachmann as one of Europe's top founder coaches and a guest on our Speak Like A CEO podcast.
But did you know he's also a talented musician?
On August 31st, Julius is taking the stage at Privatclub, Berlin, for a special charity concert celebrating the release of his album "Freedom". This event promises to be a powerful blend of music and purpose.
As someone who's experienced Julius's impact firsthand, I can't wait to see him on stage. If you're in Berlin, join me for what's sure to be an inspiring evening. Don't miss this chance to support a great cause while enjoying exceptional music. See you there!
Check out Julius's concert details here.
PODCAST
The Four Foundations of Powerful Speaking
Julian Treasure’s TED Talk “How to speak so that people want to listen” has been viewed over 100 million times and is the 6th most popular TED talk of all time.
In this week’s short clip, he shares the four foundations of powerful speaking, namely Honesty, Authenticity, Integrity and Love – easy to memorize thanks to the acronym HAIL. He also explains The 7 Deadly Sins of Speaking.
Check out the do’s and don’t of speaking by someone who knows how to captivate an audience. And please subscribe to the podcast on Apple or Spotify if you haven’t done so.
Listen on Spotify and Apple:
BOOK
The Narrative Age: How leaders can inspire change in a polarized world
“The Narrative Age" explores how the world's most successful organizations and movements, from SpaceX to DeBeers to the Barbie movie, have harnessed the power of narratives to inspire their audiences.
The book provides practical strategies for crafting and executing narratives for anyone who wants their message to inspire in a polarized world.
I devoured the book and am stoked that author Frank Wolf will be a guest on Speak Like CEO in September. Frank also happens to be the co-founder of Staffbase, one of the fastest-growing solutions for employee communications and engagement in the world, so there is lots to talk about!
On that note...
Have an inspired weekend!
Best,
Oliver
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