Summary

Deon Ashleigh uses a personal anecdote about a hat to illustrate the importance of serving your audience, maintaining clarity in your message, and defining your brand to attract the right audience.

Abstract

Deon Ashleigh shares a story about mistaking his nephew's hat for his own, drawing a parallel to common marketing mistakes. He emphasizes the importance of serving your audience by addressing their needs without resorting to pushy tactics, being clear about who your ideal audience is, and defining your brand to establish a strong presence in the market. Ashleigh provides actionable tips such as creating content that solves problems, focusing on your niche, and packaging your brand in a way that resonates with your target audience. The article concludes with a call to action to subscribe to his newsletter for more insights on growing a writing empire.

Opinions

Serving your audience should come from a position of providing value, not from a subservient stance.
It's crucial to observe and understand your audience's problems rather than just asking them what they want.
You should focus on solving the problems your audience already has, not inventing new ones.
Having a clear vision of your ideal reader or client helps in attracting the right audience and repelling those who are not a good fit.
Being well-defined in your field, like Isaac Asimov's association with science fiction, helps in establishing a strong and recognizable brand.
Assumptions can lead to misunderstandings and missed opportunities, both in personal interactions and in marketing efforts.
It's more effective to attract a smaller number of highly interested individuals than to chase a large number of less interested prospects.

🎩Can I tell you a story about a hat?

Weekly tips to help you grow your audience + make more money

“My hat, my hat!” My three-year-old nephew screamed at the top of his lungs, reaching up to me.

I’d just put my hat on my head. It was one of those winter hats with the floppy ears — and made me look like a Black Russian. You’ll see it later.

I shook my head. “No, it’s not your hat. It’s mine.”

But he wasn’t havin’ it.

“My hat, my hat!” He stood on his tippy toes, reaching up harder. Big, glossy, brown eyes stared up at me from under his skinny dread locks. He was one of my favorite nephews. Always ran full-force to slam into me for a hug with a massive smile on his face. Knocked me over a lot.

That kid was strong as heck.

“My hat!” He kept screaming it. Was so insistent I started looking for his hat. All six of us did. “My hat!”

He had a hat somewhere, and he knew it.

Eventually, I pulled a ball of fabric from behind the couch.

But this story isn’t just about a hat or adorable three-year-old boy. It’s about learning how to pull people toward us by fighting the marketing assumptions we make that pushes them away.

Here’s ways to fish, not jump in the water with a net:

Tip #1: Serve them

Even if your readers, clients, and customers are screaming like a three-year-old missing his hat, approach them from a position of serving.

Not a servant. Not less than. Not taking their crap. But from the mindset of providing them the knowledge, tools, services, and products only you can offer that’ll solve their problems.

You don’t have to make up problems for folx; you only gotta solve the ones they already have.

Examples

Publish value and insights without asking for anything (blogs, Xitter threads, YouTube, podcasts, art, etc.)
Watch and listen for their problems. Don’t just badger them about what they want. Stay observant
Build solutions to problems. Show pieces of the creation-in-the-making. When your system works, people’ll come to you wanting to know how you did it

Tip #2: Obsess over clarity

Create a vision of your ideal reader.

Be like my cutie-pie nephew: know what you want.

It’s important to ask what your readers/clients/customers are interested in, and even more important to know who you want to work with, market to—and who you don’t.

You want magical unicorns coming to you, so don’t chase sparkly horses with fake horns.

To do

Make a list of your ideal reader or client, and ONLY market to them. If you’re a sci-fi writer, focus on other sci-fi writers and readers.

Yes, people who don’t read sci-fi have friends who do, but to become a human magnet, focus on those already scaldingly interested in what you’re providing.

Remove everything and anyone that’s not aligned with your vision.

It’s better to have ten people running to your orbit, than chase a thousand, lukecold people into theirs.

Ask yourself:

Do they need what I have?
Do they see value in what I’m offering?
Can they buy what I’m selling?

Tip #3: Be like Isaac Asimov

No, not his writing style, love of small spaces, or adoration of letters — he wrote 90,000! — but his definition.

When you hear “Asimov,” what do you think of? Science Fiction. I, Robot. Author.

Asimov was well-defined. So well defined that many don’t know he was also a Professor of Biochemistry.

How to define yourself

Decide what you want to be known for
Choose a field(s) you can be great at
Find the simplest way to package yourself clearly for your readers/clients

Oh, and my nephew’s hat that I found behind the couch? This is what it looked like:

I was wearing his hat. Or maybe… my hat. Ha, ha! We had the same type of hat! He was right, and I’m glad I listened. Not only can assumptions frustrate a three-year-old, but they can push your readers/clients away.

Don’t do that. Focus on becoming a magnet.

Be well, Deon Ashleigh 👽

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