The riches WERE in the niches
Not anymore.
At least this is true when it comes to traffic.
In ye olden days it was a miracle to get a few thousands views on a business video. Now, people are pulling in millions of views for business content.
Listen. Most of those views aren’t targeted and worth almost nothing. They are not promising leads, they have no commercial intent and you will not get a majority of them to do business with you.
But they are “cheap” - at least in the sense of if you can break through the algorithm and get the reach…
the cost is roughly the same in terms of time and energy.
The problem with the targeted approach on platforms like Instagram and Youtube is it just doesn’t cut through. You’re competing against too much “entertainment” and clickbait.
You can get 1,000 super high quality views on your niched video and for the sake of argument let’s say they’re all qualified. Awesome.
Now compare that to the dude he gets 10,000,000 on some super basic idea. and 99.9% of the leads are completely unqualified. And only 0.001% are super qualified.
That’s 10,000 super qualified leads.
Yes, I’m saying it’s easier to get the quality through the quantity.
I’m still struggling with it.
I want to teach “webinars” on social media. No one cares. So I have to start wide. Like with “communication”. And then sneak in at the end how I use webinars to leverage persuasive communication, which is the most effective type of communication when it comes to making money.
The progression in a 60 second video may look like this:
Communication.
Communication that makes money.
Specific communication vehicle that makes money.
The script may start:
Communication has such an impact on every interaction. One wrong word can be the difference between acceptance and rejection. That’s true in relationships and it’s also true in business communication. How you ask for a raise is more important than the work you do. And if you work for yourself, then the words you choose are the most important of all - if you say “pay” vs “sign up” you will get less people. If you say “paperwork” instead of “contract” people are more likely to sign it. And the vehicle you use to communicate your message is important, too. That’s why I like webinars where I teach first and sell second because the best way to communicate value is to show it first…
Start wide, end narrow.
Have something everyone can relate to but also extends an invitation hidden within it for your most targeted audience.
Then spray and pray because why the algorithm picks up one specific piece of content has so many subtle factors to it, you probably can’t figure it out.
Until you get big.
Then that’s the biggest factor of all - because the algorithm backs you as a safe bet. Because people have like you in the past, people will like you in the present. That sort of thing.
The best example I’ve seen of this comes from Yasir Khan.
He has over 45 million views from a video (in all its forms) called “The Genius of Steve Jobs”. His net is already cast wide - everyone knows the name Steve Job.
What he teaches in the video is price anchoring - something I’ve taught since Yasir was probably 8 years old.
But he leverages Steve’s name, and then he shows Steve doing it with an iPad at the Apple keynote and then in the waning seconds explains the technique.
He gets roasted in the comments.
“Everyone knows this” energy.
But he gets views.
And a few of those viewers are high level CEOs who want to learn how to speak more effectively - which is what Yasir trains on.
Start as wide as you can and then only at the end sneak in your thing.
Then through branding, people will come to know who you are and what you do and a small few at any given time will reach out to you.
Few as a percent. But more than any other way I know how.
I feel we’re living in the twilight zone.
This is completely different then how most businesses were built on the internet when I came up. We had to target and niche. We couldn’t reach the masses fast and affordably. Branding wasn’t a thing.
Whatever you do, I think you have figure out how to link it to a high level, high value soft skill.
Here are the ones I think are best to go after:
Active listening
Communication
Emotional intellgience
Empathy
Relationship building
Decision making
Resilience
Stress management
Strategic thinking
Organization
Conflict resolution
Problem solving
Systems
I think you can tie just about anything you sell to those high level, high value skills.
Bonus points: find a way to make the message entertaining first, educational second.
Sometimes the fastest way from point a to point b is not a straight line.