How to Create Something People Want (Don't Miss #3)

Hey — it's Jordan 👋

Today, I want to help you build an audience of raving fans. People who click, buy, and try everything you create.

It starts with a lesson I learned the hard way in 2015, when my first business went up in flames.

We ran out of money and had to stop paying ourselves. This left me in $18k of credit debt, no job, and a baby on the way. Not ideal.

The thing is, it didn't have to be that way. Our failure was easily preventable.

We simply broke the cardinal rule of startups: build something people want.

We got so focused on launching a fancy media service we were obsessed with that we forgot to validate if people would actually pay for it. Turns out, they didn't!

The same thing happens with content—from books, articles, videos, podcasts, or social media.

I've launched my most spectacular failures by creating something I thought was super interesting without bothering to listen to my audience.

That's why my first book in 2017 only sold 82 copies during launch week. Ouch.

How to Create Content People Want

There's a better way. And it's so simple we usually skip it.

First, DEFINE your ideal audience.

→ Who do you love to help? → Who do you love to work with? → Who are you best positioned to serve?

These are the people you would love to copy/paste and create for.

Second, imagine a REAL PERSON who best represents this audience.

I call this person the Bullseye—and you'll create everything for them.

Pretend you're out to coffee with your Bullseye.

→ What questions do they ask?→ What struggles do they have?→ What words do *they* use?→ What opportunities are they missing?→ What mistakes are they repeating?

Your answers fuel a winning content strategy.

Now, don't miss #3 👇

Third, ASK for their input.

We have a big, secret project we're working on at Story Chorus. And it involves me publishing a lot of new books under my own name this year.

Even though I haven't written a word yet, I announced the books were coming and invited peoples' opinion on what they wanted first.

Then, I shared two covers for books I haven't written yet—but with cover mockups they look real.

I got over 60 points of feedback from a single Facebook post.

This did two things:

1. It told me what to write first (Calm)

2. It validated people are interested in both books

Here's the cool part, if no one cared, or only wanted one of them, I just wouldn't write the other one.

That just saved me from working on something...

...that no one wanted.

Here's the moral of our story...

To create stuff people want: ask, validate, and act accordingly.

Treat your content like a business. Build something people want.

Make sure you have customers before you take out a loan, sign a lease, and start selling tickets to a turtle racing club 😉

— Jordan