I found a playlist on Spotify the other day (it was listed in a newsletter… I love that she shared a playlist) and was listening to it while showering (who doesn’t love to start their day with a little pick me up?).
The playlist is called “Cleaning Kit”… in other words, fun music to listen to while you clean. It’s an eclectic list of songs I know and probably nothing I’d ever put together.
I was struck by the lyrics to a song I’ve heard too many times to count.
The song is “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer.
After the last few years, it felt a little prophetic (the song came out in 2006).
I promise I’m not sharing this to be depressing… quite the contrary.
Here was the lyric that hit me like a ton of bricks:
And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
’Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want
We could probably replace “television” with media in general, but you get the point.
The rest of the lyrics are powerful as well, but it made me think about the “rules” of marketing (we’ll leave the discussion about the “World” for another day).
We’re told how to do things because that’s how it’s always been done (ergo, that’s why there’s data. Until someone tries something different we don’t get new data).
I’m a big believer in solid strategies and principles, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only way to do things.
I recently heard something in the program I’m in and I got ridiculously excited.
At a certain point when starting your business you’re told to create your “ideal customer avatar.”
You create a fictitious person, list their likes, dislikes, demographics… ALL the things.
Even though I know there’s value here (you do need to know who you serve and the problems they have), this never really resonated with me.
Then I learned the term “psychographics”.
Now you’re talking my language:
“psychographics: the study and classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological criteria, especially in market research.”
This is why when I learned about “leading with your values” in the program I’m in I got excited.
When you lead with your values, you will naturally attract and repel the people you do and don’t want to work with.
So if you’re stuck with defining an “ideal customer avatar” — make a list of your values and what’s important to you when it comes to your business.
Here are a handful of my values:
- Be kind
- Have fun & love what you do
- Do the work
- Be genuine
- Self-responsibility
- Trust
- Integrity
These are personal and business values.
Now I can go deeper into what this means in terms of business and marketing.
Example: Kindness — I don’t call people out, I don’t spread negativity, I don’t engage in drama.
Nor do I judge people for their values.
Of course, I make mistakes and have my moments, but that’s how we learn.
There’s a guy I knew in a mastermind years ago named Garrett J. White.
Garrett is the epitome of leading with his values (warning: he’s quite the F-bomb dropper and I’m not his target audience- he works with men only, but he’s a great example of being true to yourself and leading with your values).
Next time you’re stuck with what to create, what to share, or who your ideal customer avatar is, come back to your values.
We were in a mastermind together in 2014. He’s now turned Wakeup Warrior into a multi-million dollar business… because he was true to himself.
Think about how you want people to feel when they engage with you and your content.
I promise you it’s a lot easier and way more fun.
