Sally Hogshead, author of a great little book called Radical Careering, has a new book out called Fascinate. She’s appropriately lit up her social media connections about its impending release and has just said on Twitter what I’ve quoted above. I’ve heard this same sentiment from Seth Godin before and I think it’s true on its face. In the world of marketing, you can’t actually please everyone, so trying to do so will only succeed in making your message or your product really boring. But this same sentiment could be easily misconstrued as an excuse to simply be offensive for the sake of grabbing attention. I don’t think this is what Sally Hogshead means, and I know it’s not what Seth Godin means, but it’d be easy for the quick-skimming marketer to think that if they aren’t getting hate mail, then they must be doing something wrong. The thing to understand, I think, is the difference between appeal and offense.
There’s a big difference between what someone doesn’t find appealing and what someone finds offensive, and I think that this is what both authors are really saying in shorthand. Products, services, and marketing should all have focus. Make things for yourself and your fans — for what Seth Godin would call your “tribe” — and you’ll find more success than trying to make some blah blah thing for the faceless masses. In making something for one group, it means you didn’t make it for someone else. That lack of universal appeal is indeed a good thing. But don’t mistake lack of appeal for intent to offend. The number of people who will do business with you because you’re an asshole is probably the smallest tribe on planet earth.
(2 years ago)