Besides you and me, of course. 
Who cares that you’re starting a business online?
Are your customers single moms (or dads) with kids? Do they drive a new smartcar fortwo? Are they confused about health insurance plans or hair styles? Your business won’t appeal to everybody. It couldn’t possibly. But it does appeal to a specific audience.
Who are they?
Starting an online business is part art, part science. It’s a matter of getting the ratios right.
I was thinking about those ratios as the Ninj and I were watching a documentary about an artist and filmmaker we both admire. You already know how I feel about Twin Peaks and Agent Cooper.
If you’ve seen Blue Velvet, you might assume that the filmmaker is sick, twisted or at least highly disturbed. You might not guess he’d say something like:
People think you have to suffer for your art. But really, the happier you are, the more well-rested, the better it goes.
– David Lynch
You don’t have to like David L’s movies, but we can agree that’s a wise observation. I try to practice recognizing wisdom, whoever happens to point it out.
David L excels at making strange flicks (the script for his 2006 film Inland Empire was entirely improvised) as well as — you might not know this — immaculate custom furniture.
He also practices transcendental meditation. Like clockwork. He’s meditated every day for more than 30 years.
When David L describes his TM practice he’s like a kid with a secret entrance to the candy store. “It’s like diving into the ocean of creativity,” he says. He thinks it could help anyone, not just artists.
“It’s money in the bank,” he says.
So what can entrepreneurs learn from David L about making money online?
Here’s something that can make your internet business a work of art:
Know your niche. David Lynch movies (The Elephant Man, Wild at Heart, and Mulholland Drive, to name three) are not meant to appeal to the average movie-goer. He doesn’t do Disney movies. (Actually, The Straight Story was a collaboration between Disney and David L, but you get my drift.)
- Know your niche inside out. Know who your product or service appeals to. Who wants what you provide? Where do they hang out online?
When you know who is paying attention, it narrows the path. Suddenly you’re not showing your movie to a massive room with faceless customers. You’ve chosen a specific bunch of people to show your product to. Don’t pay attention to the others. They aren’t coming to your movie anyway. Try to force them, and they’ll slam you in a useless review.
For each person who considers David Lynch’s films brilliant and superb, there are many more whose opinions differ.
My brother walked out of Mulholland Drive. “What a pathetic waste of time and money.” This doesn’t sway my love for my bro. We’re just not in the same audience.
- Know your product or service’s value. Figure out who wants what you offer.
Don’t waste your resources trying to convince the wrong audience. Direct your attention to the ones who seat themselves in front of you. They’re intrigued. They don’t have to be sold, tricked or otherwise convinced.
What a relief! You can be yourself, and get the results you want.
And remember, you don’t have to suffer for your art (or your business). That’s what the Cookbook is here for. We make our living online, and we can show you how.
You do have to be determined and willing to work. But there’s no need to strap yourself into your office chair or ruin your eyesight to succeed in an internet business.
Eat your greens and get some exercise. The happier, the more well-rested, the better it goes.
