Guy Reams (00:00.376)
This is day 237, write what you would read. The secret to creating something that millions of people will buy. The answer is I think quite simple. Have the courage to create something you would actually want to use. Write what you would want to read, make a product that you would buy, design an application that you would pay to use. Here's the truth. You are not as unique as you think.
You've probably convinced yourself otherwise. Your ego has been working on that since the first time a bully in elementary school made a joke at your expense. The reality is, yes, we are all unique, but not so different in the end. We share similar passions, compulsions, needs, desires. If something works for you, chances are it will work for a significant percentage of the population.
problem many people face is that they're trying to build something that stands out, rather than something themselves would be willing to pay for. I was driving home listening to a podcast filled with a bunch of embedded advertisements. I thought to myself, why am I listening to this? I'm not even that interested. So why was I wasting my time? That led me to consider what would I actually want to listen to? I thought about the topics I find fascinating.
When I got home, I searched for some of those ideas and although I found a few in that genre, there wasn't a show that addressed the specific thing that I was looking for. That's when it occurred to me. How many other people might be looking for that exact same thing? But that's the wrong question. If it's something I would enjoy, then millions of other people would too. Welcome to the connected economy.
The beauty of living in this era is that no niche concept or cottage industry is confined to a small geographic area. You quite literally have access to the entire world. A few years ago, the blog I write daily started gaining traction overseas. Suddenly I had a sizable number of subscribers from the same region in a foreign country. At first I assumed it was bot-driven traffic.
Guy Reams (02:16.674)
But after reading the comments from a few of the people, I realized that this was genuine. Someone read one of my posts they had subscribed and shared it with some friends and family. Even though I'm an English speaking Midwestern US raised Christian, I found I had much in common with people from this foreign country who do not speak my language, do not share my faith, and have many different cultural references. What I've come to understand is that I do not hold a patent on ideas.
Human curiosity is universal. That's something I share with many others. I've stopped assuming people are all that different. We share the same basic needs and more often than not, we can find common ground. That taught me an important lesson. If I find something interesting and compelling, chances are others will too. We shouldn't dismiss ideas simply because we don't immediately see a market. There's really one question that matters.
Do you find the idea compelling? Would you pay money for it? If the answer is yes, then you have a market. You have an audience. You have a customer base. If it fits you, it's likely gonna fit millions of others. This concept has origin in something I once heard Stephen King say in an interview. He explained that he writes the ideas that come to him without worrying about too much about whether others will read them.
In his heart, he believes that if he enjoys the story, others will too. That seems like sage advice. The most important audience, the most important test case is yourself. So is it wise to build a product around an audience of one? If that one is you, then yes. If you find something that solves a problem in your life and you'd be willing to spend money to fix that problem, then you're sitting on a potential life-changing money-making idea.
The question is, are you willing to act on it? Can't find a good book to read? Nothing out there that hits the mark? Then write the book that you would want to read and you just might have a best seller.