Fishing in the Wrong Pond
Today was the third day in a row I heard from someone how hard it has been to find customers, clients, or an audience. Most of the time, when I hear this complaint, I start by asking which people they've been spending the most time with. There are usually two responses - either they've not been spending time with people at all, or they've been spending time with others in their profession. Both situations tend toward the problematic. Isolation for solopreneurs, freelancers, and artistic creators is often built into the path. The career, by nature, tends to favor solitude and can be a kind of lonesome existence. Much of the difficulty with these folks is balancing the need for quiet, creative space and the ongoing need to cultivate customer relationships and generate business. But the group who spend most of their time with people in the same professional pond either have to adapt their services for peers and colleagues or find another pond. This is the situation that's...