About this column
Today is an exciting day at Abby Kerr Ink!
It’s the debut of the Creative Solopreneur Podcast, starring my very first guest, Catherine Caine from Be Awesome Online.
Catherine Caine from Be Awesome Online
Listen in as Catherine and I chat about the recent launch of her big-and-very-cool product, The Awesome Website Extravaganza. Note: As of late 2010, Catherine is no longer offering this program.
In this interview, Catherine shares about how she found her right people {“delightful weirdos”}, exactly why a person like you {weirdo or not} might want to create your own website rather than hiring it done {tech dunces welcome — Catherine promises!}, and how social media truly is her business.
Ready to listen and learn?
Right click here and select Save Link As to download the podcast to your hard drive, or left click to play in-browser.
P.S. This and upcoming interviews will soon be fancied up a bit — intro and outro music, etc. — and syndicated to iTunes and RSS so that you can subscribe if you like!
Hello, you.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I love this interview! We are so smart. (And funny.) :)
I love this interview! We are so smart. (And funny.) :)
We are. :)
I’m still thinking about what you said about the difference between a demographic {single white females under 35 years old who live on the West Coast of the U.S.} and a niche. And how no one thinks of herself in terms of census information. I think this is good stuff a lot of people needed to hear.
We are. :)
I’m still thinking about what you said about the difference between a demographic {single white females under 35 years old who live on the West Coast of the U.S.} and a niche. And how no one thinks of herself in terms of census information. I think this is good stuff a lot of people needed to hear.
That was an awesome interview,
even I had to smile with all these girlish giggling in-between.
I think demographics are useless – instead of worrying your “average” most desired customer (which doesn’t exist), just focus on your style, and that will attract and make the real fans stay and deter everyone else.
That was an awesome interview,
even I had to smile with all these girlish giggling in-between.
I think demographics are useless – instead of worrying your “average” most desired customer (which doesn’t exist), just focus on your style, and that will attract and make the real fans stay and deter everyone else.
The Innovator’s Solution has a good different approach to demographics – they talk about occasions of use. The common sense way of putting this is: What do customers hire your product to do. This made sense to me in a way that the whole demographic/psychographic thing didn’t.
The Innovator’s Solution has a good different approach to demographics – they talk about occasions of use. The common sense way of putting this is: What do customers hire your product to do. This made sense to me in a way that the whole demographic/psychographic thing didn’t.
Mars — I really like Dave Navarro’s concept of the polarity principle: take a stand and realize that you’re becoming a polarizing figure — people will either love or hate you {we can also think of this as ‘people will either totally agree with your POV or totally disagree’}. In a recent interview he did with Corbett Barr at Think Traffic, he gives the example of Martha Stewart — people either think she’s ridiculous or they think she’s the beesknees. And she’s not terribly worried about her detractors! We can all take a lesson from that.
Evan — Hello! The occasions of use idea sounds interesting. It seems to put the focus on the outcomes people want rather than their psychosocial makeup. I know Catherine is big on approaching content creation as a problem solving strategy, hence, The Awesome Website Extravaganza.
Mars — I really like Dave Navarro’s concept of the polarity principle: take a stand and realize that you’re becoming a polarizing figure — people will either love or hate you {we can also think of this as ‘people will either totally agree with your POV or totally disagree’}. In a recent interview he did with Corbett Barr at Think Traffic, he gives the example of Martha Stewart — people either think she’s ridiculous or they think she’s the beesknees. And she’s not terribly worried about her detractors! We can all take a lesson from that.
Evan — Hello! The occasions of use idea sounds interesting. It seems to put the focus on the outcomes people want rather than their psychosocial makeup. I know Catherine is big on approaching content creation as a problem solving strategy, hence, The Awesome Website Extravaganza.
I think there’s a wrinkle to the polarising idea. It is that the division is consistent (the promoters of the idea don’t say this but I think it’s there). That is the purpose of the controversy is to define your ‘in-group’. It is easy to get attention by being controversial – and it would be easy to offend everybody. Which means you’d end up with (almost) no following.
I think the idea of polarising is to settle on issues which define your particular group. Which will hopefully be big enough. In this way you let them know that you are speaking their language, championing the cause they care about.
How to decided how big a group needs to be? I’m afraid I have no idea (and haven’t found anybody else who can tell me).
I think there’s a wrinkle to the polarising idea. It is that the division is consistent (the promoters of the idea don’t say this but I think it’s there). That is the purpose of the controversy is to define your ‘in-group’. It is easy to get attention by being controversial – and it would be easy to offend everybody. Which means you’d end up with (almost) no following.
I think the idea of polarising is to settle on issues which define your particular group. Which will hopefully be big enough. In this way you let them know that you are speaking their language, championing the cause they care about.
How to decided how big a group needs to be? I’m afraid I have no idea (and haven’t found anybody else who can tell me).
Hi Evan,
My approach is to figure out who my Right People are (mostly by understanding who I most want to work with) and then aim everything at them. So the polarity becomes Right People/Wrong People, and the group achieves a natural size.
Hi Evan,
My approach is to figure out who my Right People are (mostly by understanding who I most want to work with) and then aim everything at them. So the polarity becomes Right People/Wrong People, and the group achieves a natural size.
Hi, Evan —
I do agree with your the way you position “polarizing” — for me, it’s about taking a stand that naturally separates those who see {or want to see} things your way versus those who don’t {or who patently disagree}. For me, it’s not at all about being controversial for the sake of being controversial, but it IS about sticking to your guns even under fire.
Catherine —
Another point I’d like to make is that in defining our Right People vs. our Wrong People, we’re not intentionally being cold or dismissive to our “wrong people,” we’re just not pandering to them. Much easier to do in online business, I think, versus brick and mortar business.
Hi, Evan —
I do agree with your the way you position “polarizing” — for me, it’s about taking a stand that naturally separates those who see {or want to see} things your way versus those who don’t {or who patently disagree}. For me, it’s not at all about being controversial for the sake of being controversial, but it IS about sticking to your guns even under fire.
Catherine —
Another point I’d like to make is that in defining our Right People vs. our Wrong People, we’re not intentionally being cold or dismissive to our “wrong people,” we’re just not pandering to them. Much easier to do in online business, I think, versus brick and mortar business.
Hi Catherine and Abby, I’m still figuring out the right people thing. My blog is about self-development and I think my right people are those who’ve been around a bit. But where they hang out is an interesting question for me: I suspect they don’t necessarily hang around on forums and such much any more. I think their likely to be pretty independent and idiosyncratic – which makes it all a bit of a challenge. (Or I’m just not very good at figuring out that sort of stuff – which is very likely the case (also?))
Hi Catherine and Abby, I’m still figuring out the right people thing. My blog is about self-development and I think my right people are those who’ve been around a bit. But where they hang out is an interesting question for me: I suspect they don’t necessarily hang around on forums and such much any more. I think their likely to be pretty independent and idiosyncratic – which makes it all a bit of a challenge. (Or I’m just not very good at figuring out that sort of stuff – which is very likely the case (also?))
Hi, Evan —
This is what I’ve found to be true for me about my right people: they find me most often via my blog or via comments I’ve left on other people’s blogs. They connect with my POV and say they want to work with me because of it — they believe I can help them move toward what they want and are trying to achieve.
What I *also* find — interestingly — is that very few of my clients make themselves known in my blog comments or anywhere else I connect online. They are usually the quiet lurkers in the background, reading and taking things in but not publicly introducing themselves. And that’s okay. I just have to remind myself occasionally that they *are* there. :)
Perhaps your right people are the quieter sort, too, so it’s harder to identify them? Giving people multiple ways to contact and connect with you may be a great idea, if you don’t already do that. I get lots of email from prospective clients and people who read my blog, even though they don’t comment.
— Abby
Hi, Evan —
This is what I’ve found to be true for me about my right people: they find me most often via my blog or via comments I’ve left on other people’s blogs. They connect with my POV and say they want to work with me because of it — they believe I can help them move toward what they want and are trying to achieve.
What I *also* find — interestingly — is that very few of my clients make themselves known in my blog comments or anywhere else I connect online. They are usually the quiet lurkers in the background, reading and taking things in but not publicly introducing themselves. And that’s okay. I just have to remind myself occasionally that they *are* there. :)
Perhaps your right people are the quieter sort, too, so it’s harder to identify them? Giving people multiple ways to contact and connect with you may be a great idea, if you don’t already do that. I get lots of email from prospective clients and people who read my blog, even though they don’t comment.
— Abby