The most common reason people give for contacting me to work with them is to raise brand awareness. Conventional wisdom dictates that if only more people knew about our products and services, or our ideas and our work, then we would be more successful. There’s only one problem with this worldview. More people knowing your product or service exists does not necessarily translate to more customers. More awareness doesn’t always make for a more viable business. And crucially, having the biggest audience doesn’t guarantee that you’ll attract the right customers or do your best work.

You don’t need more brand awareness to build a viable business—one that sustains you beyond simply adding the essential zeros to your bank balance. You need more resonance. When you prioritise resonance, you can serve the right people in the right way—a way that’s true to you. To do that you’ve got to be clear about who you’re for and who you’re not for. You must understand what your right customer wants and needs, and be able to explain why your product or service is their best option.

Our messages resonate when we worry less about being discovered and relentlessly pursue the trifecta of self-awareness, customer-awareness and market-awareness instead.

Image by Fiasco Gelato