We all start at zero.
Think about it. Starbucks sold their first cup of coffee. Amazon sold their first book.
But something happened before that moment the idea. I love how Derek Sivers (founder of CDBaby.com) summarised his own moment in Anything You Want:
‘So when the big online record stores told me they couldn’t sell my CD directly, I thought, “Ah, screw it. I’ll just set up my own online store. How hard could it be?“‘
Ten years later he sold the business for $22m and give the proceeds to a music education charity.
At a minor level I had my own experience 12 years ago of creating something from nothing. I set out to create an online magazine for guitarists. Content marketing pre-Wordpress. All pages coded by hand in Dreamweaver. We’ve got it so so easy now.
The readership grew. It had to. I’d given up my cherished role as Director of European Marketing for Priceline.com (now the world’s largest travel company) in order to pursue my own endeavours. I had to make this work. I couldn’t do that without an audience.
People read my reviews and asked where they could get their hands on the products I talked about. Not through a comments field (these didn’t exist) but through a forum I’d bolted onto the side of my website. So I started selling through affiliate links.
I knew the struggle of buying guitar equipment online. The frustration of depleted stock and limited choice. So, just like Derek, I had a ‘how hard could it be?’ moment. I removed the affiliate links and built an ecommerce platform. I invested my own savings into buying the stock I could afford.
I started at zero.
I had an audience, but I didn’t have customers. Does that make sense? People were reading, but my job was to turn readers into buyers. I difficult task when you’re bootstrapping your business starting out with a limited range of products. But, the business grew.
What I did was different to my competitors. I didn’t fill shelves with any old stock. The products I stocked I truly believed in. A niche market. It had to be. I couldn’t cater for everybody’s taste. Just like a customer would. I was my own customer. I catered for my own taste.
So, my reviews were from the heart. I walked in my customers shoes. I talked their language. My audience, naturally, was limited. This was a 2002 online startup. I used my content platform to build a retail platform. What I sold was inspired by the content I created.
But, again, this (like every business out there) started at zero.
‘So what?’ you may ask.
Good question.
This is 2015. Technology is no longer a hinderance. Budget is no longer a hinderance. If you have an idea. If you have a product you believe in, your role is to create a market through the content that you create.
Through those early stages you can’t be precious. You can’t fear your message not being to everybody’s taste. Your message, put simply, has to resonate with someone. That someone could become your biggest advocate. Why? Because you’re impassioned and passion is highly contagious.
Use the content channels you have available to you to share your message. To share your plan. Your agenda. Your ambition.
You don’t have to be a writer. I’m far from being a ‘writer’ myself. I just care tremendously about the business I create, the message I share.
You may feel you’re at a disadvantage when you start at zero. Far from it. You have the greatest amount of flexibility you’ll ever achieve. You’re switching something on.
It could be a product launch. A new service you’re offering. A book you intend to publish. Don’t concern yourself with the pre-existing market place. Put your stamp on what you do and create your own marketplace. There’s a tremendous sense of freedom you’ll feel when you’re not simply looking to fill a hole, but to create a presence.
Wherever you’re heading, you have to start somewhere. That point is zero. There’s a long journey ahead. Make it an exciting journey as you make your own market.
When Derek Sivers setup CD Baby back in 1997 he helped his friends sell their band’s CDs online. Nobody was doing that. He was helping bands to create their own market. You should do the same. How can you make your own market?
Written By:
