It’s true – you absolutely must be solving a problem to get traction, have a business, and make money. That problem could be something people have already adapted to solving and they don’t know there’s a better way, it could be a perception of a problem (status or luxury related), or it could be a known problem (food, water, or shelter related for example).
However, to be super successful, there’s another level you can be operating at. The level of making your customer a hero for themselves in their world. Not just solving their problem, but giving them an opportunity to live into something that may have just been a dream for them.
Here’s an example (from the video below by Simon Sinek, and one that’s used by lots of people lately): Apple sells computers and gadgets that do stuff for you in your life. But they don’t talk about it that way (unlike their competition who do). Instead, they talk about you living your dreams, you being able to make a difference in your own life by having access to personal information at your finger tips (the watch) or having everything work together seamlessly so you can spend your life doing what you love (iphone, photos, Mac, etc.).
That’s a hero story – that’s about helping someone make something happen in their own lives.
Way beyond solving a problem.
If you want to really ‘get’ this, I highly recommend watching this great video of a presentation by Simon Sinek – his original viral TEDx presentation where he simplifies this idea down to the elegant basics. If you’ve already seen it, I invite you to watch it again – it’s brilliant. That’s why it has over 21 million views.
I’ve been teaching this for a while, but just saw his presentation the other day. Such a great explanation of the essence of this concept.
Another person who talks about this is Nancy Duarte in her book Resonate.
You can have big profits, lots of success, and an impact on the world! Start by checking these resources out.
And then go out and make your customers heros in their own lives.
