3 ways to find out more about your customers

I attended a concert this past weekend, which happened to be the last tour for the band Misery Signals, a post-hardcore band formed in 2002. In addition to the realization that I’m getting old (immediately went for the ear plugs), it reminded me how small things can become very big with intense focus.

The post-hardcore genre is dying, but you wouldn’t know that from the attendance and crowd participation at this show. The front row was packed with all the washed up dudes I’d grown up around at concerts. The same faces showing up to years and years of concerts, buying the merch, singing along to every song, and pulling muscles from dancing so hard.

But why are they there?

Misery Signals is a band that understands and aligns with its listeners. They sing songs that their fans can relate to (see The Year Summer Ended in June about losing a few friends to drunk drivers).

They also visit and perform for that same group of people despite change in status. Them visiting and playing in Boise Idaho after Portland and before Anaheim is a testament to knowing their roots.

They’ve built their 1000 true fans with message alignment and a clear AOR.

So, what does my arguably poor music taste have to do with business? It shows how you can become extremely successful in a specific category with those two things.

Learn from the pros

A vet I’ve seen master message alignment and a defined area to build in is Greg Fischer . Greg is former infantry and a BBQ beast. He started a 6 figure BBQ sauces and rub business which spawned out of a recipe blog.?

Message alignment

“Aligning ourselves with those that are pro military, pro patriotic, and that support causes we do.”?This is what he told me when I interviewed him about growing his brand.

A name like Burn Pit BBQ instantly will resonate with the desired audience. Greg’s company also works to push the veteran narrative by donating to veteran nonprofits and participating in events around veteran space. A name and support of aligned causes instantly builds affinity with that audience.

Defined place to build

“Even though we want to eventually be like a nationwide brand, we want it to dominate our home state of Wisconsin, so we want to dominate our backyard.”

Greg knows that the in person relationships and interaction is needed for critical mass. There’s limited hours in the day so he’s chosen to invest time in a small backyard (a single state) and doubled down on making a big ruckus. This means seeing the same faces consistently. Being a regular at the farmers markets and food events. Being in every Wisconsin specific retailer and grocery store and tying Burn Pit BBQ to Wisconsin.?

If someone even thinks about meat in a state that starts with W (there’s actually more states than Wisconsin, but you get it), they will be thinking about Greg Fischer.?

By tying your name or service to things like locations, ideas, movements, and other large concepts, you make yourself bigger than you actually are.?

Action items:

1. Who EXACTLY is your customer??

You want to know as much as you possibly can about the ideal buyer. As I write this newsletter, the way I think about the progression of who this is for as:

Veterans

Veterans interested in business

Veterans running a small business

Veterans running a small business doing 200k - 5m a year in revenue.

I may be able to get more refined, but that’s where I’m at currently. Ways you can find out who your customer is:

• Current customer interviews. Ask current customers why they bought your products. What are they getting out it? It’s often not what you think. Interviews are somewhat reliant on you asking good questions - a faster hack for this is asking for a testimonial.
• Reviews. Read online reviews of your competitors and sort for really good or really bad reviews. These tend to hold very charged statements about how people feel one way or the other. If multiple customers are extremely upset about a specific issue of the service, that’s something you can call out in your copy.
• Hang out where your customers hang out. There’s hundreds of thousands of interest groups, Facebook groups, instagram pages, and subreddits where people love to talk about what they think and how they feel.?

2. Define your Wisconsin.

What is a small geographic or online area you can become extremely well known in?

If you don’t know, create one.?

Two things I’ve done is built a virtual group of veteran business owners where we meet every two weeks to talk shop.

I also cold emailed a few hundred veteran business owners in my town to see if anyone was interested in meeting up in person. The response was OVERWHELMING. 20 people showed up for the first event and half asked when the next one was.?

Find a place where everyone can know who you are.

This Week’s Scuttlebutt

• Live in Boise Idaho? I’m hosting a meetup for veteran business owners July 25th from 5-7. Drop me a line if you want to come.
• What do backend engineers, threat hunters, and government sales have in common? Josh is hiring for them at Galvanick - cybersecurity for industrial operations. Be a chance to work with an all star team.
• Into scale military models? Here’s a fun business you could build and your first 100 customers.
• How do you verify a tax professional? Came across a cool tax matching service started by a vet I went through Bunker Labs with.

Special Liberty