#383: The Art of the Audience with Anne Watson

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

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Welcome to the Kingdom Writers Podcast. My name is Shelly Hits, one of your hosts, and today I have the privilege of interviewing Ann Watson. Welcome, Anne.

Hi. Thank you so much for having me.

Yeah. And Ann and I have a mutual friend. We met and just I was like, oh, I want her to come on the podcast because she is really, really good at helping you find your target audience. And I know this is a struggle for so many of you as writers, and you just struggle with being multi passionate and then know what, what to do and all of the things. But Ann is a business strategy coach and she's the host of the Swayology podcast, and she helps coaches and communicators think like a business so they can inspire like a boss by getting crystal clear about their niche and creating a transformational offer that gets results. And she lives in Dallas, Texas. So, so excited to have you share with us today, Anne.

Oh, thank you so much. I'm excited to be here and talk about target audiences.

I know the elusive target audience many times, and I love the title, the Art of the Audience, because it is an art. Right. There is. There is this whole concept of, like, sometimes writers will come to me and they'll be like, everyone is in my audience. Right. And it's like, but if everyone is in your audience, nobody is in your audience. Exactly. Tell us a little bit about how knowing your niche and, you know, knowing your topic or your niche is different from knowing your target audience. So just explain that first as we get started.

Sure. So figuring out what your niche, your niche, however you would like to say it is, is really this idea of figuring out the problem that you solve and who you solve it for. Your target audience is the who you solve it for part. So when you're talking about really discovering that niche, it is really what is the thing that you do, the problem that you solve, that gets a transformational result for a specific person, and that is what your niche is. That's the mission statement of your business or your message or your book, whatever it is. But then that piece of, who do you solve it for? Who is that transformation for? That's directly talking about who your audience is. And that's an important part that people need to really spend some time digging around in to figure out who they're talking to. Because like you said, if you're talking to everybody, then you're actually talking to no one. So you want to take some time to drill down and figure out who is that ideal person that needs the message that you have that you're developing, that you want to put out there.

Yeah, I love that because, yeah, we are a lot of times solving a problem for our audience. But then like, the audience and that problem can be, you know, to, you know, it's definitely two different things. But for writers, you know, and especially, you know, if they have different niches and all the things and we can maybe get into that even more later, like different multi, passionate. But like, you know, what would you recommend for them to just begin identifying the person they are trying to reach? Because I've worked with writers for over a decade and I often hear them feeling overwhelmed about even trying to think about this. Right. And so where can they even just begin?

Well, you know, there's a couple of different ways that you can kind of think through this. So the first one I'm always, always going to say is going to come back to your personal story. Right. Why did you get in to doing the thing that you're doing? Whether you're building a business or you're writing a book, or you're creating a blog post, or you're developing a speaking career, you're starting a podcast. Like, what is the reason that you wanted to do it? It's very rare that you find somebody that goes, oh, just for fun.

Right.

Most people are like, because I learned this hard lesson in my life, and I want to share the wisdom that I have learned with other people so that they don't have to go through the thing I went through in the way that I went through. I can help other people overcome this obstacle. I can help them get through this tough time. I can help them deal with this relationship issue, whatever it is, typically is based on your story. So my first piece of advice is to just kind of go back to the why did you get into this? What did you go through? Or what did you learn that was so impactful to you that you felt like you needed to get this message out to other people? Once you really understand that kind of that why behind you're doing it, it starts to get a little bit easier to identify the person that you want to help. And listen, people get overwhelmed with this all the time because they can help so many people.

Right.

Your message is for a lot of people, but unfortunately, if you create this message for everyone, you water down the message, and nobody really can identify themselves in it or not. And so what you want to help people do is identify whether or not they are your target audience. And that means you have got to be brave and make the bold statements you've got to talk about. I can help you get this transformation or result by doing this or without needing to do this. This is a big one. I love the without statement because it's what gets people's attention, right?

Yeah.

So if you are. Say you're a homeschool mom and you want to help other moms begin to learn how to.

Become homeschool moms. Right. You can say, I'm going to help you become the most successful homeschool mom without feeling the overwhelm at the beginning of all the different curriculums available. Right. So that without statement is super helpful. So think about your story, who you want to help, and then think about how can you help in a way that is a bold statement or something contrary to what other people are hearing in the marketplace that's so important. Not only does it help the person that you're trying to reach identify themselves, but it also helps set you apart as that piece being what makes you unique as the coach or the author that you are.

Yeah, yeah. And I love that because I think even that example you gave when you said, you know, without the overwhelm at the beginning, it actually qualifies then, like, more people who are at the beginning, you know, and looking and researching all the things, and they're like, oh, that's me, that's me. Like, have you ever read a sales page and you're just like, that's me. That's me. They're talking, right? To me, they're talking. Yes, I felt that. I felt that. And that's what we want to do. You know, when we're writing our book description or when we're posting on social media or writing emails is like, to have that person nodding their head, right? Like, oh, yeah, they're getting their understanding. But if an author has some audience already or, you know, a writer that's working on their book, they have, you know, some people that are starting to gather as their audience. Is there a way that. That you recommend that they could get feedback from that audience and, you know, just to know if they're the right fit for their book? Talk to us a little bit about that.

Okay, so, first of all, I. I love this question. I. I want to give people permission out there to play with Their idea?

Yes.

I think so. Often people are like, I have this book idea or I have this business idea, this podcast idea, and I have to go all in and make it perfect immediately.

Right, Right.

And that immediately sucks the joy and the fun out of the process.

Right.

And so I want to give people permission here to just play, to begin to create content that you think your audience wants, and then to begin to interact with the people that are interacting with you. Let's not worry in the beginning about the numbers. Let's not worry about the metric, let's not worry about the algorithm, let's not worry about the number of sales, all of those things. Let's just interact with people, ask people for feedback. Always have a call to action on whatever kind of content you're creating, whether it's an email, it's a social media post, it's a blog post. Give people a next step to do and invite them into a conversation with you. Get in your DMs, tell people, thank you for following me. I'd love to know what made you follow me. Get, you know, into your blog and say, I would love for you to leave a comment and then respond to all of those comments. But what you're doing is you're getting feedback from your audience about, first of all, the thing that really was impactful for them, the thing that helped them to understand that you were the person for them. And when you hear that, you want to double down on that type of content, but you're also getting something that's so key and so important, which is you're getting content to give to the reader to help them get that, oh, my gosh, it's like, she's in my head moment. And this is one of my favorite tips to give to people when you're building your audience is when you are getting that feedback. Listen to the exact words and phrases that people are using. Right. So, for example, when I first started my coaching business, I got a ton of people that would come to me and say, I just feel like I'm all over the place. In fact, I just had a discovery call this morning where that is exactly what somebody said to me. She's like, I have so many ideas. I just feel like I am all over the place. I've had a number of people say that, and I paid attention. So I've started to write in my content. Or I've been doing this actually for a while now. It's on my website. Do you feel all over the place? I'm using their words and Their phrases. And I cannot tell you the number of times people come back to me and say, it's like you're in my head. Yeah, because you're using the direct feedback, the exact words and phrases in your content. People are identifying with you, they're identifying themselves in you. And that is so helpful to connect with your audience to get that critical feedback and for you to keep creating content that is impactful. And that's what we all want.

Yeah. And I recommend like having some place to collect that information, whether it's a screenshot or you're copying a pasting like from an email, like, like to have one central location, if it's a folder in your Google Drive or Dropbox or something, just to begin collect that. And what I've done is I have surveys and I have different things. Like when people sign up for a product, what made you sign up for this? Or you know. Right. What are you most excited about? And I collect those things and then it's, it's exactly true. Then you can use their exact words and it is so powerful. And you know, even with writers, you can look at your reviews. So people have written you reviews on your book and you can look at the words that they're using in those reviews and maybe those are even some things that you can use as well. But absolutely, yeah. If somebody just is multi passionate, let's like talk about that just for a few minutes. Like if they have different niches and you know, different books in the, you know, different things, do you have any specific advice for, for them? And in this whole thing of target audience and building a platform, like what, what, what would you recommend in that situation?

Sure. So I cannot tell you the number of people that I've met that are multi passionate and multi talented, especially women. I mean, I'm not trying to throw men under any kind of bus, but women usually have more than one skill set and they love so many different things. And so when it comes time to figuring out that thing they want to do, that message that they have, a lot of times that feels really hard because it feels like picking one thing is to the exclusion of other things. And that feels like we're leaving people out, you know, and we don't want to do that. Nobody wants, wants to do that. But here's what I will say is that first of all, there's often a through line with all of your different multi passionate interests. There's usually something that will connect them, like a little thread. If you can find that, then you can really build through that. So my first piece of advice would be to make a list of all the things you're passionate about and try to figure out what they all have in common. And if you're struggling with that, get a coach, me or somebody else, but somebody who can kind of take a 30,000 foot view, who's not as emotionally invested and, and get in there to help you find that through line. But whether you have the through line or not, because some people don't, you look at all of the things that you're multi passionate about or you're multi talented about, what is the thing that grabs your heart the most in this season? And let's begin to build there now that feels a little stifling, maybe because we're not going to invest our time and money and energy into these other things. But the deal is, is we're not going to do that yet. We're going to start here with the thing that you're most excited about and we're going to begin to build something and you are going to learn. You're going to learn what it takes to build something. You're going to learn about getting that feedback and communication and growing an email list, whatever you need to do in order to get where you want to in this one area. And then once you've mastered that, then we can begin to do those with the other areas that you're passionate about. And again, you can put them all together under an umbrella or this one common thread that they have in common. But we've got to pick one place to begin so that you can learn and so that you can become known for that special thing that you do. So what is the thing that if you are feeling multi passionate about, that is just tugging on your heart the most right now? And then I'll give you this quick little trick. So a lot of times you go to a restaurant, right, and you are trying to decide between two things and you just cannot pick one, right. And so you say to your significant other, which one should I get? And then they tell you and you feel like this immediate sense of disappointment. You know, I want the other one. Right? I want the other thing.

Yeah.

Or they tell you do this one, and you're like, you know what, you're right. That's the one I want tonight. If you can put yourself in that position where you're like, it's between one of these two things and you ask somebody, which one should I do? Which one am I most passionate about? You're either going to figure out when they give you an answer, you're either going to be like, yep, no, that's not it, or, yes, of course, that is. And so that's my little tip. If you're just kind of sitting on the fence, you're just not sure which one between the two things you want, put yourself in a position where you have to choose or you have to get somebody's input and you'll figure it out.

Yeah, and I love what you're saying, because I've actually walked a little bit of that journey, and I had, like, I do art, and I'm a fitness instructor, and I help writers, and I, you know, have my book. So the Broken crayonstall colors a whole thing. And it's like all these things, but it's like the Lord gave me that through line. Right. And it was learning to, like, sharing the gospel and helping you grow in your faith in creative ways, you know, and then I was able to see that there's seasons. And, you know, I had a season with my art. I had a season, you know, with the fitness stuff. But right now, it's a season for really focusing on the writers. And some of that other stuff is. Is beginning to come back. But it's like, it's. It doesn't mean that it. It's gone. Like, my husband's, like, always reminds me, Shelly, doesn't mean that you can't come back to that at some point. And I like telling writers, like, if they're trying to choose which book to write next, it's like you have all these book ideas, and it's like children, you know, it's not like you're saying, you know, this one's my favorite, but it's like you're highlighting that one in that certain season to get it done, get it out into the world. And almost like a child that's graduating, my niece just graduated high school. You're putting a lot more focus on that child during that season. Right. It doesn't mean you love your other children any less, but, you know, it's just exactly. That's where your focus is on that season. But we could talk forever. But if you have just one final closing thought or advice on this whole topic of audience and helping people really find their audience, what would you want to share?

You know, I think the thing that I would want to share, and it's honestly the thing that took me the longest to learn, because when I started to build my business, I just got involved in doing all the things. Things. Right. I was paying attention to Everything. And I was marketing, I was hr, I was finance, I was operations, I was all the things. And I didn't mind doing any of that. Well, there were some things I probably minded because what I didn't do and what my advice to your listeners is, I didn't pay attention to the pieces that I loved doing the most. And so as I began to grow and I needed to begin to delegate, I didn't know which pieces I should give up because I hadn't made a conscious effort to pay attention to the part that was fun for me.

Right.

And so I just really want to encourage your people as you are looking for your ideal audience and you are having conversations and you're talking to people. Don't forget the fun. Don't forget that you're building relationships, that you're building a career, that you're building a message, but that this is something that you want to do because there's joy in it for you. Don't get so bogged down in doing all the things or doing all the things perfectly right. That's a huge trap women fall into that you forget to really enjoy what it is you're doing. I'm always on a mission to help my clients focus on the fun of what they're doing so that they can truly celebrate those wins and they can be excited when they get a client or they get a book contract or a literary agent. Like, yes, all of those things are important and we will help you get there. But I want you to do it in a way that's fun. So enjoy your audience, enjoy your message, and just have fun with it all.

Yeah. I feel like just this whole conversation has just been a big sigh of, you know, releasing the pressure. Right. Like, even in the beginning, like, just play, like, just try. It doesn't have to be perfect in the beginning. Choose something and start, you know, creating that content and then, you know, to not forget to have fun. But if there is someone listening that has just really struggled with this whole thing of like, who is my target audience and really wants help in that. I know you're a person that offers one on one coaching. I offer very little one on one coaching at this time. But how can they connect with you or see more about what you do that maybe could help them?

Well, sure. So I am really active in my DMs on Instagram. I don't post a ton in my feed on Instagram. Just don't have a lot of time in the day. But I'm on there and I respond really Quickly. Also, there's my website. You can go to annm.watson.com the M is there because there's another Ann Watson who's a cellist who wouldn't sell her her page, which is totally fine. She can do it. But it's annm.watson.com and you can get more information about contacting me or working with me there. And absolutely love it. And I do free discovery calls. We can kind of talk about the issue and just see if I am a good fit for you or if I've got some ideas for how to help you. That would be great. I would love to do that.

Yeah. And just so you know, it's Ann with an E. Yes, M. Watson. So definitely go and connect with her on Instagram or on her website if you want more help in this area. Because it is something when you. When you really figure this out, like, not, not, not like you said, not like it has to be perfect, but when you really come in and you find that sweet spot, I guess that's what it is, the sweet spot. Like, there's just something that comes alive not only in you, but in your audience. And there's just like that puzzle piece that just. It's like, oh, it fits. So it is such a. Such a relief. Relief. Yeah, it's a relief.

And it makes everything else that you do easier. It does. Yeah, it really does. It helps you figure out your content pillars. It helps you figure out your messaging strategy. All the things are easier when you can find that sweet spot. I love that you called it the sweet spot, because that is really what it is. And that's what we're looking for. That's what we will find.

So, yeah. All right, well, thank you so much, Ann. Thank you all for listening. And I will talk to you on the next episode. Bye. Bye. Thank you.

Bye.

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