I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
Pick one audience and make business easy
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Hey Reader, Running multiple businesses with different audiences is like running a marathon with ankle weights. 12 years ago, I wrote an essay about building an audience where I talked about learning this lesson the hard way. I've been thinking about that piece lately. The core idea still rings true over a decade later—maybe even more so today. Multiple audiences create invisible friction. Back then, I was running OneVoice (a product for kids with special needs, such as non-verbal autism, or adults who lost the ability to speak from a stroke) and OneMotion (scheduling software for sign language interpreting agencies) alongside my other ventures. Each had its own customer base with completely different needs. There was some overlap (maybe 10-15%) but not much. Both products had real traction (and that's what made it difficult to simplify). OneVoice was bringing in solid monthly revenue. OneMotion had paying customers and was growing. By most metrics, these were successful businesses. But they were also ankle weights. Every business decision became complicated: I wanted to create content, but which audience should I focus on? I had some time for customer development calls (a limited amount), but which customers deserved my attention? My email list was a mess of different people with completely different needs. I tried to segment the list, but that got complicated fast. I was running business on hard mode without realizing it. Clarity came when I finally sold both products and focused on one audience. Suddenly, everything became simpler. My content strategy was now obvious. My product roadmap aligned. Customer conversations became more valuable because they all served the same goal. The realization was powerful: serving one audience well beats serving multiple audiences poorly. When you have multiple disparate audiences, you're constantly switching contexts. Your brain has to reload different customer personas, different pain points, and different solutions. It's exhausting and inefficient. Compare that to serving one audience deeply: every customer conversation informs the next, and every piece of content builds on the last. Draw a Venn diagram of your audiences. Take a minute to map out the audience overlap for all your current projects. This is the graphic I made 12 years ago that helped me see just how little overlap there was between my audiences): If the overlap is less than 80%, you're probably making things harder for yourself than they need to be. I learned that sometimes businesses are learning opportunities. OneVoice taught me about selling on the Apple App Store. OneMotion taught me about recurring revenue. Both were valuable educations, but eventually it was time to graduate and move on. Recognizing when to let go is crucial. The question isn't whether a business could work—it's whether it's the right business for you to build right now. When you serve one audience, customer acquisition becomes so much easier. You know exactly where your ideal customers hang out online, and you understand their language, frustrations, and goals. Marketing becomes conversation, not guesswork. The cheatcode for business is simple: Pick one audience and serve them obsessively well. Resist the urge to cast a wide net just to keep your options open. The creators that win go deep, not wide. PODCASTCoaching Session: Raising $10M With A Small AudienceIf you’re raising capital, scaling creator income, or just want to get more done with less stress, this episode is for you. Independent film producer Daren Smith is raising $10 million to produce ten movies over the next four years—and he’s doing it with a small audience. In this coaching episode, I help him design two high-leverage flywheels to reach high-net-worth investors while maintaining full control of his time. We cover:
Watch or listen to episode » COACHINGWant to come on my podcast?I have a couple spots left for our upcoming July podcast recording event. We'll have a group come to Boise to batch record some of episodes with me over two days at Kit Studios. If you've wanted coaching with me, this is a great opportunity. Bring a business challenge, and I'll help you map it out on the board. We'll work through some creative ideas and solutions together to help you grow your business. It's a unique format where you get direct coaching while creating content at the same time (feel free to record any other content you want at Kit Studios while you're here). BOOKLet's Retire Retirement: How to Enjoy Life to the Fullest―Now and LaterMy friend Derek Coburn's new book just came out today, and it challenges the conventional wisdom that we should sacrifice our present happiness for a future retirement that may never fulfill us. What if instead of retiring, you planned to earn an income in some capacity for the rest of your life? How different would your life be today? The book covers topics like:
Derek shows how embracing meaningful work beyond retirement age provides instant ROI, freeing up capital to invest in your creative business today instead of deferring your best life for someday. Have a great week! —Nathan |
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
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