Listen to your people

When it comes to creating new products and services…

…listen to your people.

Over the past couple years, my photography services have expanded to include offers that I couldn’t have imagined when I first started shooting branded lifestyle portraits in 2016. 

The pandemic inspired a move to include virtual photos of meetings, events, conferences and seminars. 

And, with the influx of books my colleagues wrote over this same time period, the need to create visual imagery to promote these books became a direct need for authors.

In both these cases, my intention was never to create anything that addressed these needs. 

I mean, experts have leveraged virtual for at least a decade prior to 2020, and selling books is even older than that.

And yet, these photography needs went unmet. 

So what was the inspiration for this change?

It’s simple - I listened to my people. 

In both cases, I was approached by colleagues who suggested that I include these offers alongside the already existing lifestyle portraits and live event coverage. 

Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a business owner, it’s that if someone in your core audience share a need they have, you lean into it because they’re most likely not the only person in that audience who needs it. 

And, it sure as hell beats trying to create an offer from the whims of your mind and hopes it generates some attention. 

But sadly, the latter was the way I did things for the first few years of my business. 

I would spend hours, days and weeks creating a landing page, content to support the launch, and then shoot it out into the world, and then what?

Crickets. 

Loud, annoying ones that reminded me of failure on a minute-by-minute basis. 

It’s a frustrating, defeating and humbling experience to put your best foot forward when you don’t even have solid footing in the first place. 

And this is why I no longer create services and product offers until AFTER I speak with clients and colleagues to get their take. 

These days, it’s listen first, develop later.

While we think we have all the solutions to our client’s problems, at the end of the day, we’re not them. We’re not in their heads or walk a mile in their shoes, even if we’ve done that in the past.

We need to truly calibrate our services to tap directly into their needs right here and right now - and while it’s hard to read people’s minds, it’s much easier to pick up a phone. 

If you’re struggling to gain traction with your current suite of products and services, take some time to reach out to past clients and trusted colleagues familiar with your audience.

Ask them what they need right now. 

Shut up and listen to their answer. 

And then, take this valuable information and apply it to the work you do, and see where it takes you. 

This could lead to a breakthrough - one that greatly benefits those you serve while also benefiting yourself and your bottom line.

Win-win’s are quite magical, after all :) 

Over to you…

Have you ever created a product or service offer that ended up going nowhere and then received valuable client feedback that turned it into a profitable venture? Please share your story below.