No matter what you do in life, someone isn’t going to like it. In fact, they might hate it. And that’s exactly where you want to be.
Every product, every service, every thing on this earth has one thing in common. That is that it’s not for everyone. As many raving fans as there are for Apple, plenty of people won’t even touch an iPhone. As many people love strawberries, some can’t stand to even smell them. The list goes on and that’s exactly what we’re going to discuss today.
I hate ketchup
That’s right. I can’t stand the stuff. I almost gag when I have to wash dishes with ketchup on them and even more so if I accidentally touch it. The smell, the texture, the sheer idea of it being near me literally makes me want to throw up. I know, TMI.
And yet, I had to literally carry globs of it in my hands one time back in high school. I went to youth camp with my church group and the activity was messy games. Low and behold, they chose ketchup as the central theme. The object was to grab as much as you could from one bucket and run about 50 feet to another bucket where you had to drop it in. The team with the most in the second bucket at the end of the game was the winner.
Needless to say, I barely held down my lunch.
And yet, as much as I can’t stand the stuff, there are millions of people that will literally drink it plain. My son is one of them. And there are hundreds of variations of ketchup from organic to plain and premium to store brand. The choices are nearly unlimited when it comes the type of ketchup you want.
The reason
The reason for all the variations is actually quite simple. Someone hates some of the variations. Some hate all the variations except one of them. And others, like myself, can’t stand any of them.
You might be asking what this has to do with your life. Well, with all the variations of ketchup, we can quickly see how there is so much room for different types of businesses, services, employees and more. There is no one-size-fits-all. There isn’t an employee that can do every job or a job that fits every person. There isn’t a service you can provide that will serve every potential company. And there isn’t a way to make sure that your passion is well accepted by anyone you want to serve or even the ones that truly need it.
Make something that someone hates
And that is the exact reason I say to make something that someone, preferable lots of people, hate. Make something so geared to one audience that no one outside that specific type of person will want to touch it with a 10 foot pole. In fact, gear your passion to the smallest possible audience and run off all the others. This isn’t for them.
Because something quite incredible happens when you take this idea and run with it. You not only make something that people like, you actually make something people can’t live without.
The simple act of making something specific and building your life in a specific way that makes others not “get it”, will automatically attract the very people that want to fall in love with you. You’ll create those raving fans that you see standing outside Apple 3 days before a new product launch. Or the person that reads every word of your blog the minute they see it published. Or even the client that wants to be so different from their competitors that they do the super weird thing you’re offering.
That’s where I’m at. Most companies won’t buy what I do. In fact, most won’t even consider it an option. But a few will. A few that care and a few that will love it.
And that’s all we need.
Go make a ruckus. If you need help, I’m here.