EP27: Does Amy Hoy get scared? (part 2)

In this episode of Product People: does Amy Hoy still get scared before a launch? How do you choose an audience? And she answers some listener questions.Highlights“The 30×500 bootcamp has been moved to June 15/16: Why you should do a tiny product first”“So much of what we’re doing (with our online courses) is creating community.”“Our Bacon Biz community will be open to everybody: baconbiz.com”“People have set-up their lives where they let themselves get jerked around by their emotions all the time.”“If you launch something, you’re going to get good feedback and bad feedback. No matter what the price is, somebody’s going to complain about the price.”“People unconsciously prioritize their feelings as an excuse.”“Sometimes you’ll go to someone, because you need some advice, but they’ll end up re-enforcing the wrong things. You need to find people that can focus on facts.” – Justin“So many ills are cause by just reacting to feelings.”“What really scares me is karaoke.”“Ask yourself: What logical data is telling me I should be afraid? What’s the worst possible thing that could happen?”“The key, seems to be, to keep trying things. Not everything’s a home run, but they keep trying.”“A lot of people’s fear is of what people will think of you.”“The easiest way for me to turn this around, is to quit being so self-centred. To keep reminding myself: it’s not about me.”“Don’t ask: what do I want to build? Ask: what do people need?”“You can’t actually help anyone; you can only help people that want to help themselves.”“You have to help people with something specific, as opposed to being general. You’ll“When people ask me: ‘what audience should I serve?’ I ask them: ‘Well, what are you? If you’re a Ruby developer, than serve Ruby developers!’ Stick within your own circles.”“You’ve already chosen your audience by who you’re already associating with.”“To punch above your weight you need to use every single advantage you have. If you try to pick a new market you know nothing about, you’re giving up one of your core advantages.”“Start serving the audience you already belong to.”How can people break out of their insecurity? “It’s not a question of ‘who you are’. Do your research: what does it tell you? You don’t have to wonder ‘what do I have to offer that people want?’ Look at your resume.”“Always be researching customers; never stop. I look wherever people congregate: forums, mailing lists, blog posts, off-hand comments from people on Twitter, support portals, user groups.”“Don’t walk up and ask people what their problems are; you have to observe.”Where do you keep your customer research notes? “I use a text file. Simple as that. Don’t use fancy tools.”“For content marketing, I take what I’ve learned in my research phase, and write posts around that.”When we sell people things, are we pandering to their narcism? “It’s not narcissistic to think about yourself, and what you need. It’s narcissistic to think that everything’s about you.”“We don’t have to add new features to compete. New features don’t always make a product better.”Show notesAmy HoyFreckleBaconBizBaconBizConf30×500 Accelerated Bootcamp, on June 15-16Stop networking at eventsBrennan DunnGrumpy ProgrammerRob WalllingPremium SponsorsSprint.ly – Our premium sponsor is Sprint.ly. Sprint.ly is agile project management software with one goal: to help you ship more stuff. You can try them out for free at  www.sprint.ly. You can also thank them on Twitter:  @sprintlyWPengine – Are you frustrated with your current web host provider? A few years ago I was looking to switch from my current cheap host to something more robust: but trying to search online for hosting providers is a nightmare (there’s so much spam in the search results). Then Rob Walling recommended  WPengine. I’ve been with them ever since. If you’re looking for dedicated WordPress hosting, that can handle huge traffic spikes (like 40,000 visits in a day), is lightning fast, and has great support I highlight recommend them.  Click here to get up to 2 months free.Shout outsShout-out #1: Product People newsletterShout-out #2: Save 10% on domains at Hover.comShout-out #3: Get $25 off at Ting 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!