There was a fun trend last month on Substack’s Notes about target audience. Which got me thinking about my target audience. Here’s what I came up with:
My target audience, mainly women:
sexual abuse survivors
who do too much
who've been told they are too much
are open to alternate ways of thinking
who are kind and care about others
value self-examination
recovering perfectionists and people-pleasers
40's-60s
readers of anything (and yes of course audio books count!)
“All in!” some of my very favorite women from a past peer support group I facilitated. …the embodiment of “my people”. <#
Who are your people? if you have a target audience, fine. If not, who are the people you love to hang with. What qualities do they share? What do you like about them?
I haven't thought too much about this in terms of an "audience," but these are the people I like to be around in my real life, and also the person I continually aspire to be myself:
-Free thinkers who lead with their values rather than a prescribed set of rules
-Creatives who want to add something to the world with their gifts and passions
-People who don't NEED me but want to be around me exactly as I am (no more codependency for me...please!!)
-Cup half full types
-Slow livers who take the time to appreciate the small, pleasurable things in life rather than rushing through everything
-Deep thinkers who like to mull over big, thorny questions, rather than shallow thinkers who like to talk about people
-People who understand that I'm constantly evolving and that initiating change is a huge part of who I am; people who want to come on the ride with me, even if neither of us is quite sure where we're going
I've been thinking of this question a lot lately, not in terms of marketing my own Substack, but in terms of the people in my life. Here's my short answer, subject to change:
- People who want to use their imagination to create a better, more equitable world -- people who have been called "not practical" or "daydreamers."
- People who value rest and pleasure and wish that more people could have access to these things.
- People who want to sit with big questions, seekers
- people who aren't rushing toward a destination, but reveling in the process
- People who are doing the work, both in life and in their craft, to see themselves and the world as they truly are
Mmmmmm. What a delicious last! There’s so much here that I resonate with but that one about rest and pleasure hits especially deep✨. Thank you for sharing these pieces of you with us, Allison.
I haven't thought too much about this in terms of an "audience," but these are the people I like to be around in my real life, and also the person I continually aspire to be myself:
-Free thinkers who lead with their values rather than a prescribed set of rules
-Creatives who want to add something to the world with their gifts and passions
-People who don't NEED me but want to be around me exactly as I am (no more codependency for me...please!!)
-Cup half full types
-Slow livers who take the time to appreciate the small, pleasurable things in life rather than rushing through everything
-Deep thinkers who like to mull over big, thorny questions, rather than shallow thinkers who like to talk about people
-People who understand that I'm constantly evolving and that initiating change is a huge part of who I am; people who want to come on the ride with me, even if neither of us is quite sure where we're going
A decadent list in the best possible way. Thanks for chiming in here , Melissa.
I've been thinking of this question a lot lately, not in terms of marketing my own Substack, but in terms of the people in my life. Here's my short answer, subject to change:
- People who want to use their imagination to create a better, more equitable world -- people who have been called "not practical" or "daydreamers."
- People who value rest and pleasure and wish that more people could have access to these things.
- People who want to sit with big questions, seekers
- people who aren't rushing toward a destination, but reveling in the process
- People who are doing the work, both in life and in their craft, to see themselves and the world as they truly are
Mmmmmm. What a delicious last! There’s so much here that I resonate with but that one about rest and pleasure hits especially deep✨. Thank you for sharing these pieces of you with us, Allison.
Oh! And Allison- relatedly: did you see that Tricia Hershey has a second book coming out?
*list.