Hi, I have a questio
[2022-06-29 10:39:44 PM] : Hi, I have a question about the name your audience step. I might write a lot, so I will reply in a thread...
1 Reply
[2022-06-29 10:45:53 PM] : I did 30x500 about 2 years ago, and decided to stop due to health issues.
When I did it last time, I chose React Developers as my audience. I kind of chose it because I was enthusiastic about React, but I wasn't a React Developer per-se, more a developer who as dabbled in React. A "newb" I guess.
The issue I had, and it might be a "reptilian brain" issue rather than a real one, is that when safari-ing, I didn't understand much beyond the vanilla react. People were having pain about say Sagas, and Redux.
To help eBomb these, I would have to kind of learn the topics then eBomb, which is absolutely fine, but I feel it is a lot harder than doing stuff that I mostly know already.
I am doing the course again, from lesson 1.
I am on audience selection, and I am thinking do I choose React developers again?
Arguments for React Developers:
• Already have safari notes from before
• Already have a website
• Beginner helping other beginners (as peers) angle.
• Building on that last point - it is like when the new starter writes the onboarding docs at work - they are the best because they had just gone through the struggle.
Arguments for {something I feel I know better} Developers:
• There might be an 'easier' audience, where I can already help people without learning a lot of new technical stuff each time.
• I can understand more of the threads!
I know we are not supposed to dwell to much on this step, but I'd like to give it a few minutes thought at least.
[2022-06-29 11:41:26 PM] : The audience selection has a sort of rule to filter by the audience’s willingness to spend money. The beginner angle of “react developers” audience vs the less-beginner angle of “<yourspecialty> developers” , which do you think might be more willing/motivated to spend money? (tho I guess size of audience could be a factor too..)
[2022-06-29 11:54:13 PM] : That is a good point James R. I will have a think about that (it is sort of circular because I will find out by safari-ing).
[2022-06-29 11:55:37 PM] : It is not obvious to me because beginners need more courses (but might be earning less), and seniors get paid more. I doubt React vs. ${Other Tech} makes much difference.
Also you can be a Senior X bur Junior Y at the same time, such is the state of flux of all the frameworks and concepts.
[2022-06-30 01:58:44 AM] : FWIW, a lot of companies either reimburse or pay for training resources for devs.
[2022-06-30 02:25:01 AM] : That is true. I have a budget at work for buying courses like that.
[2022-06-30 06:10:33 AM] : Ok ... I am going to stick with React for various reasons. I don't feel I have enough insight yet to dismiss it. If I change in 6 months to X, then so be it I will have gained skills in both Sales Safari and React. Since my work is moving to React, and I did some freelance work in React too, it is useful for me to gain the skills I need.
[2022-06-30 06:18:44 AM] : Thanks to James and Max for your input!
[2022-06-30 07:14:57 AM] : have you considered non-developer audiences as well? (I feel like that’s my inclination, even though I’m a rails developer for years I’m more interested in the non-dev audiences I’m part of I guess :sweat_smile: )
[2022-06-30 07:16:02 AM] : Martin Capodici what other options are you deciding between? This sounds like a "should I stay or should I go" question but with no insight on where you might go, tough to give useful advice.
[2022-06-30 07:17:21 AM] : Not too far Alex! I would probably go to “Front End Web Developer” or “Full Stack Web Developer”
[2022-06-30 07:18:45 AM] : James I am not really in any non developer audiences that are professional. That I can think of…
[2022-06-30 07:24:56 AM] : What I am thinking is say there is a common Front End Dev pain let’s say … something something CSS … as a made up example - React developers as a subset of Front End developers would talk about it too and so I would not miss out on that data. And by being tighter focused visitors might feel “this site is for me!”.
[2022-06-30 07:25:28 AM] : could look at your interests/hobbies and then figure out what professional jobs would be related to those perhaps.. your profile mentions wellness/“body is a lab”, there’s probably some data-driven fitness professionals out there, probably a new & growing industry (not sure on actual job title)
[2022-06-30 07:28:22 AM] : Could be. I like you pushing me out of the box!The fitness thing is about CFS which if I was going to do I would do it and every aspect of it for free. I couldn't ethically feel comfortable making money from it. I am not into it as much as it is a matter of basic spiritual survival!
[2022-06-30 07:30:06 AM] : Another thing I like is making espresso at home which is a good audience for sure but they tend to buy physical things and are very fussy about those things! So probably wont be a tiny first product.
[2022-06-30 07:32:10 AM] : I think the course is aiming for the clients/peers/newbs trifecta for the audience which maximizes the chance of success in selling something later on when I get that far
[2022-06-30 07:44:58 AM] : Yup those other audiences are interests, not things you do for a living. Not impossible (obvs people sell stuff in those audiences) but in terms of repeatable and reliable results, those leave your advantages on the table and are likely to slow you down at best.
[2022-06-30 07:46:59 AM] : Between the react option and the other two dev options, I'd say they're roughly equal in terms of fitting the criteria. Main deciding factor is if you have any advantages in any of them.
[2022-06-30 07:47:31 AM] : Existing credibility, relationships, experience, understanding.
[2022-06-30 07:47:41 AM] : Otherwise, all else being equal, pick one.
[2022-06-30 07:48:49 AM] : You aren't married to it. It's not really a "decision" so much as a starting point for safari. Then follow the clues you find on safari to adjust, rather than trying to adjust based on hopes and dreams. :wink:
[2022-06-30 07:54:48 AM] : That's why the step is to "name" them - so you can find watering holes. Not "choose" them, but "choose a starting point"
[2022-06-30 07:56:04 AM] : Thanks Alex. Sounds good. The main advantage with React Developers is the site I made 2 years ago (virgin site for 30x500, so all ebombs) which still gets some traffic and has a decent amount of content. So it means a lot is setup for me.
[2022-06-30 07:57:03 AM] : That's a good advantage!
[2022-06-30 07:57:40 AM] : And it doesn't preclude you from adding to it - react devs are likely interested in stuff related to broader front end and full stack dev
[2022-06-30 07:58:23 AM] : So you're not really "restarting" at all, but adjusting your zoom levels.
[2022-06-30 07:58:48 AM] : Also don't make the mistake of thinking React is too crowded as a space, the world always wants to hear your take
[2022-06-30 08:02:22 AM] : Just to chime in on the sports data thing. I was working in this industry (see www.paceinsights.com) when I started 30x500. I struggled with audience selection to but started here although I struggled to find watering holes. What I was doing for these olympic sports teams was performance engineering or data science type stuff. So I when I could find watering holes I switched audience to more a generic data analyst / data science audience. I gave this 6 months and found a lot of pain in a lot of watering holes. The issue I realised was I wasn't really part of that audience - most of the people in the watering holes I found were at corporates so had way different issues (and IT stacks) than I'd had serving small sports teams.
So I then switch audience for a third time, to amateur motorsports.
This was a big mental move as it is technically not a proper audience for 30x500. After much debate here, we decided the pro-sumer nature of the audience fitted enough. It is certainly niche but I'm in the audience both as a professional and participant.
Compared to the other audiences I immediately felt it was right, for me - I know this isn't meant to be a consideration but I'm pleased about this.
Significantly, bringing the Safari mindset to an audience I was so deeply involved in was (and continues to be!) a complete eye opener. Plus, the other audiences gave me good practise so nothing was wasted.