People like us, do things like this

On 12/10 I went to NYC and met one of the people who I “look up to” as a fellow human being – Seth Godin.

I’d like to take a minute to document the things that I took away from the interactions and connections from the weekend in the hopes that perhaps someone else will see the value in the viewpoint and engage with me further on doing things “like this”.

The most powerful thing I internalized (or think I internalized) is the very simple statement “People like us, do things like this.”  The meaning of this (my own words) is that how you identify and see yourself which is the “people like us” part.  In my particular circle of social connections it’s “Burners”, “IT professionals”, “Gaming enthusiast”, “mindfulness practitioner”, “Father”, etc.  When you define yourself as a “people like us”, then you are a part of that tribe of people who see things the same way.  The 2^nd part of that is “do things like this”.  In this example “People like burners, go to burning man.”, “People like gaming enthusiasts, buy video games.”, “People like fathers, seek to care for their family”.  This sounds basic in nature, but when you’re identifying a market you really need to be able to understand who “people like us” are, and what “do things like this” means to that group of people.

That going forward I should reduce the scope and breadth of my Utopia42 project to strictly video gamers, and leave the rest of the online communities for later discussions.

That I need to specifically target the initial psychographic of gamers dissatisfied with toxic gaming communities, and bring them an assertion of how Utopia42 will provide a place where people play video games and not get bent out of shape by divisive topics like religion, sexual preferences, race, politics or anything related to your physical appearance.

I need to “attack from the edges” in that I only need a very small number of people compared to the actual number of gamers.  There are 155 million people who play video games in the US alone for 3 or more hours per week.  I only need a teeny fraction of that 155 million people in order to make rent and pay bills.  All the rest of it will be reinvested in Utopia42 and the communities.  Utopia42 will not be a wealth generating business.

Enrollment in the idea of Utopia42 and what we stand for is more important than getting a sale.  Enrollment is also not the same thing as joining.  You can join a library, but when you enroll in the idea that libraries are valuable to you as a human being…  That is the difference between enrolling in something and almost any other method of engaging.

That “people like us” is really “people like me”, and each of us in the tribe that we self identify with.  I am no different than any other member of the human race, and no different than the others in the other tribes I participate in.  If I look at myself I know how to change the world.

Comments

[Seth Godin]

This is really beautiful. Well said...

Seth

[Ron]

Thank you sir.
Wait till my actions start bringing the change I want to see in the world.
I'm only getting started.