Creating popular interest — Kelford Labs Daily

“Our brains operate according to the rule that what is desired by others is likely valuable.” — Tali Sharot, The Influential Mind

That’s self-evidently true, isn’t it? Popularity begets popularity. People are interested in what other people are interested in.

But the opposite is also true:

People are less interested in what others seem uninterested in.

So when we launch a new product, service, or business, we’re initially up against the consequences of this principle:

Because we’re new, we’re by default unpopular. And unpopularity can make us look unqualified.

That’s why it’s important to rapidly bootstrap “social proof,” or the apparent interest of others.

That can be done with testimonials, customer stories, or even a waitlist. 

The important thing is that we demonstrate to our ideal prospects that what we have to offer is valued by others, so they’re more likely to value it.

The difficulty, of course, is getting this traction, getting those testimonials, getting those comments. Which means we need to launch carefully, to even launch a bit later than we might have wanted to.

We might have to “land long,” taking a little bit more time to prepare our offering so that we can start earning the minimum viable popularity we need to appear valuable.

It’s not enough to have a great offer, people will always be skeptical of the new and untested.

We also need to make sure we’re creating the credible appearance of public interest, so that our popularity can build over time.

Instead of launching something no one knows about, which becomes something no one cares about.

So think about what you’re preparing to launch, and ask yourself this:

How can I make sure people know that other people are interested in it?

Reply to this email to tell me what you think, or ask any questions!

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