When we come up with a new idea, service, or product, it is tempting to think about “the market” as a singular large group instead of a collection of individuals. When we fall for that temptation it becomes easy to trick ourselves into believing, “well if we can just get 1% of them to buy this… (or 0.1% or 0.001%, etc), then we can make a profit. Certainly we can get THAT much, right?”
There’s something about the relative size of just a tiny little bit of a whole big thing that can make it seem more obtainable. Don’t fall for it.
Singular large groups such as “the city” and “a market of one million” are not real things. They are concepts to explain a group of individuals. You don’t sell to “a city”, you sell to an individual. (Even if by city you mean “city government”, you are still selling to individuals.)
Imagine one person having one experience with your offer. If you offer something terrible to that individual person, that individual person will turn you down. So will the next. And the next. Until you hit a million, the city, or whatever makes up your concept of the market.
To be effective at marketing, you need to picture the different types of people, personas, personalities within your market and ask how your offering will actual appeal to them. Success is not a matter of casting a wide net and reasoning “well that should be wide enough to at least get something”. That’s not just lazy, it’s also wasteful and terribly ineffective.
You don’t get a bullseye by throwing enough darts at a wall. You get a bullseye by throwing enough darts at the wall that has the dartboard on it.
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