Toward stickiness | Seth’s Blog

Getting the word out is easy to measure and exciting as well.

Focusing on this misses the point.

You might be able to get a song played on the radio, but will the song motivate listeners to show up at the concert?

The math is simple: You can’t build a freelance career or a restaurant or a medical practice on one-time interactions. Charities that fundraise a few dollars at a time, door to door, pitching strangers… they have a rough road.

The hype and the tension and the promo work for a while, but they aren’t sustainable.

Which means, “this might not be for you,” isn’t a problem, it’s a feature.

We’re not looking for everyone, we’re looking for someone.

Purple.space launched about two weeks ago. The sign up page is really clear about what it is and what it’s for, and it’s thrilling to see that only a third of the people who signed up dropped out.

A third? That’s thrilling?

Yes. Because when only 35% of the people trying something in good faith say, “it’s not for me,” you are on your way to finding the people it is for.

People who would miss what you do if you stopped offering it. People who seek connection or possibility or whatever change it is you bring to the world.

Stickiness isn’t a hack. It’s a sign of enrollment. People who want to go where you’d like to take them.

Opening weekend box office and the ratings of your first episode are interesting, but only because they create the possibility that next week, some folks might be back.

September 26, 2023