Well I’m gonna to go then! And I don’t need any of this. I don’t need this stuff, and I don’t need you. I don’t need anything. Except this…
– Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin), The Jerk
They keep drilling in our heads that quality is more important than quantity, yet it seems we’re not buying it. It’s as if we’re trying to cater to anyone and everyone, so we offer up the entire kitchen sink in hopes we don’t miss someone.
But you really don’t need all this stuff, so just focus on what your audience must have, not the nice-to-have.
Once we realize that less is more, we can better focus on the value of our product or solution and better see what it is NOT, rather than what it is.
Knowing what it is NOT allows us to truly see where we’re different from alternatives or competitors and better define our own unique value proposition, or unique sales position, or unique superpower…whatever you prefer 🙂
We can list everything we can do and begin discarding things that may add some color, or some spice, or some flavor, but aren’t really what makes us better, or different, or helps our audience in need…in the best way possible.
Start listing your features, and your benefits, and how they help your target audience and then begin discarding what is not of high importance; get rid of the things that aren’t of high utility for your end-users; and realize what’s valuable and answers a need, compared to what’s there just to thicken up your offering, i.e just some hot air to add some artificial volume with no value.
Don’t just throw away the other ideas, for they may be keepers for future use or brainstorming…but remove them from the launch, from the next update, or from the next huge announcement…unless they’re critical.
It isn’t easy discarding features, but it will help you focus, and your audience easily understand what’s in it for them.