“The written word is the strongest source of power in the entire universe.”
—Gary Halbert
Here’s a private message to those who help people improve their lives in some way — get rich, get happy, get skinny, get laid — but the rest of you can read along, too:
If Gary Halbert was right (and he was), then the only people who are going to be any good to you at all as an audience member is a person who reads.
If they can’t or won’t tap into that power, they aren’t going anywhere. They are not going to be good followers; they aren’t going to be good buyers.
Don’t worry about competition. If you are interested in something, do you only learn about it from one source? Only buy one book?
Or do you consume everything you can get your hands on? Do you seek out other avenues to feed your passion?
Most probably, you do. And that kind of behavior is what you need to see from your customers.
Encourage it. Glorify it. Teach it. Let them know you expect it.
Look for the readers. They are the learners. If you teach, then you can’t live without them.
Once you’ve identified those people, and you have opened up a communication channel with them, feed them what they want.
Write for them. Keep the words coming. Keep teaching. Keep influencing. Tell them stories to teach and promote the values you need to see in them. Make them feel things. Give them reasons to anticipate the next time they hear from you.
Warning:
If you’re not a reader, then frankly, you’re screwed. People who get ideas from the backlog of good ideas and good thinking will have a huge advantage over those who don’t.
If you don’t have that advantage, you can’t make it up by being innovative. You can’t out-think the generations of the most accomplished and smartest people from the past.