[00:00:00]
[00:00:00] Welcome to Beyond the Book presented by Juxtabook. I'm Zach Kristensen. It's our weekly, Q&A episode. Answering your questions about writing publishing and launching your book. Let's begin.
[00:00:13] /
[00:00:13] Hi Zach, this is Annie. Hey, I've got a question for you. How do I verify that what I think I know is actually accurate, is, is, it's factual? Here's my concern. I think I know who my audience is, but how do I verify that? How do I find out that I am actually speaking to the, to the right audience and writing to that right audience?
[00:00:38] Thanks so much for considering my request. Take care.
[00:00:41] Hey there Annie. I love the curiosity in your question. So let's dive right into it. Shall we?
[00:00:48] Now, if I were to suggest that there's one golden nugget to help you really navigate your question and trying to figure out and verify if you're thinking about your audience in the right way, it would be this. [00:01:00]
[00:01:00] Step into the shoes of your audience and meet them where they are. Sounds simple, right? But let's break it down a bit more.
[00:01:08] First off, see the world through your audience's eyes. Imagine yourself in their world. Try to understand things like their daily routines, the decisions that they make and why, and most importantly, like why they are doing what they're doing, what drives them? And where are they going for answers when they encounter problems?
[00:01:32] And once you painted this picture, Ask yourself as the author does my solution align with their problems?
[00:01:41] Next, remember the power of listening. There are three hotspots that I recommend that you take time to explore. First up is podcasts. As you're imagining yourself in their world and walking a mile in their shoes consider the podcast that they might tune into.
[00:01:57] . Listen to a few episodes. [00:02:00] Soak in the conversation and imagine if your audience would be listening to this and if it would be helping them, or if it was be something that would relate to their problems.
[00:02:09] Then take a detour onto social media and find where those podcasts have been shared. This may mean that you have to listen to more popular podcasts, but that way you can find where they've been shared and then your goal is to dive into the comments section and looking at who's engaging with the content. Are these the faces that you have envisioned to be in your audience?
[00:02:32] Secondly, don't underestimate the power of the Reddit universe. You can easily get lost on there, but with millions of threads covering every topic under the sun there are tons of insights that you can gain as an author. It can help you validate whether the problem you're addressing is indeed the real issue for your audience.
[00:02:52] Last is Facebook groups. They can be a gold mine. Find active groups related to your topic. Ones [00:03:00] that post regularly and have good engagement. Within Facebook groups, there is a place that you can search among the posts by putting in a key word. So put in a key word that would be related to the audience that you're targeting. Look at those posts. Look at who's commenting and then see if these individuals match your audience persona.
[00:03:23] So remember to step into your audience shoes and meet them where they are, and then remember to listen engage and understand them through podcasts, Facebook groups, and through Reddit. Good luck on your journey.
[00:03:35]
[00:03:41] If you have any questions about a recent episode, I'd love to hear from you. Visit juxtabook.com/beyondthebook and click the appropriate button to leave your question and we will include it in our weekly Q&A episode.
[00:03:57] Your book is just one chapter in [00:04:00] your author journey. Think beyond the book as you craft your path. Thank you for your questions and thank you for listening.
