I first came across this concept over two years ago in "Sell Like Crazy" by Sabri Suby, and it’s stuck with me ever since. There are four key stages in the buyer journey: - 60% - Problem Unaware - 20% - Problem Aware - 17% - Seeking Information - 3% - Ready to Buy Now The challenge? 97% of businesses focus only on the 3% ready to buy right now. Only a select few businesses—just 3%—strategically target the other 97% of people who aren’t yet ready to make a purchase. Your goal should be to engage aggressively with the 20% and 17% groups. Start by helping people become aware of their problem. This could be done effectively through value-driven social media posts that address specific issues or needs. Then, for the 17%, provide valuable, informative resources that help them make informed decisions. Think blog posts, case studies, or free lead magnets that offer clear insights. When you guide prospects from the Problem Aware stage to the Ready to Buy stage, they’re far more likely to choose you because you've been with them throughout the journey. Here’s an example to illustrate: Let’s say you’re a real estate agent specializing in helping veterans buy homes. You share consistent, valuable content on Instagram about buying a home with a VA Loan. For a veteran interested in buying, this content piques my interest, moving me from Problem Unaware to Problem Aware. As I follow your posts, I see a call-to-action for a free guide on VA Loans. I download it, moving into the Seeking Information stage. I read the guide, dig into YouTube, and even contact the VA to understand the process better. Now, I feel ready to buy a home with a VA Loan. But I don’t know any real estate agents—except you, who has provided valuable guidance throughout. So, I reach out, and we set up a buyer’s consultation. That’s the power of understanding and applying the broader buyer journey formula.

Every single business fits into at least one of these buckets: - Health - Wealth - Love Planet Fitness = Health, Bank of America = Wealth, Walmart = Wealth (low prices to help people save) However, these are too broad to create a business around, so you need to go into the sub-markets and possibly even deeper (the riches are in the niches). Ex. Let's say that you're a personal trainer, its obvious that you're in the health market and the fitness sub-market. But, to get real success fast, you can go even deeper and focus only on working with busy professionals or people with Anterior Pelvic Tilt (APT). Health → Fitness → People w/ APT This is where the money is made... especially in lifestyle businesses. Although scary, the more you niche down, the clearer the path becomes. Believe it or not, it is easier to go after a small market of people that suffer from APT and want to get fit as opposed to going after a larger market of people that just want to be fit.

I came across this summary that Ali Abdaal did on one of my favorite books by one of my favorite entrepreneurs. Had I read this book years ago, I would have saved so much time and money on business ideas that just wouldn’t have worked in the first. Give it a watch because if you have even a small ounce of desire to be a business owner, then you’ll gain a ton of value from this: https://youtu.be/zVBHOKJgouI?si=SjaJip19Y_faYNZt