I've been going about this all wrong!

Epiphanies are not only inspiring. They can sometimes be frustrating. It's like...why didn't I think about this before now? I would have been so much better off if this had come to me sooner. However, we can chose to wallow in our ineptitude or rejoice in the new revelation. This post will focus on the later.

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

For those of you who have not read any of my previous posts (shame on you...just kidding), let me start with a little background. In a nutshell, I have a desire to share with others my love of capturing and sharing family stories, especially ones from previous generations, for the benefit of future generations. I want my kids, grandkids, great-grandkids (and on and on and on...) to know about who and where they came from. I also want to help others who have that same desire to be able to make that happen in such a way that the information can be stored here in the blockchain forever at no cost.

Prior to today, I have been focused on trying to teach people how to start capturing their family history, what types of information to publish, and how to publish it. I have started publishing some of my own family history and have used that as an example of what you can do. I try to break everything down into easy to understand steps so they can do it themselves.

And then it hit me...I was assuming that there were people that wanted this information enough to seek it out and/or jump at the chance to take advantage of it when given the opportunity. I have since come to the conclusion that this assumption was incorrect (you know what happens when we assume).

This is where the epiphany comes in. People are busy. Many are focused on their on pursuits. They don't have time to try to learn something new...unless it becomes a passion. As my dad told me frequently as I was growing up, "You have time to do the things you WANT to do." In other words, you MAKE time to do the things that you want to do. So, instead of spending all of my time teaching other people (with little to no interest) how to capture their family history (in what little time they might have available), I need to share my love of family stories, both capturing and publishing them. I need to tell my story of the progress I am making and point to the fruit of my efforts. I need to let other people know the importance of saving this type of information and the benefits their descendants will receive from their efforts. Then, the ones that have a similar passion built up within themselves will be wanting the learn more about what I am doing and how they can do it, too.

Oh, that doesn't mean I will stop adding more stories to my family history collection. It also doesn't mean I will stop creating tutorials on how other people can do the same thing. What it does mean is that I will put more emphasis on building the dream than on the process of making it happen. As it says in the Bible, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..." (Proverbs 29:18a, KJV). In this case, where there is no passion, people will not take the time to even read your post.

So, for me, I have determined that I need to just tell my story of collecting and publishing family stories (including examples of my work) with short CTAs at the end about letting me know if they would like to start doing the same thing for their family. That way, I get to continue laying out my family history on the blockchain for my family to enjoy and hopefully others will "catch the vision" and want to join in the fun.

The moral of this story is that marketing is about either connecting with someone who has a similar passion or building a passion similar to yours in other people. Once the passion is big enough, the prospect will take action. When the student is ready, the teacher (in this case, me) will appear (even though I've been here all along).