Style as service
2 approaches to selecting your style.
Yesterday I met with my peer group, the
in our monthly roundtable and the focus of the conversation was STYLE.We talked about many aspects of style, and we did not get to get through everything we wanted to talk about in the 1 hour conversation. We did jump on and continue chatting again in private for another ‘10 minutes’, but still there is a lot more to discuss!
As a former UX designer and startup cofounder, and before that car salesman - I’ve been trained to see things from a customer’s or clients perspective first.
I believe more and more that success is about relationships, about the intersection of what one party wants and another party can provide. I believe the more time we spend in this overlap, the more successful our endeavours.
Who is it for?
So with style, the first question really is who is it for?
If it’s for you to find some expression or personal growth, that’s fine, but if you also want to exchange money for that expression or growth, then your other job will be to find or attract the people who want to support that growth or expression.
This could be a following on youtube or patreon, even substack.
An easier way in my opinion, is to find the people you want to serve, and make style about giving them what they want without compromising your values.
What does that mean practically?
Publishers want to sell books, so they are looking for styles that are similar to books that are being sold now, but also books that have sold for decades, so you can model your style after that.
Parents and kids also want books that are similar to what they already love.
We want same but different.
There are style conventions for different ages, it’s culture.
Blue is for boys, pink is for girls for example, you can fight the weight of 70 years of cultural programming, or you can use it. So the age you are targeting already has it’s own style conventions, some of that is understood intuitively, others could be studied scientifically.
In a nutshell, my approach to style is to consider it from the perspective of the person you’re serving, and if you want to serve them for a long time, then keep giving them what they want.
Yes change with the times, but maintain that core of service
Ten Minute Artist Prompt
Who do you serve and how does your style reflect that? What is one thing you can change to better serve your ideal client or customer?
PS: Paid subscribers can listen in to our entire roundtable discussion on style here.