Thanks to Sonia for letting me write in this arena.  Even though my blog is my bread and butter, I like to prove every now and then that I’m more than just a typical humor-blogger.

I have 10 years of experience in Sales and Marketing.  I have worked for pet food companies, distribution centers, and even free-lanced for a while when times got tough.  I always knew the term “know your audience” but it was never fully clear to me until I moved from California to Idaho. I went from a racially diverse environment to a town with a white population over 94%.  In California, you knew not to talk about Religion or Politics when in polite conversation or a professional setting.  In Eastern Idaho, I had job interviewers asking whether or not I was Mormon.  I was in shock. After 3 months of unemployment, I realized I had to adapt or drown.  I started working at a Car Lot selling Chevrolets, and would mimic my customer.  If they were a cowboy, I’d let my drawl get a little lazy.  If a family of 12 came in, I knew to put my coffee away and say “gosh darn” a lot. Most importantly, it taught me the value of relating to your audience.  You have to be like them, or else they’re going to think you’re “one of them.” I am now working as a Sales Manager and Business Consultant.  I travel to 6 states in the area, helping small businesses grow, re-merchandise, and succeed against the invading Big-Box giants. And I do it in jeans. As disappointing as it is, my suits are collecting dust.  I don’t get to look professional anymore, because suits = ‘city boy’ in this area of the country.  If you’re one of them, you don’t undertand me, and are of no help. I don’t like country music.  I don’t vote Red or Blue exclusively, therefore I’m classified as a Liberal.  I don’t own any guns, and haven’t been on a horse in over 15 years. Yet, my clients love me, simply because they think I’m one of the good-ol boys. The idea of “know your audience” becomes clear when your audience changes in a drastic way, but it is a fantastic lesson.  Businesses pay a lot of money on focus groups and consultants to learn who their main demographic is, and how to properly target them.  There are millions bloggers online, but the successful few know how to find a niche and own it.  The ‘shotgun’ approach works for some, but more often than not, a surgeon’s focus will yield more results. Good businesses know that only a few can please all of the people all of the time, and even giants like Apple and Google don’t own 100% of their market (though they claim to be close…).  Successful companies, successful writers, and successful people know how to identify a person and relate to them.

If you end up in a ‘fish out of water’ environment like I did, the best things to do are:

• Observe.  Eyes open, mouth shut, and blend into the background.
• Learn the community.  What drives the people in the area?  Are there common likes/dislikes/political views?  (This is easier to do in a low-population area like mine and not, say the Chicago metro area…)
• Who owns this town?  Which businesses are successful and why?  In the pet food arena, I looked to see what brands were selling, which salesman was successful in pushing their wares, and why stores sell what they sell.

This approach also translates into carving your own little corner of the internet.  I started blogging in January of 2011.  I read a lot of random blogs before picking my theme.  I learned how blogging cliques-worked (somewhat similar to High School, in a way) and who the big players were.  After seeing it done right, I went to work, with my own twisted unique style. 14 months later, I have a solid following and am getting close to a half-million hits.  I have blogging powerhouses like The Bloggess following me on twitter, and celebrities re-tweeting my posts to the masses.  Happily, I did this all without selling out.  I just learned how to play the game. Yes, I write about taxidermy squirrels, masturbating cats and Mormon controversy.  With an audience like Sonia’s, I would have been DOA, but I found the demographic I wanted to pander to and made them my own. Photo Credit: All photos belong to their respective owner.