Follow Your Passion and Find Your Audience
Do What You Love
When you love what you do, life is so much sweeter. In the words of Judy Collins, the singer, “Do what you love and you will find the way to get it out to the world.” Take those words to heart and follow your passion. That is the surest path to success in building a loyal audience.
The challenge is identifying a passion that can be turned into a business. If you are wild about organic gardening, model trains, or writing children’s books, identifying your passion is fairly easy. Unfortunately, it is not so easy for everyone. In fact, many people struggle with the question and may even proclaim that they are not passionate about anything. But . . . not to worry! Everyone is passionate about something.
Let’s try a little exercise to get you started:
Answer the following questions. Then read the information below to see how your answers can help you find your passion.
- What are your favorite movies of all time?
- What kind of music do you love?
- What are your three favorite foods?
MOVIES
The guy who sits next to me at work is a Stars Wars Geek, the one next to him loves big-time action movies, me . . . I like the sappy love stories – “Sleepless in Seattle” comes to mind. Maybe you are into “Die Hard” movies or “Mad Max.” If you do an Internet search on any of these movie titles — or the name of your favorite movie, I think you may be surprised by the number of links you find.
The search page usually starts with the IMDb link, then Wikipedia, the Official Site, Anniversary sites, plus reviews, forums, YouTube satires, information about the actors, directors, and writers, and merchandise.
Browse through some movie sites that you love. You will find them to be a fountain of information. Look for anything related to the movie that grabs your interest – something that peaks your interest to the point that you realize you have always been fascinated by that topic.
MUSIC
Another great source is music. Which band, group or artist have you followed for years? You have all their albums and have seen them in concert at least once – maybe more. This is a passion. It is the perfect place to dig deeper. Find out everything you can about the artists themselves – their life stories, why they pursued their careers, when and how did they get their first break? Why did they choose the type of music they play? What do they do outside of their music – home, family, hobbies, etc.
As you learn about these artists whose music you love, you very possibly will discover one of your personal passions.
FOOD
Finally – let’s take a look at foods you love. Eating is necessary for life – so we all do it, but food preferences are dramatically different from culture to culture, family to family and person to person. There are so many food choices today that you could literally eat a different food every day of your life for the rest of your life. Of course, you are not going to do that, but you could. The reality is, you probably choose foods within some very specific food groups and/or types of foods.
My personal favorite is Mexican Food (in fact, I have published a Mexican Food Cookbook that contains all my prize recipes collected over the years). Maybe you prefer Chinese, outdoor grilling or strict vegetarian. Are you a great cook? Do you have your own organic vegetable garden? Do you live near the coast and are crazy about fresh seafood?
Maybe, you don’t cook at all and can name all the best fast food restaurants in your area – or maybe you are at the other end of the spectrum – a restaurant connoisseur. Where are the finest restaurants in your city; and what are their specialties? What about chain restaurants? Or local family style restaurants? Or, the neighborhood diners? If food is your thing, it can take you in a million directions.
I think you probably have the idea by now. All you have to do is pick a category that interests you in some way and dig deep: toys, games, physical activities, sports, entertainment, psychology, rose gardens, carpentry, meditation, the list is endless.
There is no question – there is something that ignites your passion. You just haven’t recognized it yet.
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