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Stage 01 · Awareness

Understand customer attraction

By the end of this stage you will know who you serve, what they actually ask, and where their attention lives.

About 4–6 focused hours, spread across a week. 4 steps

Most beginners try to be found before they understand who is doing the looking. This stage flips that. You will spend a quiet week listening — to language, to questions, to the specific shape of the problem you want to solve. The goal is not a finished plan. It is a clear picture of one person.

What you'll have at the end

  • A one-paragraph portrait of the person you serve
  • A list of 10 real questions they ask, in their own words
  • Two or three places where their attention already lives
  • One small, useful piece of writing already published in one of those places

The work

Step by step

  1. 01

    Name one person, not an audience

    Audiences are abstractions; people are specific. Pick someone you already know — or someone you have read enough of online to describe with detail. Write a short portrait: their role, what they are stuck on, what they have already tried, what they secretly want.

    Do this

    • Write a 120-word portrait of one specific person
    • Note three things they have already tried that didn't work
    • Give them a first name you'll use whenever you write

    A prompt

    "If this person sent me a message at 11pm describing their problem, what would the first three sentences say?"

  2. 02

    Collect their real questions

    Open Reddit, YouTube comments, podcast reviews, X replies, or your own DMs. Look for questions that begin with how, why, what if, is it normal that. Copy 10 of them verbatim into a document. Do not rephrase them. The exact words matter — they are the language you will use to be found.

    Do this

    • Save 10 real questions in their original phrasing
    • Underline the recurring nouns and verbs — these are your keywords
    • Mark the three questions that show up most often

    A prompt

    "Which words do they use that I would never use myself?"

  3. 03

    Find where their attention lives

    You do not need to be everywhere. You need to be present in one or two places they already trust. Identify two channels — a newsletter, a subreddit, a YouTube creator, a podcast — where your person spends time voluntarily. These are your listening posts.

    Do this

    • List two channels you will read or watch weekly
    • Subscribe and lurk for seven days before posting anything
    • Write down the tone, length, and rhythm that earns upvotes there

    A prompt

    "Which one creator or community does this person quote when they explain something to a friend?"

  4. 04

    Write your first signal

    Take one of the ten questions and answer it publicly — a short post, a thread, or a 300-word note. Use their language. Do not pitch anything. The point is to leave a small, useful trace where the right person could stumble on it.

    Do this

    • Publish one short, useful answer in one of your listening posts
    • Save the link in a 'first signals' document
    • Note one piece of feedback or silence — both are data

    A prompt

    "If only one stranger reads this, what do I want them to take away?"

Worksheets

Exercises to sit with

Print these or open a fresh document. They are not quizzes — they are quiet pages where the real work of this stage gets done.

The empathy interview

30 minutes

Pick one person from your portrait. Message them and ask for 20 minutes. Tell them you are not selling anything — you are trying to understand. Record (with permission) or take notes. Listen for emotion words and metaphors, not advice.

Sit with these

  • "Walk me through the last time you tried to solve this. What happened?"
  • "What did you Google, and what did you wish you had found?"
  • "If you waved a wand, what would the after look like on a Tuesday morning?"

Language mining

45 minutes

Open the 10 questions you collected. Highlight every verb, every fear, every metaphor. Group them into three columns: what they want, what they fear, what they have tried. This is the raw material of every headline you will write.

Sit with these

  • "Which three verbs repeat across multiple questions?"
  • "Which fear shows up even when no one names it directly?"
  • "What metaphor would they reach for first to describe the problem?"

Readiness check

Before you move on

You don't have to tick every box — but the ones you can't tick yet are the most useful things to know about this stage.

  • I can describe my person in one paragraph without using marketing words
  • I have 10 real questions saved in their original phrasing
  • I know two places where they spend attention voluntarily
  • I have published one short, useful piece in one of those places
  • I have at least one note from a real conversation with them

Read deeper

Getting your first ten customers

Read the essay

Resources for this stage

Take this with you

Print-ready checklists, templates and planners built specifically for the work in Stage 01.

Checklist

First Customer Checklist

The 14-step pre-launch ritual we run before any new offer goes live.

Open

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