Build it and they will come

Why is the “build it and they will come” mindset so prevalent and fatal?

Have you heard the phrase “build it and they will come”? The truth is, too many people believe this and that’s why they struggle. This mindset has killed so many online entrepreneurial dreams that it’s quite a tragedy.

How does this mindset lead to disaster? Here’s the typical timeline: You may be really excited about a new concept, you might think that your website is the best thing to come around. Just because you’re excited about a particular topic doesn’t necessarily mean that the rest of the world will be excited as well.

If it turns out that there is a big disconnect between your personal excitement and your project and the actual demand for the things you are promoting, what do you think will happen? A whole lot of nothing. I raise this issue because a lot of people believe in “build it and they will come.”

They are simply to personally wrapped up in their ‘vision’ that they don’t fully vet or test it. At the end of the day, it is market demand that will determine if your project is a success or a failure. Not your excitement. Not your personal ‘vision.’ Too many entrepreneurs are blind to this.

The bottom line? You have to build the right thing.

How do you fix this problem?

Take yourself out of the picture and focus on other people. Look for demand. Join as many Facebook groups and pages as possible, go to reddit and subscribe to as many sub-reddits as possible, go to Quora, and take a long hard look at the questions and patterns that appear.

After you do this research and filter it through the Google Keyword Planner Tool, you will get some basic patterns. When people talk about topics, at some level, this reflects demand. Look at the demand levels and cross reference this with potential commercial products.

If people are talking about getting certain types of plastic surgery and there is a favorable traffic patterns regarding terms related to that procedure, you can look for plastic surgery referral websites that pay an affiliate commission. You can then build content that answers those plastic surgery related questions and then convert them into conversion pages for the referral site you are referring.

Basically, you begin with existing demand, build content around the demand, and then you convert the traffic that is driven by the demand. This is how you play the game.

When you subscribe to the “build it and they will come” mindset, you basically are saying to the world that you are such a super genius that you know the trends and you have these visions of hot topics and hot products that people just have to listen to you.

Chances are, people will say “what the hell are you talking about?” Or “I am not interested in what you have to say.”