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It’s entirely true that people need medicines, and that the more people need what you do, the better. Does that not mean the best product in that category is a cure-all (panacea in Latin)?

Well, would you buy a wonderful bottle of smelly brown goo that the smiling guy in a lab coat says supposedly cures all maladies?

Probably not. That doesn’t mean you are anti-medicine though. You probably would buy a specific medicine for a specific problem. It may be tempting to say “everyone in category x needs what I know”, but non-specificity leads to massive message dilution and as a rule, gains less attention, not more. Try as you might, you cannot have all of the attention.

Compare these hypothetical bumper-stickers

  • Honk if you like red cabbage
  • Honk if you like cabbage
  • Honk if you like food in general
  • Honk if you like physical matter in general

The first one will probably attract action, even interest. The second one will attract action, as many more people will associate themselves with it, but probably less interest. The last one? Only joke answers, if any.

Deciding to focus on a smaller group can seem counter-intuitive, but that’s the “panacea bait” in a nutshell. You would not buy an alleged panacea, so don’t try to sell one either.

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