Start making noise, then listen for signal

Coming up with new ideas for digital products and services is hard. Markets are crowded, consumers are more educated than ever, and even if you find the courage to put your flag in the ground and go all-in on something new, there's no guarantee it'll resonate with the people you're trying to reach.

I've been using a technique that's helped me figure out where to aim my creative energy and find traction for new things within my business. I'm calling it "making some noise, then listening for signal." The idea is simple: you put yourself out there, engage with potential customers or collaborators, and let the feedback tell you what's worth building.

But to find signal, you have to make noise first. And that starts with figuring out what makes you unique.

Establishing your value proposition

Your value proposition is like the secret sauce on your favorite burger. It's what makes it memorable and enjoyable. Okay, "delicious" probably doesn't apply to your business, but you get the picture.

Just like that sauce, your digital business's value proposition is the unique blend of benefits and qualities that makes you stand out and attract customers in a sea of sameness.

To find yours, you need to scrutinize what sets you apart. I touched on that in this tweet:

Question: What can you do better than anyone given enough time and energy?

That's your unique value proposition. Protect those skills and build a moat around them.

When you do, potential customers will find it hard to object, while competitors will find it hard to keep up.

— Matt Downey (@mattdowney) January 19, 2024

During this phase, take the time to reflect on your strengths, your individual experiences, what you offer that no one else does (or can), and most importantly, how all of that benefits your target audience.

Once your value proposition is clear, it gets a lot easier to wrap your unique qualities into words and imagery that portray YOU. Next up: picking a platform and showing up consistently.

Choosing a platform and remaining consistent

The whole point of making "noise" is to find like-minded people who care about what you're building. To find them, you need to figure out where they hang out.

For most digital business owners, Twitter (I still can't call it X), Instagram, or TikTok would serve you well. There are other platforms too, so pick the one best suited for the product or service you're building. Looking at member demographics and psychographics can also help you decide where to engage.

It doesn't matter where you point your efforts—consistency makes growth look easy.

— Matt Downey (@mattdowney) December 28, 2023

Once you pick a platform (we'll use Twitter as an example), consistency matters. Two things you should be doing:

Post regularly about what you're working on and any insights you're gaining along the way.
Engage with people who comment on your content, and seek out people who seem interested in the things you post about.

Doing those two things builds a community of people interested in the same stuff. And the more time you spend on the platform, the more patterns start to emerge: little quirks people have about X, frustrations people have about Y, and complaints that it should really be easier to do Z.

Pay attention to these conversations. They can be leading indicators of great products and services just waiting to be created. This is the signal we're looking for.

You found the signal, now act

So if you've been following along, we've identified what we're uniquely qualified to create and found a community of people who helped us find signal in the noise. Now all that's left is to go build something that serves them.

I won't get into the weeds on how to do that here because I've already written a 1,200-word article about how to create digital products. But with this "make noise, listen for signal" approach, we have a much better chance of producing something for an audience that'll actually benefit from it. And that's way better than randomly picking something to build and hoping there's product-market fit.

One last thing

You never want to create products and services in a vacuum. If you're going to spend your time on something, create with intention, direction, and purpose, guided by the signals from the people that matter most: your audience.