When I launched the website for Unreal Collective and opened applications in June, I was so proud of it. It was the most beautiful website I’d ever made personally, I had created the perfect sales video, and I’d put so much intention behind the messaging. It was amazing.
Now I want to scrap the whole thing.
Quick caveat: I am totally proud of the fact that I didn’t get caught up in “perfect” and I created a cohesive page that spoke to the benefits of the product. I’m proud that I shipped it, sold it, and have 15 amazing individuals doing incredible work right now.
But those 15 individuals were visionaries. They understood value I was providing but was completely failing to properly talk about on the website.
You can still see that site. I haven’t redone it yet, but I’m in the process. I used to say:
Unreal Collective creates micro-communities to accelerate your growth. We provide accountability, support, feedback, and an expanded network.
That is all true.
But the problem was that I was concerned with making the message speak to everyone. I tried to use language that didn’t directly disqualify anyone and made it an accessible option for just about anyone who was working on just about anything.
And while the 12-week intensive with Unreal Collective can work for anyone with just about any project, some people just aren’t ready for it.
Now when I meet with someone and talk about what I do, this is what I tell them:
Unreal Collective is for awesome people doing badass work. It’s for people who are driven and ambitious, but also open and generous. They work hard, they’re open-minded, generous with their time and feedback, and want to work with other incredible people.
I surround you with people like that. And by meeting every week, we make incredible progress on our projects and everyone gets 10 times better.
And that resonates! It doesn’t resonate with everyone. Maybe it doesn’t resonate with you. It’s admittedly ambiguous on the surface, but the people who get it, get it.
That was the problem. I thought that it was my job to educate and convince people of the value through the website. But that’s not true.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve met with dozens of people who just get it. I’ve met with some more who don’t get it yet, but they trust me and are excited to try it.
Those are my customers.
Of course, I hope that I can inspire other people to get it. I hope people trust me to take the leap and see the magic of joining a community focused on progress and creation.
But ultimately, that’s not my job. I don’t need to totally convince someone of the magic of community in order to succeed. I just need to find the folks that get it and sell to them. There are 7 billion people on this planet, and I’ll work with about 100 people next year.
We’re 5 weeks in to the current 12-week intensive. The progress I’ve seen thus far is amazing, and there’s been a lot of magic. We’re throwing a party, it’s happening, and you can join it too.