Whenever I launch a new product or service, there are bunches of people emailing me about why they are so excited, they love it, and it’s perfect for them. But then there’s also bunches of people emailing me about why it’s not what they need, but man something in their biz sucks right now, and if only they could get over that thing, then all would be right in the world.

This is the hurt. This is the need that wants to be filled.

One thing that frustrates me so much about big-box advertising and the state of commerce is that most companies with a product to sell tend to look at the hurt a little too late. They look at it in the marketing phase rather than in the product-development phase. In the product-development phase, they’re focusing on current buying trends. What products and services other companies are effectively convincing us that we need. What they can profit the most off of.

And then when they’ve figured out what they’re going to sell us, their marketing departments tap into the hurt to drive those sales. (Or they tap into the pleasure, which is still just the flip-side of the hurt.)

When you listen to the hurt before you develop your next big thing, a lot of stuff gets easier. Deciding what to do next, for one thing. Actually meeting your sales/booking goals, for the other.

And bigger than that, your product or service becomes something that improves the fabric of the world. And that is a really, really cool thing.

How is your business hurting right now?

I’d like to know. And not for my own needs, but for yours. I’m creating a this-is-where-i’m-hurting piece, and I’m going to publish it here. For you. For me. So that all of us can meet each other’s needs where we’re at right now.

There. I just sent mine.

(Submissions are completely anonymous. If yours doesn’t need to be, go ahead and send it to sarah AT sjoystudios DOT com or leave it in the comments.)

P.S. Lots of people have been asking how many people are signed up for the gold-digging excursion. There are currently 43, and I’m leaving it open to 7 more people. Just two weeks left…woohoo!