Create a Pain Table to Understand Your Audience

It’s Saturday morning. I’m sitting out on my deck, soaking in the warm rays of sunshine. Coffee in hand as I write this email on my phone.

Yes, on my phone. Sometimes I forget just how good we have it and how incredible technology is.

Anyways, the more I write and create content to share online, the more I realize how difficult it really is to not only come up with new, exciting ideas all the time…

But come up with new, exciting ideas that your audience will actually like.

Because the best content in the world won’t mean a thing if nobody wants to read it (sorry, not sorry).

So recently whenever I’ve been in a rut and can’t think of anything valuable to create, I find myself going back to a simple table I created a few months ago.

I like to call it a pain table.

And you want to know the best part?

You can use the same system to come up with new products for your brand, content ideas, or anything else in between.

Here’s what you’ll learn today:

• Creating a pain table to understand your audience

• Why it works so well

• How you can use it

Alright, let’s dive right into this one!

What the Heck is a Pain Table? 🥲

Now now, the pain table isn’t some terrible form of torture (although I can see why it might seem that way based on the name).

The pain table is a simple system I’ve been using to come up with content ideas over the last few months.

It’s incredibly simple and incredibly effective.

Here’s how it works:

Before doing anything, you have to understand who your ideal audience is.

For fitness coaches, their ideal audience is probably someone who’s out of shape and wants to get fit.

For email marketers (like myself), their ideal audience is probably e-commerce brands who want to make additional money without spending a ton of their marketing budget on paid ads.

Alright, now that you (hopefully) have your ideal audience in mind, it’s time to create the pain table.

Ready?

On the left side of the table, you have all the painful problems your ideal audience is currently facing. Maybe they’re:

• Out of shape

• Not making enough money

• Not getting enough people to see their content

Think of as many painful problems your audience is facing and write them all down on the left side of the table.

Now, every problem has a solution… right?

So on the right side of the table, we’re going to write down all the solutions to the problems they’re currently facing.

Spend a few minutes thinking about their goals, what they want, and how you can solve their problems.

Anddddd… vualá! Using this table, you now have a bunch of ideas for when you’re ready to create a new product or viral piece of content.

Here’s why it works so well…

Why It Works So Well 🤔 

At its core, business is all about solving problems.

That’s literally all there is to it.

But if you want to get eyes on your business, you need to be putting yourself out there or creating content that solves their problems.

Are you starting to pick up what I’m putting down?

Whenever you run out of ideas or need to come up with how you’re going to position a new product, what you really want to do is highlight a painful problem your audience has…

And then present a solution.

Because if you’re able to present a solution to a painful problem they’re facing, your solution (aka your content or product) is going to resonate with them.

And when their problem becomes so painful that they’re ready to invest in the solution right then and there, who do you think they’ll think of first?

Right… you!

With that in mind, here’s how you can use the pain table for yourself:

How to Use It 📝 

If you haven’t already, the first step is to identify who your ideal audience is.

Who are they? What are their goals, what keeps them up at night? What do they really want out of life? What are they struggling with most right now?

Once you’ve answered those questions and identified who your ideal audience is, you’re already 90% of the way there (woohoo!).

Now that you know who your audience is and what problems they’re facing, it’s time to identify how you’ll solve their problems.

• Need more email subscribers to sell your course to? Create a lead magnet and relentlessly promote your email list on social media.

• Not making enough sales with your clothing brand? Run paid ads to your website and market the brand on social media.

• Not getting enough qualified leads to your business? Create survey with qualifying questions to determine who’s the best fit to work with.

Anddddd there you have it!

Once you’ve created your pain table, you can use it to come up with new ideas for products, services, or content that spotlights you as the “go-to-guy” in your field.

And if you’re the “go-to-guy” (or gal) in your field?

Well… now we’re talking because you’re in business!

Use the pain table for yourself and let me know if it helps.

Right, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to enjoy the sunshine on this lovely Saturday.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Cheers,

Connor “hit ‘em where it hurts” Flynn

This Week’s Hits 🤙🏼

If you liked the simple pain table method for creating content, you’ll love this LinkedIn post breaking down an even better system to come up with content ideas ↓

I recently published a blog article on the five things I did to quit my job and go all in on creating content on the internet. Proud of this one (even though it’s still scary at times lol) ↓

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