Nobody I knew would come.
I was starting a church in Concord, NC and I did what every church planter does first. I called everyone I knew. Friends. Family. People who said they loved me.
Every single one said no.
No core team. No launch crew. No familiar faces waiting in the wings. Just me, a vision, and a Facebook post. So I wrote it. I described something that didn't exist yet… a church that hadn't held a single service, in a building we hadn't signed a lease on, for a community that had no idea we were coming.
146 people showed up on launch day and I didn't know one of them.
Here's what I learned:
It’s not about helping people show up for something you've already built.
I truly believe people will show up for what you help them see is possible. Most builders make the mistake of waiting until they have something to show. A product. A following. A track record. They think strangers need proof before they'll believe.
They don't. They need clarity. They need to see themselves in what you're describing. They need to feel like and understand that the thing you're building was made specifically for them.
That's not marketing. That's vision… and it's a learnable skill.
Here's your one thing this week:
Write one sentence that describes what you're building. Don’t share what it is. Share what it will make possible for the person you're building it for.
Not "I'm starting a gym." But maybe you’ll write something like, "I'm building the place where people who've quit a hundred times finally don't."
That's the difference between a description and a vision. One sentence. That's it.
Reply and tell me what you're building. I will read every response!
— Cody