Authentic Market Discovery -- Meet Your People Where They Are
Have you ever poured yourself into creating something — a program, a course, an offer you genuinely believe could help people — only to hear… crickets? 🥲
I definitely can relate to that (very quietly) painful experience…
For years, I believed that if I thought my work was truly valuable, that “my people” would somehow find their way to it. “Build it and they will come,” right?
I’d share from my heart, trust the universe, and wait… and wait… and wait…
Eventually, here’s what I came to understand:
When our offers don’t resonate, it’s not because our work lacks value.
It’s because we’ve been creating in isolation.
We create from our own breakthroughs. Our own secret language. Our own mountaintop view…
…without enough contact with our people and how they actually talk about what they’re going through.
That’s the gap that “market discovery” helps us to close.
The River and the Mountaintop
Picture a wide, flowing river — energetic, alive with movement. This is the modern economy. People actively seeking (and paying for) solutions. Enrolling into services and programs to help reach their goals. To help overcome challenges they have right now.
In our highly interconnected world, that river of attention and spending flows faster than ever. Tools for connection, creation, and exchange are everywhere.
And yet… many soulpreneurs feel like they’re standing off to the side, wondering why the river’s current isn’t reaching them…
Here’s the pattern I’ve noticed (in myself, too):
You’ve done the inner work. You’ve trained. You’ve healed. You’ve developed something genuinely transformational… or at least you think it is!
You’ve climbed a metaphorical mountain — and from up there, the view is awesome.
So you call out: “Come up here! This will change your life!”
But here’s the thing…
Your people are still quite far from the mountaintop!
They’re currently down by the river — immersed in daily life, immediate concerns, practical rhythms. From where they stand, your message might feel distant or abstract — even if it’s deeply true.
Market discovery is how we bring our mountaintop insight down to the riverbank.
Not by watering down our work.
By translating it.
Into the words people actually use. How they’re thinking about the outcomes they believe are worthwhile. The challenges they’re currently motivated to work through. And the service formats they’re ready to say yes to.
When we do this well, we become what I think of as “a bright soul at the riverbank” — visible, relevant, trustworthy.
Then, once people experience results and begin to trust us, they naturally grow curious about higher level work. We can guide them upstream toward the mountain — at a rhythm that honors where they are.
Why Wonderful Ideas Can Take Years to Land…
Most of you reading this don’t know my own mountaintop/river experience:
Many people know about my work because of the concept of “joyful productivity.” What they don’t know is that it took me years — 7 years of talking about it every week — before it started resonating with my audience.
It took time for me to explore and articulate the ideas for my own understanding.
It took time for my audience to be exposed to those concepts for long enough that they were motivated to make the journey.
You can keep sharing from the mountain, and eventually some people will hear you. But it could take years and years.
Market discovery offers a quicker path: instead of hoping people climb our mountain (an arduous task!), we walk to the river and meet them.
Done thoughtfully, this can compress years of guessing into weeks of clarity…
Finding Fit: You–Topic–Format–Audience
In the startup world, they call this “product-market fit.”
For coaches, healers, mentors, and heart-centered practitioners, I think of it as aligning four elements:
You: Your natural way of teaching, leading, and supporting. Your energy signature.
Topic: What your work is actually about — your expertise, modality, message.
Format: How you deliver it — 1:1, groups, courses, memberships, intensives, workshops.
Audience: Among all the people you could reach, who is most ready and eager to work with you right now?
Market discovery helps us align these four elements so we’re not just offering something “nice to have” — but something people are already prioritizing.
What People Actually Say “Yes” To
When someone chooses to invest in a service or program, they’re usually looking for one of three things:
- To move through a (painful) challenge.
- To achieve a(n urgent) goal.
- To taste an experience they’ve heard about.
In practice, people most readily invest when there’s urgency and intensity around what they’re navigating — whether it’s physical, emotional, relational, logistical, or spiritual.
This doesn’t require manipulative marketing. Not at all.
Think of it like being a caring healer:
You gently tap on the part where you think might be their pain. Very gently. They confirm that yes, indeed, you understand where they’re struggling. Then, you are more qualified to offer something that is exactly what they need.
What Makes It Easy For Them To Say “Yes”?
Through my own experiments, I’ve noticed people move forward more readily when:
- People they know and trust are already benefiting from it
- They don’t know of (or can’t access) other solutions
- They’ve invested in something similar before
- They trust the person offering it
- Their situation feels urgent
This list is a goldmine for discovery conversations — it tells us what to listen for.
So… What Exactly Is Market Discovery?
Before we go further, let me clarify what I mean by “your market” — because it’s not some nebulous statistic out there.
Your market is the spending patterns of the people you can actually reach.
It’s that rushing river I mentioned earlier. That river of what your network, your audience, your community are actually spending money on that’s related to what you might offer. When they’re already investing in certain things — and some of those things overlap with your gifts — that’s a very clear signal. It’s the market is speaking to you.
So market discovery is simply the practice of understanding what those spending patterns are, so you can meet your people with offers that they can clearly see are aligned for them.
And how do we discover this?
Primarily through real conversations with the people we’re able to reach.
It’s Research and Connection
Here’s something I want to name, because I think it matters:
Market discovery isn’t just a business tactic. For those of us who are naturally empathetic — who love connecting authentically with people — these conversations can be genuinely enjoyable.
Think about it: You’re reaching out to someone you care about. You’re asking thoughtful questions about their life. You’re listening deeply — not to pitch, but to understand.
This is not a sales call.
The intention is one of connection and caring.
And… people will feel that. They’ll experience your genuine curiosity and warmth. They’ll walk away from the conversation feeling seen and heard — even if they never become a client.
So yes, we’re doing market research. Yes, we’re gathering product insights. But ultimately, each conversation is a little experience of real connection with someone we care about.
This important reframe can change everything.
Market Discovery Is Not (Just) Polling
A common misstep (one I made early on):
Treating market discovery like a vote.
“Which of these three programs would you buy?”
“Do you like this idea?”
“Would you pay for this?”
People are kind. They’ll choose an option. They might even sound enthusiastic.
And then… nobody signs up.
Why? Because answering a hypothetical question costs nothing.
Real market discovery is different. We’re trying to understand actual behavior:
- What they’ve already invested in (similar to what we might offer)
- What solutions they’ve already tried
- What did actually work (at least part way)
- What solutions left them wanting more
- What solutions they wish existed instead
Here’s a principle I return to often:
The easiest thing to offer is your version of something they’ve already invested in before — but now, improved and better aligned to what they actually want.
A Simple Process for Authentic Market Discovery Conversations
Let me share the approach I use and teach. Adapt it to your own rhythm.
Step 1: Start with people you already know.
Reach out to your friends, colleagues, former clients, social media followers, newsletter subscribers, fellow classmates and community members.
If it feels awkward to message someone you haven’t connected with in a while, ask yourself honestly: Would they be delighted to hear from me?
A thoughtful, human message often lands well — even after a gap — if it’s genuine and not pushy.
Step 2: Make your invitation clear and non-salesy.
Set them at ease.
You might say something like:
“This is a research conversation — I’m not offering anything on this call.”
“I’m exploring ideas for something I’m creating and would love your perspective.”
If you sense they might wonder if it’s secretly a pitch, name that directly:
“You might be wondering if this is a sales call. That’s a fair concern — so I want to be clear: no, this is a genuine research call, with nothing to sell.”
(This is surprisingly effective. Transparency builds trust.)
Step 3: Run the call not like a presenter, but a curious researcher and a caring friend.
Here’s the key: Don’t talk about your offer until the very end — if at all!
If you lead with your idea, they’ll respond to you rather than to their own reality. You might get encouragement, but not real market insight.
Anchor the conversation in their world… about what they are going through, what they’ve tried, what worked/not, what they’re still looking for.
Step 4: For sensitive topics, create space for indirectness.
If your work involves deeply personal areas — relationships, health, identity, inner healing — you can reduce pressure by asking about “people like you” or “someone you know”:
“For people who care about ___, what kinds of support do they tend to look for?”
“Do you know anyone working on something like this? Without naming them, what have they found helpful?”
This allows honesty without requiring vulnerability beyond what trust can hold.
Step 5: Ask questions that reveal real experience.
Some prompts I find helpful (adapt the language to your work):
Their context:
- “What are you currently working on related to ___?”
- “What feels most challenging about that right now?”
What they’ve tried:
- “What have you explored so far — books, courses, coaching, programs?”
- “Have you invested in support for this before? What did you choose?”
What worked and what didn’t:
- “What worked really well about that experience?”
- “What was missing or left you wanting more?”
- “If you could redesign that support, what would you change?”
Urgency and importance:
- “Is this a priority for you right now?” (They’re welcome to say No… and what is priority instead.)
- If they say yes — “Why is this important for you now? I’d love to hear your words describing it…”
Step 6: After five or more conversations, start looking for patterns.
You’ll typically notice:
- Similar challenges described in similar words
- Repeated disappointments with existing solutions
- Preferences around format (1:1 vs group vs self-paced)
- What factors trigger them to seek solutions
Now you can shape an offer that matches reality:
Acknowledge the triggering factors. Use their language — not your “mountaintop” terminology. Emphasize how your solution includes what they said works well. Show how your solution addresses what they said doesn’t. Choose a format they’re already comfortable with.
This is how we create something people feel drawn to — not just something that sounds nice.
To Dive Deeper
Market discovery, at its heart, is the practice of meeting our people where they are.
Listening deeply.
Building genuine understanding.
And designing offers that align with their lived experience.
From there, trust grows naturally. Results happen naturally. Our deeper, more soulful work becomes relevant — because we’ve earned the right to guide them up the mountain.
If you’d like a complete framework for this — including outreach templates, conversation structures, and even how to turn insights into an offer — I invite you to explore my Authentic Market Discovery course: georgekao.com/discovery
No pressure at all. Consider it a resource (and community) when you’re ready to use my method wholly 🙏🏼
A Light Experiment
Here’s something you might try:
- Write a list of 15 people you could reach out to. Warm contacts.
- Invite 5 of them to a 30-minute “research conversation.” Give an incentive if you’d like, e.g. you’ll offer them 30 minutes of your service.
- On each call, ask the questions outlined above, such as: “What have you tried?” (in the realm of what you might offer — describe it to them) “What worked? What was missing?”
- After the fifth call, review your notes and notice repeating phrases and themes.
That’s you walking from the mountaintop to the riverbank — to meet your people where they are. 🙏🧡
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