Stitches & Picks S2:Ep 2 - Finding Your Sweet Spot to Hone Your Business Idea

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Finding Your Sweet Spot to Hone Your Business Idea Video and Podcast Transcript

[This transcript has been lightly edited to ensure readability]

Dave Dougherty: Hey there. Welcome to season two, episode two of the Stitches and Picks podcast. I'm Dave. 

Kristen Juve: I'm Kristen. 

Dave Dougherty: So, In the first episode, introduction into this season, we talked about how we're going to do this narrative arc to this season as we follow Kristen into launching her Casting Knits site. Along those lines, at least for this episode and a couple in the future, we're going to have conversations based on a model out of the Content Inc. Book from Joe Pulizzi. We are not going to go verbatim. It is inspired by his Content Inc. Model, but to Kristen's point on the last episode if there's a model out there that works, why try to reinvent the wheel, right?

Take the good bits from it that work for you and your processes and experiment with the rest. And just see what will work for your workflow, your habits, and all of that. So today we're going to talk about what's called in the book, the Sweet Spot. We're going to start with a little bit of definitions and then we'll talk about Kristen's reality specifically.

So the way it's defined, again loosely here, is the intersection of your knowledge or skillset, or both, around a specific audience desire. Both our day jobs and the skills that we've accrued through those day jobs as well as our interests outside of work came to the intersection of the projects we wanted to devote time to. So, why don't you tell us about how you came to the initial idea of Casting Knits and, what's your sweet spot? Or have you found your sweet spot? Let's just start there first actually.

Kristen Juve: Yes, I have a sweet spot that I am attacking and I've kept the mindset that I'm still I'm vetting it as I move along. So, that if at any point there's a major roadblock or major issue, I'm allowing myself to pivot. That's going to be way harder to do than it is to say.  We've talked about this before in the first season we talk about how I'm like a serial creator and I'm a serial non-launcher, and I do all the research and I get all this stuff done. Because of that, I have learned how to kind of hone in on my niche and I was doing that, I think, even before I really read that part of the book.

And in full disclosure, I have not read the entire book. But it made complete sense to me. It's like this is the world we live in now. We have this opportunity where we can connect with people one to one or one to few based on social media in particular. Where you can find those weird nuanced things that you guys have in common, or you can start to hear about people's opinions more directly.

And I actually have a data source. I haven't connected it up cause I have to leverage someone else's expertise cause I'm not a data engineer. But I have a way to get the data to support or not my theory about my niche. I love knitting. I was like, I wanna do something with knitting. And this also kind of goes back into our conversation about brainstorming.

So brainstorming led me to my main way of revenue. I knew I wanted to write patterns. In knitting, but that's not a tilt, right? That's not like a specific niche of like how where I am. And I was like, well, I don't really find joy. I knit like hats I'll knit, headbands, I'll knit blankets. I am sure those things are fine, but what do I really love?

Sweaters. I love this idea. I used to joke that I would always trip over my practicality when it comes to anything. And I realize that's actually a trauma response…

Dave Dougherty: But that's a different show.  

Kristen Juve: That's a different show. I mean, I'm having to talk about that at that point, of course. But I still really love this idea of like, if I'm gonna have a hobby creating something that I'm going to use.

And yes, a winter hat is really cool, but you're only using it six months out of the year. Maybe seven if you live in Minnesota like us, or maybe 12 if you live in Minnesota like us. Just kidding. Sweaters, obviously you're not using all year, but like, there's just this element of like, it's impressive, right?

There's something there that just says like a little magic, it's like a sweater magic. So I was like, okay, I really want to do sweaters. The very first sweater that I ever knitted was back in 2018, I think, and I've been knitting for a long time before that, and I liked that the process was a little wonky. 

I got, I inherited the pattern, I inherited the yarn I like, there were just little pieces that I was like, I love the end product, but there's a little bit about the process that I didn't love, so I was like, Okay, maybe I'm not a sweater knitter. Then when I started to like really understand more about the sweater I was wearing, there was this weird kind of tension in the neck, in the front, and I was like, Did I do something wrong?

No, that was how the pattern was written. There are things that you can do when knitting a pattern to make it fit you a little bit better and it's very much how the fashion industry fits clothing now. So it's really how when it fits your body in a certain way, your brain goes, that's more professional.

And there are certain things that are supposed to be a style, right? Like, , it's that, it's that the back piece actually comes up a little bit and is a little bit rounded. So it helps with the lay over your shoulders. It has everything to do with your shoulders and how like…So if you look at most…

Dave Dougherty: More square or something?

Kristen Juve: Less square, more rounded at the top. If you just did square, what happens as the front gets pulled up and you end up with this weird pressure on your neck from the neckline. It's one of the things that can happen. I actually have a TikTok about it, because I always thought it was super interesting. Actually, it was the day that we met up because I had switched my shirt backward and I could see it was a very clear depiction of what would happen if your the front of your shirt was the same height as the back of your shirt.

All of this was over time of me knitting sweaters. Me understanding various techniques and I was like Okay. So fit is really important to me. If I'm going to write a pattern, I want it to look amazing on someone. I was like, but everybody does that. Everybody's like, I write patterns for beginners.

And I'm saying this in a sarcastic mode. I'm not. There are amazing people. I'm trying not to like, I'm not trying to belittle them, but it's just way more common for there to be people out there who are like, I make beginner patterns. They're easy to understand.

I f***ing hope so. I f***ing hope everybody can understand your pattern because then what's the point? Yes, I have purchased a pattern and I'm like, I don't understand what's happening here. And it's not because I don't know how to knit, but that makes you feel like you don't know how to knit. And it's a very personal experience because there is no one else unless you're doing a knit along, which is a whole other thing in the niche, in the knitting world.

But I digress. I was like, That's not enough for me to write clear patterns. That's not enough of a value prop. That's not enough of a niche for me, for me to do sweaters, it’s not enough a niche for me. I'm in the world. I know who else does sweaters. I know who else does the type of thing that I want to do.

And I was like, This isn't enough. And I was like, What is it about? I started to really think about like, what is it about sweaters that I like to do? What is, what's the, it's the process of the product and it's both. It really came down to one thing and I actually, I started thinking about it and then I saw a post from a really prevalent knitter and she specifically talked about it and it was like she made like a little, like real or whatever.

She's like, when you order that pattern and you open it up to start it and you realize it's not seamless. And she had this whole reaction or whatever, because people, there is a whole chunk of people who love to knit sweaters, but don't want to knit them flat, don't wanna knit them back and forth, and then have to sew up all the pieces like you would sew, not like exactly you would sew in a sewing machine, but like you have to attach all the pieces together by doing a seamless sweater effectively.

There are variations of this, but effectively you don't do any seaming and I can take it a step further. Sometimes you have to seam on the arms because you knit the body full in one piece as you knit in what they call the round. So you just keep going in circles. You can take it even further by picking up stitches and not even having to attach your like sew on your arms.

You can actually just pick up stitches around the arm hole and then just knit in a circle around the arm too. So like, I was like, this is amazing because the one you're done with the sweater, done with the sweater. Like you can weave in your ends and be done with it. This is what I want. This is what I love. This is what I love about sweaters. This is part of the magic for me and so my niche is seamless sweaters. 

Dave Dougherty: So one of the key points with the sweet spot discussions, is that the sweet spot over time needs to be able to attract an audience and address an audience? 

Kristen Juve: Yes. 

Dave Dougherty: Being unfamiliar with the audience that you're targeting- How do you feel that that definition fits with seamless sweaters? Is that too niche? Is that a market need? Is that a growing trend? Help me better understand seamless sweaters as an audience need? 

Kristen Juve: I don't think it's a growing trend. I think it's a matter of people knowing and understanding knitting sweaters. Everyone I've met is intimidated by it. If they're like, Oh, I've been knitting for a few years, but I just knit. I just knit socks. Or I just knit mittens. Oh, a sweater's so intimidating. No, no. Like if you've done mittens, if you've done socks, you can do a sweater. It's just more of the same. Like you can do it. There might be one or two things that are slightly different, but if you can do all the things for a sock or a mitten, even for a hat, you're good. And so it's this idea. The element of bringing down the intimidation level, that's like a sub-bullet in my head of my patterns are easy to read and easy to interpret, and understand.

But you also know going into it if you interact with my content, you are seeing that I'm actually, I started making recommendations on TikTok, so I was like, started talking about, I was like, if anybody wants a recommendation of a pattern, let me know. I'm happy to. People raised their hands and they were like, I want a recommendation.

I have no patterns published, so I can't even hand them one of mine, which I actually like. I was like, This actually is really smart. Because I can't give them one of mine. That's a kind of a really good audience and market research kind of thing to find out what patterns people are actually looking for.

Yeah. And so I was like, Oh shoot, you know, I should have asked, Do you like to knit flat? Are you comfortable in the day, in the round? Do you love…You know, I asked her a bunch of questions. And she responded back to me and I was like, Okay, these are my top two picks for you and here's why. I want to tell you why because if you don't like the way they look, you can go out and find your own. But here's my reasoning behind it.

So there's a thing called like top downing, which means you started the neck and you knit down versus bottom up knit at the waist, and then you knit. Right? And so I was like, I think you should do a top-down because it's all one piece. Because you end up doing the…So I had a very specific, meaningful recommendation and it was really great. It was, to your point, it was really great market research to understand and then a lot people could do, like, I want recommendations too. And I was like, cool, what are you looking for? Do you think?

And people are like, Yeah. 

Dave Dougherty: Are those questions…This is a total tangent so we don't have to spend too much time on it, but, um, would those types of questions be standardized enough that you could do like a Google form kind of a thing?

Kristen Juve: Yes. Like a quiz? Okay. And I've been thinking about that too in the background.

So I'm playing around with like content ideas and, and market research stuff on a one-off basis more right now, but, I have. I've listened to a lot of knitting podcasts too. And there's this one…She is amazing. And she interviews like various knit people, like whether they're designers or yarn store owners or whatever.

And this, and I can't remember who she was interviewing, um, but this one person that she's interviewing said, I have a theory that people actually have a preference of knitwear designer once they get to a certain point in their knit journey because they like the way the pattern is written. And I've hit that point where I have gotten patterns and I'm like, this thing's gorgeous. I can't figure this out. I can't make this, I will not make this and I'll never buy from this person again. 

Dave Dougherty: Well that makes total sense to me because with different artists in the music side of things. I mean, we all have the same 12 notes and the same patterns for scale shapes and whatever else. But there's something about the way in which the person approaches the guitar or the way that they actually play it, that then resonates with me, which makes me want to play.

Like I have a bunch of friends that are super into blues, and I love listening to the blues every once in a while. I don't want to play it. I have zero interest in playing blues outside of the fun, sort of like an impromptu jam. Where it becomes everybody knows a 12 bar. So just, all right, let's do it in this key. Go. But I think the approach and the mindset and the philosophy and all that kind of stuff comes out. That's why for Beginning Guitar Online, we say all the time we're more about more people playing the guitar. So if you don't like us and the way that we approach it, the way that we would teach, here's some other great sites. Go there. By all means, go there. Let's just have more people having fun playing.

Kristen Juve: My goal is not to have this audience that's only ever going to purchase from me. Right. I don't think that's even realistic to have like a knitter is going to knit sweaters and hats and scarves and all sorts of things, but if I can be a place where they know that they're going to get a very clear pattern for a sweater. When you invest a ton of money in yarn then that's a great thing. Like, Oh, hey, what does Casting Knits have for sweaters? Do I like any of these? 

Dave Dougherty: Now in terms of your other background, and we talked about this a little bit in season one with this renewed focus on it How much of your digital marketing background, do you feel plays into your sweet spot? I mean, you obviously have the knowledge of the niche and the specific techniques you want to focus on. How much does digital marketing become a unique differentiator for yourself compared to the other knitters that are online?

Kristen Juve: Right. I feel like, so that's hard because there, I think they speak to audiences that might be a little bit more non-techy or non-digitally focused. Which is completely appropriate. I can think of a few who are amazing. I love to follow them for exactly who they are and what they're authentically. I think for me, my audience will definitely skew more, I mean, at least the way that I'm thinking about it. The tech stack, the tool stack that I'm going to be using for my test knitting for the various consumer journeys that I'm placing for my website and then actually purchasing and things of that nature.

It's different. A lot of people rely on a website that is specifically around knitting, where you can search for patterns. Also where I can data mine, which is amazing and I'll definitely leverage that, but that's the only place that they leverage. There are pay hip and things of that nature where there's also some problematic stuff with that website. That's why there is a whole sub of knitters who will never go on that page. If we ever wan to talk about chaos and knitting, I'm happy to give my 2 cents. I think it's really interesting. Or at least not 2 cents, but my observations. So by doing a Shopify website versus pay hip, or just relying on this knitting website or just relying on coffees or whatever else, like it's a little bit.

There are definitely some knitters out there who have been around in the industry a lot longer, and who have their tech stack a little bit deeper. So that experience is a little bit more akin to probably what I will be doing especially as it matures. But I was even like…You know how there's like FinTech? Like I've even thought about how I could do like knit tech. Like further than what this other website is doing and stuff.

And it's there's a lot of space there, but it's also…so, that's so niche. I totally derailed your question, but I think there are people out there that do have some, they've gained experience in the knitting world with marketing and technology through knitting. I have it from different products, different products and services. I think I'm probably in some ways and in other ways totally behind, but in some ways further ahead technology-wise. 

Dave Dougherty: Right? Yeah. And that's, I mean, the, one of the important shoutouts, I think we've talked about this previously too is just because there are so many of these other people it's easy to be intimidated about whether or not you should do this or Forget it. I'll just be another one. And I've definitely had those thoughts with BGO because there are a ridiculous number of people on YouTube or Instagram doing guitar. 

Kristen Juve: I feel like that feeling stems from I'll, like a different mindset. So like my photography, I felt like that. I was super intimidated all the time. But I think with this, I have since I've really only made my aspirations to be, you know, not like this big knitting empire…I mean, that'd be cool and I would love that. In fact, I'll sign up for that. But I'm going to only sign up for that when I get further along in the journey. So because I'm paring, I'm compartmentalizing it. Right now I'm less intimidated because I'm not trying to be the next Madeline, which is a yarn company by the way. They are amazing. But like…I don't even know where I was. 

Dave Dougherty: Well, I mean, you're right to call out the mindset shift on that. But I think it's just because everybody comes to it at a different point. I feel like we've talked about how the fact that we have a deep knowledge and skillset in marketing allowed for us to just be like, Well, yeah, let's try it out. We've done this with all these other things.

You know what I mean? Yeah. So with the guitar stuff it's interesting because it is the, I'm going to do it. Because I'm trying to attract a crowd that I would want to talk to and just be part of the community because this is the kind of stuff that I can talk about until people's eyes completely glaze over. Like even people who are like, I'm into guitar. Great. Have you done Daba? Daba, da da. And they're like, whoa, hold on. No.

Kristen Juve: I do that all the time with knitting and dogs. 

Dave Dougherty: Yeah. Yeah. So if you have no ideas, 

Kristen Juve: like we can talk about something else, 

Dave Dougherty: If you have no idea what your sweet spot is or what you should launch something on, think about the things that you know people's eyes glaze over on when you start talking about, and that's a pretty good example of where you might focus some of your energy, um, or where 

Kristen Juve: You even call a nerd, like where you are a certain type of nerd.

Dave Dougherty: And get nerdy about stuff. Yeah. Yeah.  

Kristen Juve: Um, you're having like fond flashbacks to when people said you're such a nerd. You're a guitar nerd. 

Dave Dougherty: Well, no. It's just like, during the pandemic, one of the things that I got into was this channel, and I, I've brought it up before but it's awesome and it's become like this little happy place for me. It's these two guys out of England doing a show called That Pedal Show, and it's nothing but guitars, amps, and foot pedals.

For anybody not familiar with it foot or effects pedals change the sound of the guitar between the guitar and the amp. So, um, if you want your guitar to sound kind of watery or shimmery or like it's in the middle of a cave or, you know, more distorted or something, that's with the effects unit. So then there are all these questions about pedal order. Do I put it in what order? How do I do a boost pedal or this or that, or this type of distortion from this particular year or, you know, all these types of things? I'm eating lunch during my work days and I'm taking a break watching these guys sit and basically just like, Well what would happen if we turned this knob like to two o'clock instead of nine?

It's an absurd level of detail that I have no one else to go to that depth with. So that channel is perfect for me because it gives me some ideas to try out. But also they have a completely different set of tone and skills than I do on the guitar. Like the tones that those presenters are going after I would never in a million years want that for myself. But it's the approaches and the way that they geek out about it. The relationship between the two of them geeking out about these things just makes it really fun and it helped me narrow in on, Oh, you know what? I don't have to do this whole broad thing of what I think I might want for my tone. What I really want is like this little part of the spectrum. So then I'm gonna focus on that little part and really find out what my sound is. And for any like really astute viewers of our YouTube channel, you'll see the changes in my studio with the gear.

As I went through that journey, I got rid of a bunch of amps and got rid of a bunch of pedals.

Kristen Juve: I didn't even notice.  

Dave Dougherty: That's why I said, the really astute ones. Um, you know, yeah,

Kristen Juve: Apparently I'm not one.

Dave Dougherty: You know what? That's just fine. We'll talk about our friendship later.

No. Anyway, I hope this has been interesting. I hope it illustrates a little bit about where you can go or how you could take Kristen's approach to discovering what you want to focus in on, right? And take that larger topic of knitting and find that one particular thing to focus on. And you can eventually build up to that higher level thing, but that is definitely down the line. Do one thing really well. Find your place within it and get after it. 

Kristen Juve: I will say, I wan to make the plug for trial and error. Because I think one thing that I didn't really jump into enough was like putting out posts. Did that feel right? You know, social media is a good playing playground for doing a bunch of different things. It was like Yeah, I liked that. I liked producing that. I liked the response I got back. This falls in line is what I want. Or Nope, I didn't like that. Nope. This doesn't feel right. So there's a lot of trial and error too that I went through that I don't think I talked about enough.  

Dave Dougherty: We’ll get into that a little bit in a future episode on competitive research.

What are the other platforms that are out there? What are the websites or influencers that are already out there to try to hone where you would fit yourself into the market? And yeah, we can get, we can get into all that as well, because there are, as we've talked about before, there are definitely ways that work for some people that you and I would not engage with people in the same manner.

And that's totally fine. You know, that is part of the process and allowing yourself the time to discover that and not feel so rushed to just go and produce content. Like, don't just jump into Instagram or TikTok or whatever else. Sit and have a think on how to do it the right way, and you'll be more successful.

Kristen Juve: Yep. Like it. Sit and have a think…. 

Dave Dougherty: Sit and have a thank. Grab yourself some sweet tea on a hot day with your sweater on. 

Kristen Juve: I mean, if you're a knitter, that sounds like a great plan because you have to wear this sweater regardless of the weather. Just to show off what you did.

Dave Dougherty: Being in the middle of January in Minnesota, the idea of sitting on a porch with some sweet tea is actually a really welcome thought, actually. But we will get to summer eventually. Thank you.  

Kristen Juve: The future episode where I will be recording from maybe a different country. 

Dave Dougherty: All right. Stitches and Picks world tour. I'm down for that.

Kristen Juve: Pretty much. Yeah.

Dave Dougherty: Alright, well thank you everybody for hanging out with us. Like I said, hope this helps describe some things. Subscribe, like, comment, all those things. Let us know how you've been successful. Tell a friend about the show if they are having problems. Forward it to a friend. All of those things to help us out so we can better help more people like us.

Take care and we will see you next week. 

Kristen Juve: Bye-bye.