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On the weekend I watched one of my new favourite movies:
"Sharknado"
(Stick with me, I'm going somewhere with this.)
It's the story about a freak cyclone that hits Los Angeles, causing man-eating sharks to be scooped up in water spouts and flood the city with shark-infested water. It stars Ian Ziering (from "Beverly Hills 90210" fame) and Tara Reid (mostly famous for botched plastic surgery.)
What's not to like, right?
Anyway, here's why I bring it up:
See, when the movie first came out it got panned by the critics. (It has a brutal 3.3/10 rating on IMDB.) And it even made Rolling Stone's "Worst movies of 2013" list.
But guess what?
The movie quickly became a cult-hit.
One of those "so bad it's good" flicks where you can't stop yelling at the screen because of the ridiculousness of it all. And Twitter blew up with over 387,000 mentions, making "Sharknado" the top-trending term for hours.
In fact, it became so popular the fifth movie in the franchise is just about to be released.
Because as far as the "disaster horror comedy sci-fi shark" niche goes, they nailed it.
And while the movie only cost $2 million to make, it helped the studio behind it -- "The Asylum" -- grow from $5 million in 2009, to $19 million in 2013.
In an interview with Forbes, they shared their secret:
"Customers tell them exactly what they want in a film, how much they'll pay for it and when they'll need it--and The Asylum delivers. We've never been about what the artist wants, and I think that's the key to our success."
What does this have to do with you and your business?
Simple:
Know your niche.
Ignore the critics.
Ask your customers what they want.
Then give it to them.
Talk soon,
Kyle Tully