In today’s world of social media and personal brands everybody has a voice. We can type something on our phone as we walk down the street, and simply by clicking “Tweet” “Share” “Post” or “Send” we can make what we’ve said available for the entire world to see.

The only issue with everyone having a voice is that often means that everyone is talking, and if everyone is talking, then no one is listening. This creates a problem for those of us who are trying to build a platform and a message out.

I’ve read the book a million times. It’s always titled, “How to Get Your Voice Heard Over the Noise of the Internet” or something like that. The book always says the same thing—You get heard by saying something remarkable, by adding something noteworthy into the conversation, and by appealing to your specific audience.

This is obviously true, but how are we supposed to know what’s remarkable and what’s not? Do we just magically understand what it is our audience wants? How do we know what to say? This answer is not in the book, but it couldn’t be simpler.

Listen.

We live in an age where everyone is talking, but you’ll never say anything worth noting unless you take the time to listen as well. In listening, we begin to hear what people want, what they’re missing, and what they’re groaning for. We no longer need to ask what our audiences, families, employees, or customers want, because they are broadcasting it in each and every tweet and Facebook post.

You want to create something that people will love? You want people to start hearing your ideas?

1)         Listen
2)        Create (based off of what you’ve heard)
3)         Start talking

People will listen.