3 Important Lessons From Oprah’s Interview with Meghan and Harry
Data Reveals Dramatic Changes in Public Opinion
The Oprah interview appears to have had a negative effect on the popularity of Meghan and Harry with the general British public.
A *YouGov poll in the UK reveals that 48% of Brits now have a negative opinion of Prince Harry. This is the first time that the poll has shown negative opinion of the duke to be stronger than positive opinion.
Only 31% have a positive opinion of Meghan whilst 58% have a negative opinion of the duchess. Her negative rating has declined by 27% in the week since the Oprah interview.
The YouGov survey shows little or no decline in the popularity of other royals. Overall the sympathies of the British public are strongly on the side of the Royal Family.
However, all is not bad news for Harry and Meghan.
Data Highlights the Differences Between Opinions in Different Countries
The YouGov survey highlights major differences between the reaction of Americans and Brits to “The Interview.”
In the US 47% of the 2,104 adults interviewed said they are more likely to sympathise with Harry and Meghan as opposed to 23% who responded that they were more likely to sympathise with the Royal Family.
These results demonstrate clearly how different environments and different histories affect people’s perceptions. As an internet entrepreneur you need to be acutely aware of these differences when addressing your target audience.
It seems that it was smart of Harry and Meghan to move to the US.
Data Demonstrates Major Differences to the Way Age Groups have Reacted to “The Interview”
The same YouGov poll mentioned above also reveals that 48% of 18 – 24-year-olds sympathised more with the Sussexes after the Oprah interview.
In marked contrast, only 9% of over 65s sided with the couple. This huge difference in sympathies highlights the importance of internet entrepreneurs knowing the age of their target audience. It is only when you fully understand these differences that you can present your information in a way that will influence your target audience.
Different age groups have different opinions and those opinions affect their beliefs.
Internet Fortunes Are Made With Just This One Simple Skill
Top internet entrepreneurs pay close attention to data and leverage the information they gather.
One of their most common behaviours is to find a competitor who is already successful in doing what they want to do. They then mine the competitor’s data. It tells them exactly who their audience is. The data tells them where their audience hangs out, what they read, what they watch, what they listen to. The data tells them what interests their audience.
Using just this one simple data mining skill you can discover important information that will allow you to communicate in the right places with messages that are likely to cause your audience to react favourably.
Why Shooting in the Dark is a Great Way to Lose Money
If you don’t have the invaluable feedback that data provides you will always be guessing.
During “The Interview” Meghan insinuated mental and racial abuse from people at the Palace, but she gave no context or facts. In a situation where the observer has little data, they have to make decisions based on the track record and reputation of the speaker. As we can see from the data above the audience reactions in different age groups and different countries has varied widely depending on their interpretation of the reputation of the Sussexes.
If you don’t have a reputation to help your audience make up their minds about your product or service you must have data. Without a reputation or data you will be guessing and that can be expensive.
Early Adaptors Make the Most Money
I was and Early Adaptor on the internet it was the foundation of a successful business.
When I first set up my coaching business I had someone build me a website. Back in the day that was a much more flexible and cheaper option than printing coloured leaflets. Because when I started there was little competition an important client found my website and gave me some business. That first client has been directly responsible for my earning over 1 £million over the course of our relationship. Listening to other coaches I have met over the years, I suspect that only a small minority of coaches ever make that kind of money.
If I was starting again now the situation would be completely different. I would have to use data to carefully select a market and then use more data to decide on the best way of penetrating that market.
The Most Valuable Lesson That Data Mining Has Taught Me About Internet Marketing
Find the smallest possible target audience.
You may think me mad, but the internet is such a huge playground that even a small niche is likely to consist of thousands of people. Let me give you an example. I did this research simply by entering different search terms into Google’s search bar and looking at the data.
Let’s say you are interested in “Frogs”, 281 million people searched for “Frogs”. Let’s narrow down the search to the sub-category of “Tadpoles”, 8 million people searched for information on “Tadpoles”. Let’s narrow it down even further to “Frog Spawn”, 3.8 Million people searched for “Frog Spawn”. You stand a better chance of making your mark in the “Frog Spawn” market than in the “Frogs” market but “Frog Spawn” is still a huge market.
Your challenge is to find a niche that you can dominate. Therefore the smaller the niche the better your chance of building a reputation and mining the gold in that market place. It all starts with studying the data.
Why You Should Consider Adopting the Habits of an Internet Entrepreneur
As I have written about in other Internet Entrepreneur posts there is a business case to be made for becoming an Internet Entrepreneur.
- If you are reading this article you are already learning from the internet. So why not spread your knowledge to other learners.
- Time is money, so use your time on the internet wisely, pick up a few dollars while you’re here.
- Make it your habit to follow leaders, learn from them, and copy what they do.
*YouGov is an international research data and analytics group.