The Claude Quandary

It felt unfair.

I followed Claude’s logic.

Begrudgingly.

Could I only market to one target customer?

Claude nodded.

Wellness and L&D vendors.

What did I, as an entrepreneur, have to offer a large company that they hadn’t already been offered?

Then came the search terms:

Learning and Development for insurance companies.

Learning and Development for corporations.

Learning and Development for benefit firms.

Claude warned that without one target, I’d dilute into corporate training and wellness.

I looked at these potential customers and had not one clue what their world was like.

I pushed back.

"If not learning and development, what industry would I like to help?"

My stomach burned. I hit the walking trial.

I thought about the 234 cold calls I made to chiropractic practices.

Now, that was desire talking.

Why did I make all those phone calls to that field?

The answer took me back to freshman year of college and the degree plan I chose.

In high school and junior college, I felt determined to understand what happened to my dad so it wouldn’t happen to me.

That meant psychology.

And here are the pieces of memory I’ve assembled.

He pursued a degree in printing at Sam Houston State University.

No passion for printing, though.

He wanted out of Angleton, Texas.

Away from his alcoholic father.

With a degree in hand, he spent the first part of his career supporting envelope salesmen.

In his early 30s, he lost more than his stepmother.

With her death went his will to work.

All sense of duty disappeared.

Job after job followed, but none of them intersected with the writing career he sought.

Thinking about all of this, the generalist idea came to me.

When I got home, I typed it into Claude.

It was unsupportive.

Machines, however intelligent and skilled, disconnect from our stories.

Whether Claude understood this or not, I may not have one target in mind.

But I have two things locked.

Writing. Check.

Health and wellness industry. Check.