The Right Side – High Trust On the right side of the spectrum are “Mom/Dad /Best Friends” – the people who know and trust us (or your company/brand), and are therefore willing to give you a big slice of attention just because you asked for it. If you call up a best friend and ask them to meet with you for two hours to review a demo, product, blog post or talk, they will – even if it makes zero sense to them. This side of the arc also includes the few people who somehow run across your product, as crappy or obtuse as your website is – and just “get it”. You don’t need to explain anything to them, because intuitively they know what you can do, why it matters and how to use you service. All of these Early Adopters are willing to invest a lot more mental energy to figure out what you’re doing and how they can benefit. They give you a lot of leeway – which is invaluable in getting a new company, product or leadgen program off the ground. But it becomes a liability – and often a rude awakening – when you start expecting everyone to give you that same leeway. The Left Side – No Trust On the opposite end, there are the people who have never heard of you or your company. When people don't know you, they'll only give you a tiny sliver of their attention to figure you out. If they don’t click with you within that window, they move on. The more connection you have with them right away, the more leeway they'll give you. The less you have, the faster you lose them. Some sample (non­scientific) windows: ● A cold email or online ad: a 0.3 to 3­second window before they engage or move on. ● A cold call: a 3­ to 30­second window. ● Walking door­to­door: a 3­ to 60­second window. Compare these to: ● A referral: 15 minutes ­ 1 hour ● A best friend or parent: Unlimited This is the Trust Gap: The difference between marketing to people who already know us or our brand, and people who don't, and aren't willing to invest anything to figure us out. And the difference between being able to market to Early Adopters (15% of the market) versus Mainstream Buyers (85% of the market). It affects everything related to how you market and sell. This difference between Early Adopters and Mainstream Buyers can be huge and easily underestimated. You may expect jumping the gap to be doable, like crossing a river from one side to the other. But it’s more likely to be the Grand Canyon. Or if you’re totally dependent on relationships, it’s an Earth­to­Moon sized gap.