Hi, Kevin.

Great question! You can definitely use problem/agitate/solve on a passionate market, but generally when they still have a problem that needs solving.

Take the golfer’s “short game” niche example. A golfer’s short game is where all those strokes are racked up. It’s also the biggest opportunity for reducing the most strokes off his game.

You have a passionate niche to begin with, but they also have a problem (slashing those extra strokes off their game).

So problem/agitate/solve could work in that situation.

Now look at a fan of gourmet cooking. That kind of prospect is just not going to have a problem like the golfer does. You could argue that maybe the gourmet has to prepare a big meal for a lot of guests and needs a quick solution to feeding a lot of people on a limited budget.

But that’s a different sub-niche. You cannot create a desire where one does not already exist. If you’re talking about that kind of scenario, then you are not targeting your core target market. You are moving your scope slightly to the left or the right.

And so I wouldn’t go with problem/agitate/solve for the gourmet cook market.

And finally, it’s easy to get caught up in the ‘ol “if all I have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” syndrome.

There are plenty of other “in the trenches” formulas besides P/A/S, and I’ll cover some of them ahead as well.

In other words, don’t go looking for a problem to solve where none exists. Or equally as bad, don’t try to solve the WRONG problem.

This is where knowing your prospects very well makes all the difference. It all comes back to your prospects.