As a media entrepreneur trying to grow my online readership, YouTube viewership and audio listenership, I understand the struggle that is building a tribe. With fewer and fewer gatekeepers, the floodgates have been opened. Now, anyone and everyone is an influencer. This is great, because if it weren’t the case, The Pursuit wouldn’t exist and I wouldn’t have interviewed massive celebrities like Barbara Corcoran and Gary Vaynerchuk and Rachael Ray. It’s also not so great, because more platforms arise and new voices chime in seemingly every day. Many of us have a message to share, but sometimes it seems like the only people that can cut through the noise are early adopters with a head start, or industry veterans with a bigger budget.
If you search for resources on building your audience, you’ll find many tactical answers and quick tip listicles. This makes sense, because what online entrepreneur doesn’t want an easy formula to grow her tribe, and thus grow her income? But, what about when the tactics don’t work? What if you’ve tried all of the formulas and your email list, subscriber count or download numbers won’t budge?
It’s time to get brutally honest. If your growth has stalled out, or never quite took off like you’d hoped, ask yourself the following questions.
Do I have a crystal clear picture of who I am serving?
I know that you know that we have to have a target audience in mind for our messages and services. The authors and influencers I’ve interviewed have brought this up again and again. We know we need to create an “avatar” that embodies our target’s demo- and psychographics. Knowledge is not the same as execution, however.
Even a multimillionaire influencer like Rachael Ray — with a giant, international brand — stays focused on her avatar: the “everyday woman” watching at home. Her audience isn’t interested in fancy recipes or high-end kitchen gadgets, and she keeps that in mind when she launches new shows or product lines.
“Everything we touch or pitch, from producers to writers to editors . . . our label and brand and company and all of our media, everything, is about accessibility,” Ray told me.
If your audience isn’t growing, schedule time this week to actually do the avatar exercise. Challenge yourself to be more specific when you describe your ideal reader, viewer, listener or follower. Also, realize that your brand has probably evolved along with social media changes and industry disruptions — has it been months or years since you reviewed your target? When is the last time you went through your messaging and marketing materials with a fine-toothed, avatar-focused comb?
Have I honed in on how I can best solve their problems?
It happens to all of us. In an effort to keep up with the competition, or to increase our reach and influence, we start adding on. We add on services that aren’t quite in our wheelhouse. We add bells and whistles that don’t quite fit our vision. Think back to why you started your platform and what your core messages are. Refocus on your top strengths, because that’s how you can…