30 Rules to Success #9 Build A Bridge
No matter the nature of your business, it is highly unlikely that you are going to get anywhere without an audience. You could be giving away free gold but if no one knows about it, then you’re still not going to have any takers!
I’m not talking about exposure here either. Being able to reach a large number of people is not the same thing as having a large and highly engaged audience.
Having a legion of ravenous fans is entirely different because it means that you’ll have people listening to you.
That’s what an audience is! And if the audience is listening to you, that not only means you can encourage them to buy from you, but it also means that they are probably fans of what you are doing and they are probably engaged with your brand.
This, in turn, makes it highly likely that they will want to help you promote your brand, that they will encourage more people to check you out and that they will stay loyal through thick and thin.
This is what makes it possible for big personalities to make a living online entirely through their blog or YouTube channel. And it is the highly elusive commodity that so many businesses are looking for but struggling to obtain.
In this short report, you are going to learn 10 things that you can do to build a massive audience, starting today.
Define Your Audience
The first thing to do is to define your audience. You’re trying to get more people to read your content and to follow you on social media but you’re not just interested in volume here. As we mentioned, what is most important is that this audience is engaged and that they really want to hear from you. And that means you need to be reaching the right audience.
And to do that, you need to know who your audience is!
To this end, you’re then going to create a ‘persona’. A persona is essentially a hypothetical profile or character biography that will detail the ideal person for your brand. This is the kind of person who will be most excited to follow you online and who will be most excited about your particular approach to the niche.
Ask yourself how old they’re likely to be, what their other interests are likely to be and more.
Rebrand
When it comes to building an audience, a lot of people focus on reaching that audience. Remember though, there’s a big difference between an audience and exposure. It’s not enough to just reach people: you have to convince them to want to sign up for whatever you’re offering. That means you need to think about how your site looks to a first time visitor, and the same goes for your social media.
Make sure that your presentation communicates the right message: that it tells people what your channel is all about while also demonstrating that you have the ability to make something amazing. High production values are a must.
Create the Right Logo
Of all your rebranding, the logo is likely going to be the most important part. The objective here is to create something that communicates precisely what your business is about and precisely who it is aimed at. In other words, you want someone who is seeing your site or social media for the first time to instantly know whether it’s likely to appeal to them and then to sign up to your mailing list if so. Of course it also once again needs to be high quality and to look like it was made by professionals.
The best way to achieve that look? Make sure it is made by professionals. If you want to create a brand that people can trust then it is highly important that you invest time and money into it.
Find Your Audience
Once you’ve created your persona, this will also help you to find where your audience spends their time. This is what is known in business as a ‘route to market’ — a direct line to the precise kind of person you’re hoping to sell to.
The objective is to look for routes to market that are relatively easy to access and that aren’t too competitive. Better yet is if you can take advantage of any existing contacts you might have. For instance, if you have a brand all about gardening and you happen to know the editor of ‘Gardening Monthly’, well then you have an ideal route to market!
It has been said that the simplified blueprint for any successful business is to find a group, solve a problem for them and then find a way to present your solution to them!
Become Active in the Community
Another tip is to try and become active in the community. Once you know your niche, that means you can find the existing hubs where those people meet (also a route to market). On the web, this often means in forums and on social sharing sites.
If you post here without any forewarning, your post will get downvoted and may be deleted. Instead then, focus on building your name in the community first and that way you can gain trust and even make friends who will help you to gain more exposure!
Network
Likewise, it’s always important that you network in any business. The same is true if you’re building an audience online, as you can that way get exposure from other influencers and find business opportunities. A single Tweet, post or recommendation from the right blogger or social media personality can completely transform your business!
Getting people to respond to requests to partner can be hard work. One tip is not to start with the biggest names in your niche but rather to work your way up the ladder. Another tip is to send one more than one message to politely remind the creator to respond. Don’t be rude and don’t pester… but what have you got to lose?
Finally, always take up opportunities to network in person!
Synergy
These days, having a successful online empire means considering multiple different facets. Those include everything from the website itself, to Facebook, to Instagram, to YouTube.
Whichever of these you decide to spend time developing, always make sure that there is a consistent branding, a consistent tone and a consistent quality. Ideally, even the URLs of your various channels should be the same so that people could find your presence on each by guessing. In other words, if your website name is www.greatsite.com then your Instagram should be www.instagram.com/greatsite!
Add Buttons
Adding buttons to your website to promote your social media is a key way to create a kind of virtuous cycle. Each new visitor to your page should be encouraged to follow you on social media, while your social media followers should see links and come back to your page — not to mention sharing them and bringing you more new visitors!
To get this to work, use a plugin that will place large, enticing buttons on your home page to take people to your social media pages. Likewise, add social sharing buttons to encourage people to share your content on their pages and consider adding a feed for your Instagram and Twitter in your sidebar.
Be Consistent
One of the biggest keys to success when it comes to building an audience is consistency. This is all about building up momentum and then running with that momentum. That means you need to follow up each successful post with another even better one.
And if you have a massive dry spell on your social media, then you can expect fewer people to see your future posts and to care when you do post them. Be consistent with your email marketing, your blog posting, your YouTube videos and everything else.
Feeling disheartened? Don’t worry. Even the biggest blogs in the world took time to find an audience and they’re still exaggerating how quick it was. While it can be disheartening to post blogs that no one will read, remember that you can always share them again in future when you have a larger following!
Offer Value
Finally, the most important thing of all is to offer value. People don’t become followers because they want you to sell to them. Rather, they become followers in spite of the fact that you’re going to sell to them. So in other words, you need to give them a good reason to do that and that means you need to fulfill your end of the bargain.
Social media pages that only ever mention how great their products are don’t get followers. Likewise, websites that only ever try to sell don’t get followers. And blogs that put the minimum time and effort into creating posts won’t either. Offer value — genuine value — and your audience will grow. It’s only a matter of time.
