The DO Lectures - How To Build Your Audience.

Hi There,

Yesterday I talked about the soul-sapping, life-draining dangers of DABBLING.

Today I want to share with you a simple way to turn PRO.

They are what I call MICRO BLOGS.

Most people spend a huge amount of time building their product...

THEN THEY LAUNCH.

But they launch to AN EMPTY STADIUM.

Sure, they shout loud:

“HELLO WORLD…I AM HERE.”

But to an empty stadium.

Then the reality kicks in. They should have built the audience BEFORE.

They trusted in a ‘Hopium’ based strategy:

Build. It. And. They. Will. Come.

And candidly, that is MOST PEOPLE’s strategy.

Hmmm.

Sure, it CAN work. But, for the most part, IT DOESN’T.

The Pro has a different approach.

Because they know the importance of before.

That is why they ALWAYS do this:

BUILD THE AUDIENCE BEFORE THEY LAUNCH.

The ‘Dabbler’ finds their people during the launch.

The PRO finds its audience BEFORE.

How so?

Because they use a system called ‘ABAB’ – Always Build Audience Before.

They may call it by a different name, but it will achieve the same thing.

My example.

Next year I am launching a NEW secret project.

Yes, I am working on the product. And I want it to be amazing.

But, as importantly, I am also building the audience for it.

I do not have a launch date.

But I have a ‘build my audience’ date:

Today. Tomorrow. Repeat.

I am not launching TO THE EMPTY STADIUM.

This is my answer:

Micro Blogging.

A daily practice.

It needs just 10 minutes a day from me.

I designed it to be EASY. It is just a short paragraph.

I was clear on the outcome I wanted:

IT MUST BE HELPFUL, INSIGHTFUL, INSPIRING.

Ideally, all three.

No photos (mostly) – they take more time.

Geeky stuff.

I decided on three hashtags.

I researched them.

(Pro-Tips: Use a tool to find out what is the best hashtag for you hashtagify.me/hashtag/)

#brandstrategy

#marketing

#digitalmarketing

From the start, I was clear on who I wanted to talk to; creative entrepreneurs who want to use their business to make a change.

Knowing who you are for and what outcome you are writing for are important if you want turn PRO.

Where matters, too.

I decided I would blog on LinkedIn.

Why?

A study back in 2019 found that out of its 740 million users, only 3 million users share posts.

That’s 1%.

Therefore, your chances of building an audience on LinkedIn are better than almost any other platform.

They have a shortage of content makers.

Hmmm.

You can win there.

If you help your community.

My process.

I set myself a task to do 100 days of writing.

I wasn’t trying to sell anything.

I just wanted my Micro Blogs to be a source of insightful thinking.

I spent 10 minutes writing. My focus was brands, marketing and writing etc. The ideas came from what I observed each day, an insight I had, or a familiar problem I came up against. I would try and build a story around that.

The results.

I got a million views on LinkedIn.

I didn’t boost anything. I just relied on the ‘Organic Reach’.

Learning from the Master - The Power of Streaks.

Seth on Streaks.

“Today’s the 11th year in a row of daily posts on this blog. Nearly 5,000,000 words since my first post twenty years ago, and I haven’t missed a day (given some time-zone wiggle room) since 2008.

Streaks are their own reward.

Streaks create internal pressure that keeps streaks going.

Streaks require commitment at first, but then the commitment turns into a practice, and the practice into a habit.

Habits are much easier to maintain than commitments.

I’m pretty sure that the blog would still have an impact if I missed a day here or there, but once a commitment is made to a streak, the question shifts from, “should I blog tomorrow,” to, “what will tomorrow’s blog say?”

And once you’ve made that shift, it’s 100x easier to find the voice that you’re looking for.

I didn’t set out to have this particular streak (I don’t remember the day the blog went from ‘most days’ to ‘every day’) but I’m glad to have gone on this journey. Thanks for being part of it.”

A simple rule for me.

I think I got this from James Clear.

Don’t beat yourself up when you miss a day.

It happens.

What I have learned is to build up a reservoir of words, so if you have a day of travel or family time etc., you can keep the streak going.

The key insight was not the importance of one blog post, but the real power came from the accumulation of all the helpful posts.

I am still writing Micro Blogs today.

My learning.

Don’t write tired.

Don’t leave it until the end of the day.

Effort is reflected in the results.

Little and often is highly effective.

Building your audience requires patience.

I am finding my voice.

I am finding it easier to do.

I am learning what gets people’s attention.

And what doesn’t.

I feel like I got better at writing, like going to the gym each day makes you fitter.

The most important thing is to keep going.

Most people dabble.

They try it.

Then they give up.

Dabbling is the dream breaker.

The time needed to do it each day was never that much.

But, when I look back at how much I have written, I find it staggering.

This quote keeps me going:

‘I am the laziest disciplined person I know.’ Joe Rogan.

Surprising by-product.

I have wanted to have my blog for a while.

But couldn’t find the time to write the words for it.

Now I have built one.

And it has hundreds of posts. Who knew?

I will launch it next year, too.

Always be launching.

Always be writing.

‘BEFORE IS WHERE YOU WIN.’

Hope that helps,

David Hieatt
Co-Founder

P.S. What has been the best thing you have done to build your audience?

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