One Thing I Wish I Had Started 5 Years Ago

Read time: 3 minutes and 16 seconds

Hey friend,

If there's one thing I wish I had started 5 years ago, it's growing an online audience.

It's one of the best assets you can build.

No matter if you're employed, self-employed, or running a business.

It's a game-changer once you have the means to speak to a curated group of people at any time, anywhere in the world.

Talk to them about ideas you have, collaborate on projects or monetize your passion.

While it might feel like a daunting task, it's mostly about getting started and not stopping.

Often referred to as "being consistent".

Without further ado, here are 10 steps to grow an engaged audience.

1/ Teach, not preach

This is my biggest lesson of 24+ months of writing online.

You want to show your audience how you did X, not tell how you think you do X.

Teach your audience the things you've done yourself, but in a humble way.

"This is how I did X, and what it did for me".

Document your own journey, instead of trying to be the guru.

This does a few powerful things:

1. It silences the imposter in you (because you share your own experience).
2. It's easier to come up with a story (because you can simply tell what happened).
3. It produces authentic and unique content (because you share your own experience).

2/ Define the problem you want to solve

Creators freak out about “niching down”.

What if I told you that you DON’T HAVE to?

Change your thinking:

What’s the "big problem" you’d like to solve with your brand?

→ What keeps you up at night?

→ What’s something you can’t stop talking about?

→ What are you passionate about or interested in?

Define this and your journey becomes easier, already after taking the first step.

3/ Figure out 2-3 subtopics of this problem

To “solve” this problem for your audience, you want to talk about 2-3 subtopics.

For example, the problem you want to solve is to help creators make money online.

You do that by speaking about:

→ Different monetization tactics

→ How to turn followers into customers

→ How to set up automated email funnels

The possibilities are endless, but choose only a few to keep focus.

4/ Keep your target audience in mind while creating

While you create your content try to:

1. Choose one topic to write about.
2. Choose one person to write for.
3. Choose one problem they have.

Listen to Seth Godin:“When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one”.

Be specific.

5/ Have your content do two things.

Your content is to help your audience solve their problem themselves.

Or, to position you as the guide to them solve it.

(I broke this full process down here.)

You attract your audience by speaking about their pain points:

→ What are the things they struggle with?

→ What’s not taking action cost them?

6/ Experiment with different formats

Every audience is unique.

What works for my audience doesn’t have to work for yours.

Figure out by experimenting:

→ Study what works for others

→ Pick the formats you like

→ Experiment with your audience

→ Keep 3-5 formats that work

Having those formats at your disposal makes content creation a hell of a lot easier.

7/ Develop your tone of voice

Sounds obvious, but through writing, you develop your unique tone of voice.

Some creators talk descriptive, and some (like me) have a more skeptical approach.

Don't compare your writing style with someone else's.

The only wrong to do is to let not having your tone of voice yet prevent you from taking action.

8/ Don't get stuck in the creator mode.

Social media is meant to grow together.

Interact with like-minded creators, reach out through DMs and build that connection.

Especially, in the beginning, you want to engage much more than publishing.

You have to make yourself visible to the creators you want to be affiliated with.

​Here's the digital toolkit to find your ideal audience, and many tactics to connect with them.​

9/ Analyze the results and do more of what works.

Don’t steer blind, utilize the data.

Use SHIELD to look at the performance of your content:

→ High engagement, but fewer views? Improve the hook

→ Low engagement, but more views? Optimize for more engagement

→ High engagement, many views? Great, repurpose this for next time (it works)

Double down on the things that resonated with your audience.

Stop doing what doesn’t work 🙂

It doesn't need to be hard.

10/ Stick with it for 90 days

You thought this wouldn’t be part of the deal, right?

Well..

It is.

You have to put in the time and effort to see results.

Consistent, day in, day out.

Fall in love with doing the "boring" tasks.

Building an audience DOES TAKE TIME.

(Spoiler: if you make it to 90 days straight, you don't even wanna stop, as your audience is one of the strongest assets you can build.)

TL;DR

The 10 steps to build an engaged audience in 90 days (or less):

1. Teach, not preach.
2. Define the problem you want to solve.
3. Figure out 2-3 subtopics of this problem.
4. Keep your target audience in mind while creating.
5. Have your content do two things.
6. Experiment with different formats.
7. Develop your tone of voice.
8. Don't get stuck in the creator mode.
9. Analyze the results and do more of what works.
10. Stick with it for 90 days.

If you liked this email, please forward it with a friend who wants to become a better creator as well.

That's it for now.

We chat next week.

As always, I appreciate you.

Much love,

Your Personal Creator Guide,

Jessie

Also: when you're ready, here are three ways I can help you...

1. Get the free Content Management System.
   ​More clarity, more focus, and better performing content. Click here.​
2. Unlock the LinkedIn Growth System.
   ​Grow your personal brand on the fastest-growing writing platform. Click here.​
3. Hire me for your copywriting and brand strategy.
   ​Give your brand the voice it deserves. Click here.