Strategy for Growing a Digital Following

Starting from zero sounds great when you’re listening to a story of someone who’s made it.

It’s like Elle Woods learning an impressive amount of legal jargon in a two-minute glow up during the song Watch Me Shine. Anyone else get inspired by the quick transformation scenes in movies? Days go by in seconds and we get inspired.

Until we’re in the thick of the transformation and turns out the grind is less glamorous than the scene from our favorite movie.

Let’s cut down on the overwhelm and start from zero without the expectation of a two-minute turnaround. 

How to grow a loyal following:

#1 Pick one social media platform to create your business account

Don’t listen to the person who already has the social following. Don’t listen to that book that your business mentor gave you. Listen to your gut – what social media platform will be easiest for you to show up authentically and true to your trade. Go for that one – you can always change directions, but I promise you if you’re listening to your gut and not someone else’s expertise, you’re headed in the right direction.

#2 Sign up for an email provider

I recommend finding an email service provider that allows you to start for free. Mailchimp and Convertkit are two examples that come to mind. It’s simple to create an account.

#3 Create one freebie that speaks to your target audience

A freebie, or lead magnet, is a piece of content that your target audience finds valuable enough to hand over their precious email address to you. Don’t overthink your first one. Try to create a feeling in your audience member. Do you have content that will make their life easier? Create bullet points and name it something simple and concise.

#4 Reach out to people who support your work and/or are in your target market

The first person on my email list – my partner. He’s an engineer and gets a glazed look in his eyes when I start talking about marketing for too long. Getting that first person on your list allows you to test your automated email and it’s great to have that first person be a supporter of yours. From there, aim for people in your target audience. Are you a coach that is looking for like-minded women to sign up for coaching sessions? Reach out to women you’ve coached in the past and ask them if they’re interested in hearing from you via email with motivational tips.

#5 Create weekly content of value for your audience

There are 52 weeks in the year. So think of this as 52 topics to post about throughout the year. To start this process, find where you are in the year and figure out how many topics you need to get you to the last week in December. Say it’s January 1 – you’re going to create a list of 52 topics in your notebook. Just start writing down things that would appeal to your audience. Let go of the need to be perfect and just start brainstorming down the list. Once you get to 52, you can rearrange the content or add more info or edit. Revisit this list later and decide if you want to swap things out.

Remember – this content should be aligned with your work. If you have more than 52 topics in mind, amazing! Keep listing them off, but still try to stick to one a week so you don’t start this process from a place of overwhelm.

Should you beat yourself up if you don’t show up every week for your audience? No. Should you try to show up because it not only helps your audience, but it helps you? Yes.

This is the easiest getting started structure.

Don’t try too hard to impress your audience. Come from a place of love and service instead of a place of showing off. You want to show off because you’re a boss, but just remember that you should not share from your ego. Share from a place of creating value, and from teaching someone at a very basic level. Your audience will be more impressed by you if they feel they can comprehend everything easily as opposed to looking up every vocab word you use in your dissertation.

You are the leader – get to sharing and watch your audience flourish!