No, You Don’t Need a Huge Following to Start (or Grow) Your Business
Think you need an audience or thousands of followers before you can start a business, or really find success in the one you’ve got?
False.
You can absolutely start a business without one. Nothing will ever be perfect, so instead of sitting around waiting for your idea to be the best of the best, get out there and just do it. Passively sitting around waiting for the right time isn’t making you any money.
A successful business doesn’t require you to be dancing on TikTok every day or staying on the content creation hamster wheel on Instagram, either. Here’s a little secret about having a business: Followers, likes, and shares can be total vanity metrics if they never result in conversions.
I have a client who has made over $2.5 million in revenue with less than 5,000 followers on YouTube and less than 8,000 followers on Instagram. In my own business, I have less than 50,000 YouTube subscribers and less than 7,000 followers on Instagram, and made almost half a million dollars in revenue last year!
If you’re ready to grow your audience, even if you’re in the early days of your biz without a single follower, these strategies will serve you well.
This isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme or a simple hack that won’t take up your time. Growth takes work, but if you’re ready for it, I’m here to help.
Get on Social — But Just Pick One!
Less is more. If you don’t want to show up everywhere, you don’t have to. You only have a limited amount of energy and there’s no point in trying to stretch yourself thin just to show up half-heartedly.
Social media needs consistency. Stick to a posting schedule for one social media channel.
YouTube is great for long-term consistency because the content lives longer. You’re not fighting to get the highest visibility in a day or two. YouTube content can live for years! I have videos from a few years ago that are still getting views and bringing traffic to my website.
Reels and carousels on Instagram are hot right now because it’s what the algorithm wants to see. It’s a great way to boost sales by getting direct with your audience.
TikTok is exploding in popularity and changing the way we market online. You can use it to build your email list, but it’s hard to directly sell on there.
Understand where your audience is hanging out and stick with that.
Capitalize on Trends
Hear me out on this one. TikTok dancing isn’t necessarily going to get you more followers, but it may help you build your reach.
Disclaimer: only pay attention to the trends your audience would want to see. There’s no point in going viral with people who won’t work with you or buy from you.
Find out what's trending on TikTok or Reels and go ahead and jump on that bandwagon early. It’s totally fine. You don’t want to be that hipster avoiding all the trends — because the name of the game is to make sales. Embrace it.
Create How-To Content
Creating how-to content shows people you know what you’re talking about. If you can teach other people to do it, chances are you know what you’re doing. You’ll build trust with your audience and build a reputation as a helpful source.
Know Your Niche
Yes. I’m talking about niching. Again. Why? Because it’s freakin’ important.
You can’t pinpoint your strategy until you know who you’re selling to. Get crystal clear on who your ideal client is, what problem they have, and how your business can solve it.
Niching down will help your audience understand why they want to work with you or buy from you. If you skip out on this step, you are likely to confuse people. They may not be sure what you do and they probably won't stick around very long to find out because time is money and attention spans are shorter than ever.
Make Connections
Running a business is hard. It’s even harder when you do it alone. Sure, you can always vent to your spouse or your best friend, but unless they are a business owner themselves, it may feel like they never truly understand.
Join a mastermind. Attend online summits. Comment on people’s posts!! Get creative here people. You need business friends.
Want Extra Help Driving Leads Without a Huge Following?
Another social media platform that’s totally worth trying if you want to drive leads without dancing to the latest trending audio? YouTube. Yes, YouTube is considered a social media platform — and you probably can tell it’s my favorite.
If YouTube is where you plan on focusing your time and energy in 2022, you’ll need a strategy to hash that out.
Driving organic traffic isn’t a myth — with some simple tricks from a pro who has tried and failed many a time, you can create a YouTube strategy that helps you get consistent with content that makes you money.
If that sounds like something you’re into, click the link below to get your FREE copy of my YouTube Handbook for Organic Growth, PLUS a list of eight YouTube video sales to start using on your channel ASAP!
