In my years helping creators grow their audience and business there are specific core concepts that come up all the time.
Here they are…
1. Focus on output, not outcome.
Because output is 100% in your control and outcome is never in your control.
Example:
Publishing 50 newsletters is an output.
Getting 500 subscribers is an outcome.
Focusing on what you can control is the best way to get what you want.
2. Don’t sell more, sell different.
Even if people love what you create, it’s unlikely they’ll pay for more of it.
It’s more likely they’ll pay for a different, but related creation.
Most creators who sell subscriptions offer more, not different.
That’s why most fail.
3. Value is transformation.
The way to create value for people is to help them transform.
Create things that help people get from Point A to Point B.
Your creation is the bridge.
If your creation doesn’t drive a transformation, it’s probably not valuable.
4. Attention is reciprocal.
The more attention you give to your audience, the more you’ll get back in return.
And the more attention your audience gives to you, the more they’ll expect back in return.
5. Create for someone, not everyone.
Deciding who your work is NOT for is as important as deciding who it is for.
6. Clarity is king.
If people can’t immediately understand what you create, who it’s for, and how it can help them, your creations will fail.
Confusion is your biggest enemy.
By the way, I can help you conquer it.
7. Every creator needs a newsletter.
It’s the only algorithm-proof way to establish a direct relationship with your audience.
Your newsletter doesn’t need to be long — it can be a single sentence.
But it needs to provide value and be sent consistently.
8. If you’re struggling to grow your audience, you need to do one of two things:
Do more or do less.
Every creator struggles with one of these two issues.
Figure out which one holds you back and adjust accordingly.
It also helps to read my take on how to get followers on Twitter.
9. Self-promotion isn’t a selfish act.
It’s a generous one.
If you create something that truly provides value to people, you’re helping them by telling them about it.
If you hate self-promotion it’s because you don’t believe what you created actually provides value.
10. Most creators don’t maximize the value of their creations.
Repurpose them.
Re-share them.
Revise them.
Remix them.
Re-create them.
Every creation is an asset you can leverage forever.
11. Traffic and views that don’t generate connections don’t matter.
A video that gets 100,000 views but only leads to 100 new subscribers isn’t a “hit.”
It’s 99,900 missed opportunities.
12. You don’t need to be everywhere.
If you feel you need to use multiple social platforms it’s as if you’re saying any one platform doesn’t have enough people to accomplish your goal.
That’s not true.
The more platforms you use, the less you’re likely to get from social.
13. Invest in yourself.
If you can afford to invest 10 hours to create something, you can afford to invest $10 to make sure it actually gets seen by people and has a better chance to succeed.
14. You get the audience you deserve.
If you put out shady stuff, you attract shady people.
If you genuinely care about your audience, you attract people who genuinely care about you.
15. You’re not an “aspiring” anything.
If you write, you’re a writer.
If you create, you’re a creator.
Don’t define yourself by suggesting you’re not what you want to be.
If you do it, you are it.
By the way, the secrets of successful creators I share can help you master it.
16. Your target audience is likely the person you were a couple years ago.
You had a problem or a dream.
You learned how to solve or accomplish it.
That transformed you.
Your creations can now help others make that same transformation.
That creates value.
17. Social media is a tool, not a goal.
Your “goal” isn’t to get more followers, engagement, or views.
Followers, engagement, and views only matter if they help you accomplish an actual goal.
If they lead to an action, a sale, or a meaningful result.
18. The easiest way to grow your audience is to connect to an existing one.
Find communities where your people hang out and become an active participant in them.
Don’t just show up and promote yourself — build relationships.
Don’t make people come to you — go to them.
19. Your ideal audience are the people most likely to resonate with what you create and who you most want to serve.
How to identify them:
If I offered to show your creation to 1,000 people who don’t know you and aren’t famous, who would you chose?
That’s your ideal audience.
20. There’s no one “right” path to success.
There are infinite ways you can succeed and the way you ultimately do will be unique.
So don’t get paralyzed searching for the right path.
Pick a path and figure out how to make it right for you.
21. Your target audience may not be demographic-based.
Their age, gender, job, economic status, race, location, or relationship status may not matter.
Instead, your target audience may be people with shared beliefs, values, desires, challenges, or fears.
Psychographics.
22. Your audience is your brand.
It doesn’t matter what you say your creations are or do, it matters what others say about them.
And when people discover you on social media, their first impression of you is defined as much by the kind of people who follow you as it is you.
23. Don’t obsess over meaningless metrics.
Most metrics don’t matter — the only ones that do are the ones related to your ultimate goal.
Let’s say your goal is sales.
Would you rather have 100 new followers where 20 of them buy or 500 new followers where 10 do?
24. You don’t get noticed by fitting in.
To attract an audience you need to attract attention and to attract attention you need to do things that are different than what everyone else does.
You and your creations have unique traits.
Find them. Amplify them.
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