10 vital reasons you need to build an online audience in the coming years
Building an audience, a community, a list, a network, a following - however people are phrasing the best bits of connecting with humans on the Internet - will be one of your greatest assets.
This is why I have been putting everything I can into growing my connections, newsletter, social media followings and online presence for over a decade.
Here are some of the best reasons I stay motivated to do this:
1. You develop friendships with people over time who can help you, mentor you and provide for you when you need it most.
I’ve received so much helpful advice, free consulting, free courses, and other support from my followers to help me and my business because of the value I’ve shared over the years.
2. You develop serious credibility.
No matter what you do and the message you share, those large numbers under your profile name or those written testimonials on your sales page will deepen people’s trust.
This will help directly when people consider whether to listen to you, tell others about you, and decide to work with you.
There’s a reason Hollywood actors with more significant social media followings are being chosen over those with lesser online clout.
3. Your human brand becomes your moat when AI can write everything else.
Anyone can puke out content fast now. AI floods the internet with generic posts, articles, and advice that all sound the same.
But an audience that knows you and your specific perspective, your unique journey and struggles, and your distinct voice and values can’t be replicated by a machine.
Your audience follows a human brand they trust.
So, as AI content saturates everything, having a recognisable personal brand with genuine human connection becomes a real competitive advantage.
4. Real-life friendships and the benefits that come from this.
When you grow an audience, many of the individuals in this network will become close friends.
Just because you met them on the Internet doesn’t make it any less of a true connection or friendship.
These are people you can meet in person as you travel the world who will provide the gift of a positive relationship and other kinds of support.
5. You build a growing income.
As you develop trust and familiarity in your community, you are also creating more and more people who fall into this bracket: willing and able to pay you for your services, products and memberships.
A decent audience is also an opportunity to take on paid sponsorships and other forms of third-party income.
An audience is a significant financial asset, just like your bitcoin or stock investments.
6. You nurture the skill of consistency.
One of the most important and challenging disciplines is staying consistent with one thing over the long term.
Countless books, posts, and accounts have documented the power of showing up daily and creating and sharing, even if you don’t feel like it - and the compounding effect of doing so.
Building an audience relies directly on your consistency game and your willingness to be disciplined.
If you’re continually jumping around in content, USP and angle, you may grow an audience, but it will struggle on tired legs.
7. You can promote other things.
An audience will be there for you when you want to promote a book, a workshop or gain signatures for a cause you’re fighting for.
When I released my recent stress-reduction book Illusory, I had a decent group of people willing to write a review on its release, for example.
And this is crucial: when you build an email list or owned community, you control access to your audience. Social media followers are rented, and platforms change algorithms, get banned, or disappear entirely.
An email list is owned. That distinction matters more every year as platforms become less reliable.
8. You become skilled at understanding human nature.
You will find audience growth difficult if you aren’t gathering insights about what people like (and dislike) from the work you share online.
Those who build solid communities are well-attuned to what makes people tick.
Miss this, and you can’t properly serve your people.
9. More people to ask and gather insights.
Whether using a polling form or asking for direct message feedback on whatever you’re working on, having a loyal audience in place helps direct your process in a way that works.
For example, if you’re building a course, it’s becoming essential to hear from your followers what their problems are and what they need, so you can align that with a well-delivered program.
When you give your people what they actually want, it’s difficult to fail.
10. You’re motivated to create.
A growing buzzing audience requires you to continually and consistently share valuable content, like adding coal to a steam train.
On X in 2023, for example, I grew my followers from 400 to 99,000 in less than ten months with a near-daily schedule of sharing threads.
I was committed to this objective, and I was committed to significant and rapid growth.
As such, I was continually working on new ideas to write about.
The more I write, the more creative I become.
And my audience, of course, benefits too.
Want to learn how to apply your habit for daily writing so your audience grows?
My Online Writing Alchemy course shows you exactly how to write things that resonate in a way that grows your online following fast.
When you do, you’ll regularly enjoy that warm, fuzzy feeling of readers sending you emails of thanks.
Write something daily. Post it. You’ll have an asset few will enjoy in the coming years.
Grab it here. (while this special price lasts)