Growing A Following Takes Time- Here’s Why
This post isn’t so much about social media as it is anything that involves other people. Everything starts slow. Your social media fanbase, your community -they are no different.
When you first get started you either think it will grow on its own with no work necessary, or you go out and recruit your friends to follow or join your new group, profile, etc. Your friends abide, because Hey, why wouldn’t they? You’d do the same for them.
Then what? Then you have to find people who have no attachment to you. You have to get their attention by standing out. In today’s very busy and distracting world this isn’t easy. I suggest being useful, helpful or when you can irreplaceable.
Now that you have their attention, you better be interesting. A good example of this is Guy Kawasaki. Guy posts general news updates on his social media accounts that are interesting and make people think.
Along with the interest you need to show promise. These people have to think they’ll get something out of following you. This is how it works, everyone is thinking “What’s In It For Me?”
To be honest the freebie download or coupon isn’t necessarily going to cut it. You have to help them think past the freebie, to what you are going to be offering down the road. They want to be following you when you become a huge success and think to themselves “I knew this guy had it, I’ve been following him since the beginning”.
And with the freebie, you better motivate them to read it, because chances are they won’t. Then they’ll be dead weight on your list that doesn’t remember you, quickly stops opening your emails, and eventually unsubscribes because they found no value in following you.
With promise you can only hold their attention for so long. Make that time impressive (yes, again, and even better- every time).
Continuously and tirelessly provide value in hopes of growing a following. If they love it, they’ll forgive you for not always being on or always updating your profiles. They will forget you if you’ve been gone for a long time, though. It isn’t their fault, they have lives, too.
Now once you’ve done everything you can, you’ll notice you are getting more likes, more shares and new followers. Over time as you’ve gone above and beyond to impress them, you’ll see they are paying you back. And, when you’ve got something to sell, after becoming something they are proud of, you can give them the right hook (as Gary V would say).
It takes time, though. Probably a lot more time than you want to invest. The quick, overnight success stories are few and VERY far between. Most of them are exaggerated.
We live in a NOW world. We want everything now, we get most of it now. But, social media, success and business still take time. Don’t give up, it can happen.
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