Hi friend,
Every time I teach, I hear that having a large audience and 100k followers is everyone's goal.
People think this is what gets the money.
But I've frequently had students with barely any followers score clients. In fact, being a beginner is a huge advantage.
So... how does this work?
The beauty of being a beginner
See, I won't sugarcoat what I'm about to say next.
It takes time to get better at creating excellent content.
Scroll down to your favourite YouTuber's first video. They'll have a grainy camera, no mic, and hardly any edits.
Because they were just starting out π
Like you :)
They weren't perfect, and nor do you need to be.
It takes hundreds of videos to get better on YouTube.
Similarly, like any other skill, it takes a lot of writing to get better at writing. And no, AI doesn't help with that, unfortunately.
The beauty of being a beginner is that you don't have lots of eyes on you. So you can
- Write about what you want
- Practice your skill in public
- Experiment with different ideas
And you don't get scrutinised for any of it.
Your engagement is better than 'influencers'
At 25,000-50,000 followers, I used to get 2000+ likes.
Now at 260,000 followers, I get 200-1000 likes.
I see the same trend with profiles on LinkedIn that have 500,000-1 million followers. They get 800-3500 likes.
When you start off, you're likely to get better traction.
As your following grows, your posts are shown to a smaller percentage of your audience. So even though I have 260K followers today, fewer of them see and engage with my posts than when I had 26K followers.
This is something you should take advantage of π
And you can only take advantage of it right now, never again. So don't sit on it waiting to reach the next follower milestone!
Brand deals
Brands consistently look for micro-creators because they have an engaged audience.
They're also less costly to the brand ($200 to give 10 creators instead of $2000 to one).
When you start, and you're good (this matters, and more on it towards the end) - this opportunity is waiting for you. And it comes to you sooner than you think.
So get creating and engaging because the needle doesn't move unless you do.
Consultations
You can easily have a $50/30 min consultations.
When people see you're only a few steps ahead of them, you're relatable.
They feel understood.
They want to hit you up and speak to you.
When you put an amount that isn't too expensive for them and something you're comfortable with as well, you score a few consultation calls :)
Every small sale and conversation will
- build your confidence
- give you more content
- help you understand your audience
- get to know about their challenges
- solve for them using your content
- and in future, create products/services
I recommend doing 5-10 free calls first to collect testimonials. They'll help build trust and make it easier for people to pay when you start charging.
Finally, the catch is...
The above happens when your work is outstanding.
Not that you have a perfect LinkedIn post or video because that comes with practice, but when
- You know what you're talking about
- There's depth in your work
- You show, don't tell
This separates you from the rest.
This is how many people starting out tend to earn via various gigs and get better engagement - and these two keep fuelling each other π₯
Love,
N