“It’s such a slog to build up my list” is a comment I got the other day.
If you feel like this, it’s because no one finds you interesting.
Want a thriving list? Well, then… drive traffic to it.
eComm brands rely heavily on ads and purchases to ramp up their lists.
The organic folks depend on the power of their personal brand.
So, if you’re leaving a link in the bottom of your comments and people don’t sign up regularly.
You might be boring AF.
Or you’re not really connecting with your audience as well as you think you are.
I don’t personally think everyone needs a list.
If you’re struggling with engagement on a channel, you will struggle harder off-channel.
Focus on your brand and content.
Stop buying more courses, they won’t help.
Start either investing in a coach or really, really studying what the heavy hitters are doing.
I don’t mean read and be sad.
Read and take notes.
🔹Who are they talking to in this post?
🔹What was the hook? Why did it work?
🔹What was the structure of the post and do they repeat it in other posts?
🔹Can I make it into a formula (yes!)?
🔹What is their ratio of educating, entertaining, and/or using growth tactics (polls, events, etc)?
🔹How do they get their non-targets to help drive engagement while still talking to their target audience?
Then you need to ask yourself:
🔹When am my most confident self, what do I sound like?
That’s your “voice.”
Let’s be honest, I don’t go around saying BOOM! to random people on the street or being hyperbolic with the cashier or calling out random people at a restaurant for a text beat-down.
That is my most confident online self.
My true self is a mix of introvert and extrovert, and I mostly keep my mouth shut.
That’s hardly a voice.
You have many voices inside of you.
For the online space, confidence and the way you express yourself confidently plays really well online. Think of when you banter with your friends. That’s the voice.
And if you lack confidence, as my buddy Claire Sewell said in one of her posts (I’m paraphrasing): You don’t need to build or find confidence in yourself, it’s already there, explore what’s blocking it. And unblock it.
Usually, people who struggle with an online voice worry too much about other people’s opinions.
But I’m no arm-chair psychologist - just a wild guess.
Write like you don’t get two flying squirrel farts about others' opinions of you.
