Publish for the Crickets
Great content doesn't generate audiences
No one is going to read or watch your content.
Yet.
There are lots of content creator success stories.
Some even offer to teach you how to write perfect sales copy, blog posts, email newsletters, and video scripts.
Content that will grow your audience and then your bank account.
Stop.
It doesn’t work like that.
Great content doesn’t grow audiences.
Here is the more accurate and realistic framework:
Consistently creating gets attention.
Attention motivates you to produce consistently.
Consistency is practice.
Practice makes excellent content.
Great content turns attention into audiences.
If you agree, let me reveal my formula for getting attention.
1. Write and publish every day.
Write and publish something every day. Short or long. It doesn’t matter.
Just showing up every day on any social media platform will swiftly attract attention.
Don't worry about quality. That will come with all the practice.
Oh, and there is no one watching yet anyway except for the crickets.
Photo by CLARA METIVIER BEUKES on Unsplash
Here are a few places that I recommend publishing to gain attention:
Twitter - Threads
LinkedIn - Short posts
Medium - Extended posts
Substack - Distribution of posts + related content
This doubles as a content workflow. Same topic in four formats, each adding depth.
2. Write and publish a newsletter.
Writing and publishing your newsletter will strongly embrace the write for the cricket ethos.
When you write your first few newsletters, no one will be on the list.
But, guess what? No one will know!
I recommend starting your email newsletter on Substack. They have a great way of showcasing your previous newsletter sends to entice new subscribers.
So, write for the crickets at first, but promote it at the end of all of your content - Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium, and in one-off emails to friends, family, and colleagues.
Something like this:
You would love my Lead Generation Weekly newsletter if you liked this:
See what I did there 😉
3. Make a list of friends, family, and colleagues.
Pull out your phone, open your email, grab your address book, wherever you communicate with friends and family and stash their contact info.
Pull them all together to seed your CRM or email list.
Send them a brief email every so often pointing them to pieces of content that you think would be interesting to them.
Something like this:
Hi {{first_name}},
I just published {{article_URL}}.
I thought you might like it. Let me know what you think.
These folks want you to succeed; they will be cheerleaders and promoters. Your first audience!
4. Get a little help from influencers.
Pick your favorite social media channel and influencers.
Capture their best ideas from a blog post, book, podcast episode. Create a summary, thread, or visual. Publish, tag, and share.
Their attention will yield you a few of their followers.
Treat them well!
Reward them with great content and attention as you become an influencer.
Remember:
Audience building always starts with publishing for the crickets.
🦗 🦗 🦗