You have a great message, right? You believe that your message is useful to your audiences… or else you wouldn’t waste your time presenting it/them…
Build a Following of 1000 True Fans!
Fact is, no matter what topic you pick, chances are that there are millions of people out there who want to learn what you are teaching… or who want to hear what you have to say about your topic.
A gentleman named Kevin Kelly came up with the concept of building a following of 1000 true fans; the concept being that there anyone can build a following of 1, 10, 100, 1000 “true” fans – individuals who totally like what you are providing (your sevices, products, etc) and one should be able to make a comfortable living by developing a relationship with your fans (through teleclasses, webinars, newsletter, mailings, contests, etc).
Now, the original concept of 1000 True Fans was developed for artists, authors, etc.; but the same concept can be easily applied in business.
Seth Godin, the author of Tribes, and mega successful entrepreneur, embraced the idea and promotes it as a way to build a prosperous business… and I, as a solo-professional, hear what I want to hear… meaning that we, speakers, coaches, internet marketers, and other solo professionals, all we need is 1000 people who believe in our message and who will be our champions.
My friend Tom Antion has a “fan base” 100,000+ (subscribers to his newsletter and regular attendees at his telecalsses). When he sends out an offer – offering one of his new training CDs, a paid teleclass, a high ticket product, a live event, etc., he always generates thousands or tens of thousands of dollars with each of his offers…
During the past close to a decade, I built a “small” following of about 5000 subscribers, who eagerly wait for my weekly (or sometimes biweekly) tips on Effective Communication & Performance Management. Throughout the years, my list has purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of assessments, trainers kits, and/or participated in my teleclasses or live events…
I’m not sharing this to impress anyone. I’m simply sharing this to show you the power of “True Followers.”
Almost weekly I speak to speakers, coaches, etc. who send me a link to their site and I do not see an opt-in list – no offers – no way to collect visitors’ contact info… or if there’s one, it says “Subscribe to My Newsletter” – what does that mean? What will the subscriber receive in this newsletter?
So, if you don’t have an opt-in box on your site… or a separate landing page where you capture leads, make it a goal to set one up this week… and for Pete’s sake, either be in control of your web design (and I can tell you HOW to do that without much technical knowledge), or you’d better have enough finances to keep paying your web guy to make changes to your site…
Start out small. As we discussed in the previous tip,
- collect your audience members’ business cards, then stay in touch with them, providing them with relevant and valuable information…
- at networking events, make sure to hand out business cards that have an irresistible offer on the back that will make people go to your site and leave their contact info there…
- put on regular teleclasses and let people “fall in love” with you.. and again, at the end of each class [and in the middle of the class too] make sure to offer something that will make them hop over to your site and sign up to your list
- u Tube videos… put your site’s link to the beginning of the description of the video
- articles…. put your irresistible offer in the bio at the end of your articles..
The ways you can grow the numbers of your true fans are countless – use them! Use them all! … well, or all that make sense to you…
So, what are you waiting for? Stop reading my blog, go start building your “tribe” (as Seth Godin would call it) -start building your 1000 True Fans base…
~ In the next post, we’ll talk briefly on how to put together an Irresistaible Offer… see you soon!
and… dont’ be shy, post some comments!
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