Hello again my friend,
Here’s a question I get frequently…
How do you grow a business from zero?
It’s a question every entrepreneur has asked. For a while social media companies would allow you to build an audience simply by letting your content be be discovered organically.
Companies like Facebook did this because they needed to build a massive user base to make their social site viable.
If you produced good stuff people would see it and subscribe, follow and share.
Then, to stay in front of them all you had to do was continue to put out content that was helpful and entertaining until eventually they become buyers.
That’s not the case anymore. Today less than 1% of your followers on social media will see your organic posts.
The social media giants of today don’t need you or your content the way they once did.
Today, if you want your stuff to be seen you gotta pay, and the costs keep going up.
To build an audience today takes
analog tactics in a digital world
I turned 42 this year. That means I’m still a relatively young man. But in the world of digital business I’m a salty veteran.
I started my first online company in 2008, shortly after google bought youtube and long before social media was a major factor in our lives, much less our businesses.
I scaled my first company quickly by using what I call a “rising tide” strategy.
I’ve written about this before but it begs repeating because it is the #1 way for you to grow your business from scratch without spending money on advertising.
First, you need to surround yourself with people who are on the same journey as you. For us its people who are actively working to grow a digital business.
It’s important for you to connect with people in your industry (competitors) as well as people outside of your industry (collaborators).
The two are not mutually exclusive. There are great opportunities to collaborate with your competitors and it’s important to keep up with what others are doing in your industry.
Despite what you might believe most of the people you’d classify as competitors are more than happy to share ideas, resources and connections with you for one simple reason.
A rising tide lifts all boats
The more people in your network who are doing well, the better you are likely to do.
If you don’t have a good network to connect with, you should join ours.https://www.stapletonagency.com/nomad-network
With hundreds of current and aspiring entrepreneurs its the best place to start building the kind of network that will help you increase your influence and scale your business.
The second thing you need to do is reach out to other people who have an audience that would benefit from what you do.
I suggest starting with people in noncompetitive but complementary businesses.
If you run a dog training business, find people who make dog toys or treats. Reach out to vets, boarding/daycare facilities as well as shelters.
These types of connections will allow you to share audiences without the risk of losing business to a competitor.
Third, don’t overlook people in your niche. One of the easiest ways to build celebrity is to be seen collaborating with other people of influence in your industry.
Finally, dream big but start small. As someone new, with a small following, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to attract the big names in your industry. That’s ok. Still reach out to them. You never know what they might say.
The good news is there are thousands of people who are at your level right now. They need to grow their audience and are struggling the same way you are.
Most of them haven’t even considered a collaboration like I’m suggesting but when you approach them with the opportunity most of them will jump at it.
That’s it, it’s that easy. But it’s not something you can automate. You gotta do it the old fashioned way of picking up the phone, emailing or even (god forbid) writing an actual letter.
Give it a shot and don’t forget to send me a email and tell me what kind of results you’re having.
Talk soon,
Jason
P.S. Our community, The Nomad Network, is exploding with people just like you who want to reclaim their autonomy by building a digital business that can be run from anywhere on earth.
I’d love for you to be part of it. Check out all the details here: https://www.stapletonagency.com/nomad-network
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