Happy Thursday, y’all! Today’s issue of Backstage Pass will be a bit longer, as I want to do a deep dive into a topic that a lot of people and businesses struggle with: Building a following online. Let’s start with some definitions. Audience. This is an audience:
I am liking article after article thanks to that brilliant tactic of yours of linking a related post under the article. Coming back to this article, my audience is people who know me or know of me. It's pretty diverse from school mates to people I met at a networking event to a teaching assistant I once had. I still have no clue on what clicks with them. That's also because my content is a reflection of what's going on in my head as I experience life, which is evolving every minute. I write to express my views, but of course I don't intend to speak into the void always. I wonder if you have any recommendations for nascent accounts like mine? I am sure I need to interact with similar niches and slowly build the engagement but other than that, would you have any other sparkle bombs? I am also realising that what I have currently in my 100+ subs is basically an audience:( Sheesh!
Hi Urmila! Love your comments thank you so much for the kind thoughts!
The reality is, I’ve been writing here for 10 months now. The first few months here, I was lucky if a new article got 5 Likes and a comment. And 90% of the people who engage with my content now are people I have met within the last 3 months or so.
There’s no magic bullet, just doing what you are already doing well, keep engaging with people and making new connections! That’s what I have done, it’s meant I can make a lot of new friends plus get a better idea of what I want to write about.
Think of all the amazing people you will meet over the next 6 months here that today you don’t even know! Every new connection will help you grow. You are doing great, Urmila, just keep engaging and the rest is downhill!
What a fantastic post, Mack. Thanks for clarifying the difference between audience and community and making a case for both. Which begs a question: Should we publishers focus on one or the other here? There is potential to build both, but does one trump the other?
Thank you Paul for a wonderful comment. As for which publishers on Substack should pursue, audience or community, it really depends on your objectives, I believe. I will say that I think a community provides more sustainable growth and success. It’s more a long play IMO. Audience might be the way to go if you are more concerned with raw traffic and less with engagement.
Hey Mack, this is such an awesome post! I totally agree that building a community online takes tons of hard work—even more, I think, than building an audience. I’m realizing on Substack just how much you have to stay engaged and interact with others, but it’s so fun and rewarding on here. This was something I would be terrified to do a few years ago. I’m glad I found Substack lol. Thank you for posting this! I love your newsletter! Just subscribed! :)
Thank you so much Khadejah! It's interesting, building an online community does take a lot of hard work, I agree with you. On the other hand, if you can find a community that you want to be a part of, then you enjoy being in that community. So the effort you have to put into building that community often doesn't seem like work. In the early days of Twitter say from 2008-2010, I build a pretty big community there, and I would often spend 6-8 hours a day on Twitter engaging with others. But the time flew by, it never seemed like work, even though the interactions actually led me to getting work.
Perhaps that helps explain why the people that have built communities are so good at it: Because they love the process of connecting with fellow community members and it doesn't seem like work at all. Like you, I am seeing some of that happening here on Substack and it's great! Have a wonderful weekend!
In Trinidad, we have something called mini buses. It didn't matter that we were strangers, but once you hop on the minibus, you tell everyone good morning, and they would reply. Hopping off - you wish everyone a good day, and they will respond. When I moved to NYC in 2003, I hopped on the subway using the same approach. Yes, I got some weird ass stares, but I did this consistently for two weeks. I took the same train every day at a specific time. Eventually, people started responding, and miraculously, I made a few friends. The point is empathy and respect are such rare in this community these days, so if you have them in excess, just use them. Thank you for the feature today. I have been having a really horrible week on the personal side, but this absolutely cheered me up. Thank you a million times over, Mack.
Oh my days! @Neela , I admire your persistence. I live in the NYC of the east in Hong Kong and in addition to the language barrier I would absolutely get loco looks here if I did that. I have a whole load of empathy and respect to share but I take rejection too harshly:) So my empathy spreading streak keeps taking a break:) Thanks for the inspo always!
Rejection sensitivity is real - when I initially migrated from Trinidad to NYC in 2003 I faced a bit of the same.
Back then I started the "5% Rule"
Instead of aiming to connect with everyone, try sharing empathy with just 5% of the people you encounter. A smile to a barista, a nod to a neighbor. Tiny wins count! I found that % improving every year :)
Thank you for sharing a bit about yourself Urmila.
What a wonderful story, Neela! Also interesting reminder that our behavior can impact the behavior of others. I'm sorry about your week, I hope the weekend is restful and relaxing for you because you deserve it, my friend!
Your post today really hit home for me. I live in a planned development in a suburb of Houston. Lots of residents, but a few years ago, there were frustratingly few nearby, what you might call neighborhood vendors of all kinds. Few restaurants, no established group of service businesses critical to new residents, a sparce list of "trusted" tradespeople, etc. There was a well established Facebook group for residents, but for some reason, local businesses weren't allowed to join or participate in that group.
Call me a hobbiest with spare time.
I created a new resident group, but worked hard to add these types of local businesses as members to help residents find the service or assistance they needed. I also solicited posts from neighborhood sports leagues, babysitters, dog walkers, school arts and athletic events calendars, food trucks, lawn services, painters, etc. That group has grown from less than 50 to near 5,000 in about four years. Soon after creation, Covid kicked in, and all those group events evaporated, so I made Covid issues a central theme. One place residents could see the school and district policies, find all the new take outs created and delivery services, and the local, state, and national stats.
The two central truths you wrote about today are what drove our group growth and more importantly, the group's value to it's members. I didn't create the group to make any money, or lead people, I tried to create something where the primary value being offered is an opportunity for each member to add value for every other member, through trusted recommendations, helping identify trusted resources, find other residents with similar interests, and facilitate engagement with each other. At this point, my primary role is acting as a gatekeeper to limit membership to neighborhood residents and owner operated businesses which cater to the group, traffic and construction info, government actions, and local events.
Every community is unique, but I think a thriving one operates utilizing the strategies detailed in your post today.
If you want to increase your reach and impact, focus on building a community framework which members can enthusiastically embrace to increase their own connection to the group, and positively impact your own efforts.
David I love it! You are passionate about your neighborhood, so you worked to build something that created value for your neighborhood. You worked with both local residents and businesses to show them how to contribute in a way that would create value for the community. As a result, everyone involved got value back. Love it, sir!
I am liking article after article thanks to that brilliant tactic of yours of linking a related post under the article. Coming back to this article, my audience is people who know me or know of me. It's pretty diverse from school mates to people I met at a networking event to a teaching assistant I once had. I still have no clue on what clicks with them. That's also because my content is a reflection of what's going on in my head as I experience life, which is evolving every minute. I write to express my views, but of course I don't intend to speak into the void always. I wonder if you have any recommendations for nascent accounts like mine? I am sure I need to interact with similar niches and slowly build the engagement but other than that, would you have any other sparkle bombs? I am also realising that what I have currently in my 100+ subs is basically an audience:( Sheesh!
Hi Urmila! Love your comments thank you so much for the kind thoughts!
The reality is, I’ve been writing here for 10 months now. The first few months here, I was lucky if a new article got 5 Likes and a comment. And 90% of the people who engage with my content now are people I have met within the last 3 months or so.
There’s no magic bullet, just doing what you are already doing well, keep engaging with people and making new connections! That’s what I have done, it’s meant I can make a lot of new friends plus get a better idea of what I want to write about.
Think of all the amazing people you will meet over the next 6 months here that today you don’t even know! Every new connection will help you grow. You are doing great, Urmila, just keep engaging and the rest is downhill!
Aye aye captain! If I make it big on Substack, you would be one of the key people to mention when I talk about how it all happened:)
What a fantastic post, Mack. Thanks for clarifying the difference between audience and community and making a case for both. Which begs a question: Should we publishers focus on one or the other here? There is potential to build both, but does one trump the other?
Thank you Paul for a wonderful comment. As for which publishers on Substack should pursue, audience or community, it really depends on your objectives, I believe. I will say that I think a community provides more sustainable growth and success. It’s more a long play IMO. Audience might be the way to go if you are more concerned with raw traffic and less with engagement.
Hey Mack, this is such an awesome post! I totally agree that building a community online takes tons of hard work—even more, I think, than building an audience. I’m realizing on Substack just how much you have to stay engaged and interact with others, but it’s so fun and rewarding on here. This was something I would be terrified to do a few years ago. I’m glad I found Substack lol. Thank you for posting this! I love your newsletter! Just subscribed! :)
Thank you so much Khadejah! It's interesting, building an online community does take a lot of hard work, I agree with you. On the other hand, if you can find a community that you want to be a part of, then you enjoy being in that community. So the effort you have to put into building that community often doesn't seem like work. In the early days of Twitter say from 2008-2010, I build a pretty big community there, and I would often spend 6-8 hours a day on Twitter engaging with others. But the time flew by, it never seemed like work, even though the interactions actually led me to getting work.
Perhaps that helps explain why the people that have built communities are so good at it: Because they love the process of connecting with fellow community members and it doesn't seem like work at all. Like you, I am seeing some of that happening here on Substack and it's great! Have a wonderful weekend!
In Trinidad, we have something called mini buses. It didn't matter that we were strangers, but once you hop on the minibus, you tell everyone good morning, and they would reply. Hopping off - you wish everyone a good day, and they will respond. When I moved to NYC in 2003, I hopped on the subway using the same approach. Yes, I got some weird ass stares, but I did this consistently for two weeks. I took the same train every day at a specific time. Eventually, people started responding, and miraculously, I made a few friends. The point is empathy and respect are such rare in this community these days, so if you have them in excess, just use them. Thank you for the feature today. I have been having a really horrible week on the personal side, but this absolutely cheered me up. Thank you a million times over, Mack.
Oh my days! @Neela , I admire your persistence. I live in the NYC of the east in Hong Kong and in addition to the language barrier I would absolutely get loco looks here if I did that. I have a whole load of empathy and respect to share but I take rejection too harshly:) So my empathy spreading streak keeps taking a break:) Thanks for the inspo always!
Happy weekend Urmila :)
Rejection sensitivity is real - when I initially migrated from Trinidad to NYC in 2003 I faced a bit of the same.
Back then I started the "5% Rule"
Instead of aiming to connect with everyone, try sharing empathy with just 5% of the people you encounter. A smile to a barista, a nod to a neighbor. Tiny wins count! I found that % improving every year :)
Thank you for sharing a bit about yourself Urmila.
What a wonderful story, Neela! Also interesting reminder that our behavior can impact the behavior of others. I'm sorry about your week, I hope the weekend is restful and relaxing for you because you deserve it, my friend!
Your post today really hit home for me. I live in a planned development in a suburb of Houston. Lots of residents, but a few years ago, there were frustratingly few nearby, what you might call neighborhood vendors of all kinds. Few restaurants, no established group of service businesses critical to new residents, a sparce list of "trusted" tradespeople, etc. There was a well established Facebook group for residents, but for some reason, local businesses weren't allowed to join or participate in that group.
Call me a hobbiest with spare time.
I created a new resident group, but worked hard to add these types of local businesses as members to help residents find the service or assistance they needed. I also solicited posts from neighborhood sports leagues, babysitters, dog walkers, school arts and athletic events calendars, food trucks, lawn services, painters, etc. That group has grown from less than 50 to near 5,000 in about four years. Soon after creation, Covid kicked in, and all those group events evaporated, so I made Covid issues a central theme. One place residents could see the school and district policies, find all the new take outs created and delivery services, and the local, state, and national stats.
The two central truths you wrote about today are what drove our group growth and more importantly, the group's value to it's members. I didn't create the group to make any money, or lead people, I tried to create something where the primary value being offered is an opportunity for each member to add value for every other member, through trusted recommendations, helping identify trusted resources, find other residents with similar interests, and facilitate engagement with each other. At this point, my primary role is acting as a gatekeeper to limit membership to neighborhood residents and owner operated businesses which cater to the group, traffic and construction info, government actions, and local events.
Every community is unique, but I think a thriving one operates utilizing the strategies detailed in your post today.
If you want to increase your reach and impact, focus on building a community framework which members can enthusiastically embrace to increase their own connection to the group, and positively impact your own efforts.
David I love it! You are passionate about your neighborhood, so you worked to build something that created value for your neighborhood. You worked with both local residents and businesses to show them how to contribute in a way that would create value for the community. As a result, everyone involved got value back. Love it, sir!
Concrete information, and motivational to boot.
Great post, thanks!
Hey David, thanks for saying that!