15+ Creatives Reveal How to Grow an Audience Online When You're Struggling
As a creative business owner, growing your audience online can be a struggle at first with so many different tools and strategies to choose from. That's why I created this Lessons Learned series!
I reached out to 15 creative business owners about growing their audience online and asked them a few questions.
These are the questions that I asked them:
"If you could go back in time to your first year in business, what would you tell yourself?" Read the post here: 15+ Creatives Reveal Lessons Learned as a Business Owner
"What is the biggest lesson that you've learned about growing your audience online?" Read the post here: 15+ Creatives Share Lessons Learned About Growing An Audience Online
This post is the last post in the Lessons Learned series and I hope that you find these answers helpful! Here is the question I asked for this post:
What is one piece of advice that you would give someone who is struggling with growing their audience online?
1. Patricia from Syt Biz
"Be consistent. You get out what you put in."
2. Charis from Charis Dillon
"Make sure to be yourself and make sure you have a cohesive voice throughout all social media platforms and your website. Engage with people online and put out valuable content.”
3. Stephanie from Career Makeover Academy
"Be vulnerable online - share your experiences good AND bad without fear or shame. People learn more from the not so positive stories we share than the lies about everything being glorious.”
4. Maigen from Maigen Thomas Enterprises, LLC// Build a Better Wedding Business // Wedding for $1000
"Truly connect with your ideal audience. Make them feel wanted and appreciated. Ask them what they want and find a way to make what you give them seem needed, not just desired.
Also, don't give up. It's hard. It takes work and patience. But it's worth doing.
Don't forget to get a fresh art of eyes on your work occasionally to see if what you're doing makes sense. Find a mentor or an accountability partner who can give actionable feedback.”
5. Jo from Kalavati Happiness Cafe
"Show up every day for at least two years without expecting amazing results, and you'll become amazing on the journey. People love to see someone blossoming in front of them. Don't hide.’
6. Colleen from Personal Paper Hugs
"Research other Instagram feeds similar to yours to help research relevant hashtags and I would also say to be consistent with posting."
7. Krista from Coded Creative
"If you're currently struggling to grow an audience, I'd encourage you to reach out to others and start making connections. Whether it's learning about people in your audience or making online friends that can help you along, talking to others always pays off.”
8. Molly from Darling Rage Creations
"One piece of advice is to leave the salesy awkwardness in 2014 where it belongs. Today, it's all about being yourself, and developing real and authentic relationships with other human beings. Believe it or not, the more you connect and GIVE, the more you get.”
9. Amanda from Amanda Cross Blog
"Test different methods of growing your audience, but most of all, make sure you are giving them your all. It is so easy to jump around without ever giving a traffic method time to work its magic. Things like Pinterest and Google SEO take time to develop so often we give up right before we make a breakthrough. Don't let that happen to you. Instead, find books and courses about traffic strategies, implement them, and track your growth. Tracking is the most important part of the process, in my opinion, because it's tough to see that you have grown if you aren't tracking the metrics associated with growth."
10. Erin from Erin Shebish
"Be brave. Many times we struggle to build our audience because we're afraid to put ourselves out there for new eyes to see. Putting yourself out there is scary and can make a person feel vulnerable. But be brave. Say yes to scary things. Pitch to the podcast, introduce yourself to that person. It'll all work out just fine. Pinky swear."
11. Maggie from Maggie Giele Digital Strategy
"Pick one thing and just do it! Don't wait for it to be perfect. As long as it's helpful and useful, it should be out there.”
12. Julia from Julia Slike & Co.
"Focus on WHAT you are selling first and WHO you are selling it to second. You don't need an audience if you have nothing to offer them for money, that's not a business that's a hobby.”
13. Jaimie from Jaimie Myers
"Listen to your people! If you don't continue to give them what they really want, they won't stick around. Survey them often as your audience grows and changes so that you can continue creating content they really need and love.”
14. Elna from Profitable Creative
"Start listening to your audience. Whether it's in your comments, on Facebook or from replies to your newsletters, listen to their challenges and use your blog to help them.”
15. Lindsey from Hazel Haven
Remember what skills you ALREADY have inside of you and don't wait for permission to try something new and track your business stats.
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Whew! So many great tips listed above. I did see a common theme though, didn't you?
Put yourself out there. Be patient. Stay consistent. Make those connections. Tell your story. Take action.
I loved it when Erin said, "Be brave," and when Molly said, "the more you connect and GIVE, the more you get."
If you found this post helpful, please share it!
Hey there, I'm Lindsey the online educator behind hazelhaven.com. I help creative business owners learn how to use the tools to grow their audience online. I'm an introverted extrovert who loves tech systems, dark chocolate and a strong cup of coffee. Be sure to join my free community by clicking here Creative Biz Haven.
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