Brian Wallace, Founder & President, NowSourcing 

As social media continues to grow, people’s desires to make a name for themselves on these platforms only continues to grow alongside it. Nowadays there is not just money but an endless amount of fame and notoriety to be gained from sites like Facebook and YouTube. 

Almost 90% of people aged 18-29 use social media, and the rate only seems to be rising every year. There’s an endless amount of people, and therefore an endless amount of content, to appeal to others with. This presents both positives and negatives. On the positive side, one can make content on anything. On the negative, they have to be noticed.

Being noticed doesn’t come from insane clickbait, it doesn’t come from viral videos, it usually comes from the slow growing audience that one must build. This is a much harder process than trying to chase lightning in a bottle, but luckily, there is a standard way in which it can be achieved. 

The way this is categorized is there are three major phases for building a perfect audience. Each consists of a few smaller aspects that, once all achieved, creates a strong audience and gives a content creator the potential to succeed.

The first of these phases consists of foundation, environment, and sensitivities. To achieve the first phase, a content creator must build a foundation. Smart content, meant for a wide range of people, that’s sensitive to the environment. Understanding the context in which one creates content, the platforms they use, and their demographics leads to a honing of content.

This honing is explored then in phase two. Phase two consists of tone and timing. Here the content creator must understand the tone they’re giving off and how the audience is receiving it. Timing is also vital now as knowing when to upload, and how to reach new audiences depending on timing is a key part of the path to success.

Finally there’s phase three, emotions. Phase three works by combining the first two phases and all that is learned from them. There must now be security in one’s content and the way in which they carry it out. To do this though one must have a strong sense of control over their emotions.

This means that the audience’s response and fluctuating success cannot dissuade or overly influence the creator. It’s important to take in criticism but equally as important to stay true to one’s game plan and to be consistent above all else. Falling to new trends and the whims of the audience will never produce good results.

These are the major steps towards an audience for anyone. It’s no easy process, but it’s certainly not unmanageable. Instead it just takes consistent effort and passion towards one’s goal. Something anyone can muster if they try hard enough.

Source: Bang Productions

About the Author: Brian Wallace is the Founder and President of NowSourcing, an industry leading infographic design agency in Louisville, KY and Cincinnati, OH which works with companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500s. Brian runs #LinkedInLocal events, hosts the Next Action Podcast, and has been named a Google Small Business Adviser for 2016-present. Follow Brian Wallace on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.