Wanna grow your audience?
Here are 4 common audience-building tips you should avoid like the plague
(And what to do instead)
Here are 4 common audience-building tips you should avoid like the plague
(And what to do instead)
A quick caveat:
Building an audience is f*cking hard
(Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to sell you something)
But it doesn’t have to feel so impossible
Watch out for these 4 common bits of bad advice that keep you stuck...
Building an audience is f*cking hard
(Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to sell you something)
But it doesn’t have to feel so impossible
Watch out for these 4 common bits of bad advice that keep you stuck...
Bad advice: “Just be yourself” ❌
Top performers know being yourself isn’t the secret to success
(It can actually kill your results)
When your work and personal identity are fused together, failure becomes much riskier
If something fails—YOU failed
What’s an alternative?
Top performers know being yourself isn’t the secret to success
(It can actually kill your results)
When your work and personal identity are fused together, failure becomes much riskier
If something fails—YOU failed
What’s an alternative?
Better advice: Create an alter ego âś…
As @todd_herman explains in his book, The Alter Ego Effect, an alter ego is like your second self
It’s the version of you that can do scary things and step up if needed to help overcome mental blockers
Clark Kent had Superman
And Beyonce?
As @todd_herman explains in his book, The Alter Ego Effect, an alter ego is like your second self
It’s the version of you that can do scary things and step up if needed to help overcome mental blockers
Clark Kent had Superman
And Beyonce?
Sasha Fierce was Beyonce’s alter ego
Beyonce created Sasha early in her career to help overcome stage fright
I bet you can relate...
Building an audience can feel like a performance—it’s scary to stand up and share your work publicly
Creating an alter ego can make it easier
Beyonce created Sasha early in her career to help overcome stage fright
I bet you can relate...
Building an audience can feel like a performance—it’s scary to stand up and share your work publicly
Creating an alter ego can make it easier
OK. Ready for more bad advice?
Bad advice: “Just use these proven templates” ❌
If you want to become a thought leader in your niche...
Copying existing leaders and using the same templates or tactics they use feels like a smart move
The problem?
Bad advice: “Just use these proven templates” ❌
If you want to become a thought leader in your niche...
Copying existing leaders and using the same templates or tactics they use feels like a smart move
The problem?
You don’t have the leverage, resources, or reach they have today
Their proven templates won’t work as well for you
What’s better advice?
Explore what top creators were doing *before* they blew up and understand the psychology behind *why* it worked
Let's look at Mr. Beast...
Their proven templates won’t work as well for you
What’s better advice?
Explore what top creators were doing *before* they blew up and understand the psychology behind *why* it worked
Let's look at Mr. Beast...
Today Mr. Beast has 136M YouTube subscribers
He spends millions making insane videos—like recreating Squid Games (which reportedly lost $1M)
But Mr. Beast learned early on that you don’t need to spend lots of money to go viral
His first viral video cost $0 and got 6M views...
He spends millions making insane videos—like recreating Squid Games (which reportedly lost $1M)
But Mr. Beast learned early on that you don’t need to spend lots of money to go viral
His first viral video cost $0 and got 6M views...
Mr. Beast recorded himself counting to 100,000
It took 37 hours to do and taught him a key lesson:
If you want people to pay attention, show the COST of your work
Behavior scientists call this *costly signaling* and Mr. Beast uses this technique in every video he makes
But...
It took 37 hours to do and taught him a key lesson:
If you want people to pay attention, show the COST of your work
Behavior scientists call this *costly signaling* and Mr. Beast uses this technique in every video he makes
But...
Mr. Beast isn’t the first YouTuber to use costly signaling to get attention
Remember Tai Lopez?
Tai’s infamous “here in my garage” videos used costly signaling too
Tai built a massive audience and 9-figure business fast
And his lambo videos worked... until they didn't 👇
Remember Tai Lopez?
Tai’s infamous “here in my garage” videos used costly signaling too
Tai built a massive audience and 9-figure business fast
And his lambo videos worked... until they didn't 👇
Both Mr. Beast and Tai Lopez are famous YouTubers (or infamous in Tai’s case)
Both used costly signaling in their videos to capture attention and grow their audience
But they did it VERY differently
Which approach should you copy?
Probably neither
Both used costly signaling in their videos to capture attention and grow their audience
But they did it VERY differently
Which approach should you copy?
Probably neither
The lesson?
Copying big accounts and using their proven templates won’t help YOU stand out
Instead, learn the psychology behind top-performing content so you understand *why* it works âś…
Tools like @sparktoro and @tweetmodash make it easy to find top creators to analyze
Copying big accounts and using their proven templates won’t help YOU stand out
Instead, learn the psychology behind top-performing content so you understand *why* it works âś…
Tools like @sparktoro and @tweetmodash make it easy to find top creators to analyze
Wanna see what smart people like @amandanat and @GrammarHippy were doing *before* they blew up?
Use Twitter’s advanced search to find their top content from past years
Create a swipe file of your fav posts to analyze for inspiration
Tools like @swipewell make it easy
Use Twitter’s advanced search to find their top content from past years
Create a swipe file of your fav posts to analyze for inspiration
Tools like @swipewell make it easy
Ready for more bad advice?
Bad advice: “Quality over quantity” ❌
I get why people say this but it’s misleading
No—you can’t post lots of sh*tty content and build a loyal following
But the unsexy truth is that you need quality AND quantity to grow
It’s hard but doable...
Bad advice: “Quality over quantity” ❌
I get why people say this but it’s misleading
No—you can’t post lots of sh*tty content and build a loyal following
But the unsexy truth is that you need quality AND quantity to grow
It’s hard but doable...
Here’s some better advice:
Quantity leads to quality âś…
You know those people with massive audiences whose work you admire today?
They didn’t start out great—they sucked too
We ALL suck in the beginning
But the more you publish the faster you learn and the better you’ll get
Quantity leads to quality âś…
You know those people with massive audiences whose work you admire today?
They didn’t start out great—they sucked too
We ALL suck in the beginning
But the more you publish the faster you learn and the better you’ll get
Think of each post as an experiment
When a piece of content takes off, you know where to double-down
Tools like @hypefury offer advanced analytics and make it easier to see what’s working
You can confidently repost that same content a few months later knowing it will do well
When a piece of content takes off, you know where to double-down
Tools like @hypefury offer advanced analytics and make it easier to see what’s working
You can confidently repost that same content a few months later knowing it will do well
For best results, reword your original post so it feels new
AI copywriting tools like @tribescaler make it easy to generate ideas for different hooks in seconds
Repurposing your best ideas makes it easier to publish more high-quality content
Like this:
Take 1 Take 2
AI copywriting tools like @tribescaler make it easy to generate ideas for different hooks in seconds
Repurposing your best ideas makes it easier to publish more high-quality content
Like this:
Take 1 Take 2
Last but not least...
Bad advice: “[X tactic or channel] is dead” ❌
Trends come and go
Algorithms change
The tactics that work best today—think Twitter threads and LinkedIn carousels—will eventually be so overdone that people stop paying attention
But...
Bad advice: “[X tactic or channel] is dead” ❌
Trends come and go
Algorithms change
The tactics that work best today—think Twitter threads and LinkedIn carousels—will eventually be so overdone that people stop paying attention
But...
Word-of-mouth always works âś…
The fastest way to build an audience is to get *other people* sharing your work and recommending you
That means the fastest way to build an audience is by creating awesome, un-ignorable content
That’s the “secret"
(It’s not sexy but it’s true)
The fastest way to build an audience is to get *other people* sharing your work and recommending you
That means the fastest way to build an audience is by creating awesome, un-ignorable content
That’s the “secret"
(It’s not sexy but it’s true)
If you’re already creating killer content...
How can you get more people sharing?
1. Ask them
2. Incentivize them
If you’re growing an email list—and you should be—tools like @sparkloopHQ make it easy to incentivize referrals
You can even pay other newsletters to promote you
How can you get more people sharing?
1. Ask them
2. Incentivize them
If you’re growing an email list—and you should be—tools like @sparkloopHQ make it easy to incentivize referrals
You can even pay other newsletters to promote you
tl;dr
There’s a lot of bad advice on audience growth
Here’s some better advice:
1. Separate yourself from your work by creating an alter ego
2. Study what top folks did before they blew up & learn WHY it works
3. Quantity leads to quality
4. Word-of-mouth wins
On that note...
There’s a lot of bad advice on audience growth
Here’s some better advice:
1. Separate yourself from your work by creating an alter ego
2. Study what top folks did before they blew up & learn WHY it works
3. Quantity leads to quality
4. Word-of-mouth wins
On that note...
If you enjoyed this post, would you share it?
It took me 5.5 hours to create and sharing it only takes 0.6 seconds
You’re the best — thank you 🙏
It took me 5.5 hours to create and sharing it only takes 0.6 seconds
You’re the best — thank you 🙏
P.S. I have an alter ego and she helped me write this thread
Her name is Angy Stevens and she's a mashup of:
Angelina Jolie: who is unapologetically herself and doesn't take shit
Mindy Kaling: who is funny and oozes confidence
Steve Jobs: the GOAT
Do you have one too?
Her name is Angy Stevens and she's a mashup of:
Angelina Jolie: who is unapologetically herself and doesn't take shit
Mindy Kaling: who is funny and oozes confidence
Steve Jobs: the GOAT
Do you have one too?
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