Hello @RandomBloger
It really doesn't feel good to be ignored
If you are with a bunch of friends and you tell a story, and if no one cares about you and just ignores it, how do you feel?
Getting ignored is a very bad feeling.
Even if you do something as simple as asking for a lift on the road and the person driving by just ignores you - you feel bad.
When you start out as a content creator, blogger, writer, or YouTuber, your biggest challenge, in the beginning, would be people ignoring you.
Do you feel like this most of the time
You post a video - and it gets 30 views.
You write a blog post - and it gets 2 comments.
A lot of people give up at this point.
They would say "Blogging is dead" or "Every niche is crowded" and instead of going forward, they quit.
Because for most of the people who are starting out - getting 2 comments is not exciting enough.
They keep looking at other bloggers that get all the attention from the audience. And they start copying others. Thinking that copying the content style of others will give them more traction.
They also become more noisy, sensational, and sometimes stupid (like crying, shouting, or doing some stunts on the camera) in an effort to get more attention.
Think for a moment. Are you doing the same?
Most people who are just starting out forget to focus on what they have - their initial audience.
Do you want to know who becomes an influencer
The person who published a blog post, and got 2 comments, and he/she actually responded to those comments.
They responded to those comments because their first focus is to help people with their content, not to build just the "influence".
Building influence is a tricky business.
If you try to build influence directly, and if your focus is on your following, you will never build influence.
However, if you care for your audience and interact with them and genuinely want to help them with your ideas, solutions, and expertise - influence will build as a side effect.
Every social media star, blogger, influencer, and marketer in this world started with a very small following and grew it from there because they nurtured their initial audience.
If you plant a seed, you need to water it until the sprouts show up. And it will be a long time before you can start plucking the fruits. You cannot plant a seed and immediately expect a tree to appear in front of you.
When I started my blogging journey, I had less than 100 readers.
But I made an ebook on "Dream Jobs" just for them (because most of them wanted to learn how to get their dream job).
I gave it as a free download.
They gave their phone numbers when they downloaded this lead magnet and I called all 100 of them.
One by one.
Speaking on phone for at least 5-10 minutes.
I understood their problems.
The knowledge of their problems motivated me to write more blog posts. It worked well for my small audience. Which became the root of all the future growth.
I did not do keyword research or was looking for popular posts in other blogs I can copy.
Many bloggers just focus on the technical aspects of blogging. But it is not as important as caring for your readers - the real humans who will read your blog.
You can even write a post on a Word Doc and share it with your readers - and if the content is life-changing, no one is going to bother about your website, your logo, your colours, or your design.
Interacting with real people, on phone or in person, is not always an easy task. You have to put yourself out there in a vulnerable position.
That's why most bloggers avoid human interactions.
Instead, they do this:
You build influence with real humans.
So go ahead and interact with real humans.
And be patient.
Building influence is a slow process and if you are looking at the results all the time, you will get demotivated very fast.
Beyond money and fame, there has to be a purpose and a tendency to help others with your knowledge.
Only the satisfaction of helping others will fuel your trip to keep moving forward - even when you do not see results for years.
The email you are reading right now is being sent to 4,04,730 recipients.
I did not get here by focusing only on how I can get here.
I started with serving my small community of people with the content they needed and I have grown mostly with word-of-mouth referrals.
Some day, I believe I will have a subscriber list of 10 million (1 crore) people, but I am not chasing that.
Just like I was happy serving 100 people, I am happy serving 4 lakh people with my content.
The content I create includes free blog posts, emails, YouTube videos, podcasts, ebooks, slides, live webinars, and mastermind sessions.
I am able to sell my premium courses and services only because people can see how much I care.
I don't even try very hard to sell.
Every month, the Internship batch gets filled up and sold out.
People are waiting in the queue.
That's because I care.
And I have been caring for other people's success since 2013.
You can see how much I care based on this email - to share with you on what's on my mind.
You can see the kind of effort I am investing in this email, which has no links or sales pitches at all. I am able to do this because I care for you (and my audience).
I believe that my discovery as a creator will also help you as a creator. That's what I wanted to share with you today and also wanted to inspire you with my own personal example.
So if you want to become an influencer and a profitable creator, start creating content for your audience.
Even if your audience is just one person.
Yes. Even if you just have one reader, help your reader. One reader will bring in 10 more readers.
Anyone who creates content consistently for a few weeks can gain 100 followers, fans, or subscribers.
Once you get your first 100 subscribers, instead of looking at how you can get to 1,000 subscribers, just focus on providing value to the first 100.
The first 100 will get you the first 1,000.
The first 1,000 will get you the first 10,000.
The first 10,000 will get you the first 100,000.
And the first 100,000 will get you millions (if not billions).
Never lose focus on your community.
Your tribe. Your followers. They are the foundation of your business.
Remember, blogging and influence building is a very slow process.
More like this: 🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌
The real results will come from blogging only after 5 years.
When the real results come, it will turn around your lifestyle, worldview, and wealth.
Don't be disappointed that it takes a long time. Be happy about it because if anyone can achieve overnight success - then everyone will do it.
The time it takes to build a following and influence is a barrier to entry for most of the people - and that's why it is easier than you think - only if you can stick with it for a long enough time.
People spend 4 years in an engineering college.
People spend 6+ years in a medical college.
People spend 8-10 years practicing for CA.
Imagine all the careers out there. To become the best, you need to spend 5-10 years.
If all the career options out there takes so long to build, why should building a career as a creator, blogger or influencer be any different?
Live a simple lifestyle, save money, live below your means, free up your time, and focus on your audience.
Growth will come naturally to you.
Enjoy the process, not the destination.
There is no destination.
Once you reach the destination (a goal), you will have another goal to pursue.
You will never arrive and then retire - when you are a creator. It is a journey.
The only way to be a good creator is to be a creator for life.
And just enjoy the process of creating content and adding value to people's lives. And make it a lifestyle.
You will never be ignored, as long as you don't ignore your tribe.
That's all I wanted to share with you in this email today.
I buy the idea of If you plant a seed, you need to water it until the sprouts show up. And it will be a long time before you can start plucking the fruits. You cannot plant a seed and immediately expect a tree to appear in front of you