The Fewer Followers You Have, the Better
Today everyone – even the nice retired lady down the street – is obsessed with how many followers they have. Nearly everyone wants more followers.
This, unfortunately, is where nearly everyone screws up on social media. By social media, I mean LinkedIn, Twitter, SlideShare, Facebook and even Forbes. I mean your blog, and your company’s blog. I’m talking about every web site that lets you track how many people have seen or shared what you posted.
The race for more followers is a fool’s mission. You are not NBC in the good old days. To succeed, you do not have to attract a third of the USA's viewers.
To drive this point home, imagine that all your followers came to see you in person. If you have 10,000 followers, imagine a concert hall filled with them. Now what? Do you have 90 minutes of great material to drive the crowd wild? I think not. Do you have the time to have personal, meaningful conversations with every visitor? That would take about 30 minutes times 10,000 followers, or nearly two years’ worth of eight-hour days.
Unless you are selling Coke or Pampers, you don’t need a mass audience.
If you had to meet all your followers in person, wouldn’t it be better to attract five or ten followers a day? And wouldn’t it be better if every follower was deeply interested in your unique talents, experiences and opinions?
By all means.
When I first published an earlier version of this piece on Forbes, some readers took me to task, saying that I had a lot of followers and that my perspective was a bit hypocritical. The truth is, I started attracting followers once I stopped trying to be all things to all people. My goal is to attract people who want to do well by doing good... if you are power hungry or selfish or oblivious, I'm not interested in writing for you.
Plus, I practice what I preach. I read every comment; I answer every email. I do my genuine best to treat every person like, well, an actual person. It's engaged readers who matter the most to me, not abstract numbers on a View counter.
The secret to social media success is to focus on attracting a small number of people with whom you actually wish to interact. The more you think of your “followers” as actual people, the closer you will come to using social media in a highly powerful manner.
Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter for entrepreneurs. Learn more at Kasanoff.com. He is the author of How to Self-Promote without Being a Jerk.
Associate at World Financial Group (WFG)
10 年I enjoy all of your article. So thanks! But I did immediately think, yeah, it's like rich people saying, "Money doesn't really matter." LOL. But good points! Hope you have a great day! Dar
Branding & Marketing Consultant I Build Consumer Brands & Messaging that Resonates & Engages with Your Target Audience
10 年This is a great point. I think it's similar to the do you want to have a lot of acquaintances or a handful of really good, loyal friends. I also see this as a way that I approach LinkedIn. While there are those - and they are welcome to to this approach, that it's better to have as many connections as possible, I take a different tact. I only connect with those that I can stand behind and recommend. Too often I'd found myself asking to be connected to a connection of one of my connections, only to be told, "Oh I really don't know them. I think we met at a networking event." You cannot be everything to all people, nor should we try to be - at least in my opinion. Another out of the park Bruce Kasanoff.
Helping Creators Transform Blogs and Newsletters Into Revenue Streams Through Audience Growth, Content Strategy, and Creative Development of Opportunities for Monetization
10 年Bruce Kasanoff - The main theme of your advice really strikes a chord. Unfortunately, it is not well aligned with the title to your piece, which title was obviously chosen, with some cynicism, to embody some measure of cognitive dissonance, and thereby attract the largest possible readership. Not judging, just saying...because what you actually write is very, very good. Cheers!
BFSI/BPM/Process Re-engineering Veteran/ currently - serving society/ Last assignment-Associate Vice President at Wipro Ltd. - India
10 年similar to having a few good friends (socially) who stand up to you at any point and do not hesitate to critically review what you do rather than the contrary. The synoposis is excellent in your article Bruce. the perspectives are great! thanks again.