Why You Need to Create and Grow Your Tribe

In the recent past, there has been a focus on how Daniel Ndambuki (aka Churchill) runs his comedy show, the Churchill Show. And it has to do with the financial and mental health status of several of the comedians he has hosted.

Churchill is being blamed for their struggles and, in particular, accused of not paying them enough. Indeed, some Kenyans are wondering whether Churchill has been fair to the people who work on his show.

There could be genuine concerns. However, IMO, I think some comedians who have appeared on Churchill Show, like many other Kenyan creatives, haven't realized that we are in the era of the Internet.

 Indeed, there was a time when, if you were a creative, say a comedian, a writer or artist of any kind, you had to beg, cajole and even bribe a gatekeeper to give you continuous access to an audience.

 If you were a great writer, an editor had to notice you and bring you to work for their newspaper or magazine. If you were a great novelist, a publisher had to believe your work would profit their firm for them to showcase and present it to their tribe (audience). It was the same if you were a great radio, TV presenter, or even comedian, you had to be hired by a major media house for anyone to ever know you existed.

 Do you know why the radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, and publishers had so much gatekeeping power?

 They were the only ones with the infrastructure and tools to create, grow, and maintain a tribe (an audience). Indeed, before the 1990s, only the state (government) owned radio and a TV station. There were not more than three major newspapers in Kenya.

 And it didn't matter how good you were, if they terminated your contract most often that meant the end of your career unless another gatekeeper hired you.

 That's no longer the world in which we live. Today everyone has access to the most advanced infrastructure and tools for building their own tribe.

 Yes, it takes a lot of work and persistence. Nevertheless, even a teenager not out of their parents' care can now start a blog, YouTube channel, a podcast, or even an eBook publishing company and lead a bigger tribe (audience) than what some media corporations have, and be making tens of millions of shillings.

 Of course, aside from being hardworking and persistent, a creative has to have something of value to offer for people to join their tribe. Indeed, your primary concern today as a creative is whether you have content that can attract, engage, and delight an audience.

 Now, going back to Churchill show, it is an awesome platform one can use to start growing their own tribe. If you are a comedian, and you get to perform on the show and appear on TV a few times, you've had a head start.

 You have something millions wish they had, and that is name recognition and social proof. You can easily use those to build a platform on which to grow your own tribe. You can, later on, monetize that tribe however you want.

 Indeed some comedians who have been on Churchill Show have gone ahead to take advantage of this opportunity. An excellent example is MCA Tricky. He started a YouTube channel very early on in his career, and today it has over 200k subscribers. It is his platform, and he uses it to engage and entertain his tribe as well as generate revenue on his own terms.

 Then there are comedians who've never gotten an opportunity to be on Churchill Show or any other similar platform, but through hard work and persistence have grown their own tribes.

 A great example here is Flaqo 411. The young man started uploading comedy skits on social media not long ago. Today he's a huge name in the Kenyan comedy scene. He's already advertising for major brands, including the Communication Authority of Kenya.

 If you are a creative, and you want to be relevant going forward, you have to start thinking about growing your tribe on a platform you own. It could be a blog, a YouTube channel, podcast, etc. The bigger your tribe is, the more monetization options you have, and that means an income that is not dependent on the whims of a boss.

 Also, going forward (start watching out for this) media houses, and even publishers will prefer engaging people who've already created their own tribes. That is because it makes economic sense. They will not only pay for your content but also access to the tribe you've created.

 Indeed, going forward, creatives aren't going to have an employer and employee relationship with those who hire them, but partnerships. That is because you, too, as a creative, will be joining a media house or a publishing firm as a part of a strategy to expand your own tribe by being exposed to their tribe.

 So, friends, if you are doing anything creative, comedy, writing, etc., start to think of how you can create and grow your own tribe. Stop begging others to let you deliver content to their tribes for short term gains. Beg them only when you need to access their tribe as part of your strategy to grow your own tribe.

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