I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
Prioritize money or audience growth?
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Hi Reader,
How do you determine when to focus on growing your audience and when to prioritize making money?
This isn’t to say there aren't activities that can result in both, but you usually have to choose between the two.
Activities that work to effectively grow your audience typically look different from those that monetize the audience you already have.
In the beginning especially, it can be difficult to figure out where to start. When should you give away things for free? When should you charge?
The first question I like to ask is:
The creators who can focus on audience growth over everything else are going to be those who already have money taken care of. That money could come from a day job, various income sources, or savings. The people who are able to focus exclusively on providing free and valuable content are going to grow bigger than the person with a small audience who is in a hurry to make money.
The second question is:
If you’re trying to become the next James Clear, I don’t think the way to do that is by trying to make a bunch of money along the way.
But if you’re trying to build a small lifestyle business or brand, it may make sense to prioritize making money sooner.
A mistake I see creators make is trying to go after both money and audience at the same time. As the saying goes, if you chase two foxes, you catch none.
Let’s assume you’re not trying to be the next James Clear. You just want something minimally viable.
If you don’t have other sources of income to support you while you build this thing up, growth can be slow. You’re going to have to alternate between focusing on audience growth and money. Growing an audience this way is doable, but it will take awhile.
Ask yourself:
- What business model do you plan to use? (ads or sponsors on content, selling digital products, doing consulting, etc.)
- What is the minimum viable audience size you need for this to support you?
- What other ways can you cover your expenses while you build this minimum viable audience?
It will be easier to grow an audience if you aren’t trying to monetize that audience too soon.
Sahil Bloom’s goal has been to grow an audience of a million people who will buy his book. Until he launches his book, he’s not trying to get his audience to purchase anything else from him. He just continues to publish quality work week after week.
Of course, he has his agencies bringing in revenue and includes sponsors in his newsletter, so those are some ways he’s generating revenue without directly asking his audience to buy anything until his book launches.
If your goal is to build as large of an audience as possible and maximize your reach, the best way to do this is to consistently put out world-class content for free over an extended period of time. This will require that you have other ways of bringing in money while you do so, but it will ultimately grow your audience the fastest.
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In this episode of Process with Marcella Chamorro, I share how I survived that period of my life and what I do now to take care of my mental health (as well as my team's).
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Feel-Good Productivity
My friend, Ali Abdaal, just launched his new book today! If you don't know Ali, or didn't see me on his podcast, he's the most-follow productivity expert. In fact, he just passed 5 million subscribers on YouTube last week.
Ali has read pretty much every book on productivity and time management and believes the secret to productivity isn’t discipline—it’s joy.
In Feel-Good Productivity, he shares evidence-backed methods for goal setting and how to not just accomplish more but feel happier and more fulfilled along the way.
Merry Christmas!
—Nathan
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.