How To Grow An Audience If You Have 0 Followers

Intro (0s)

• The speaker has amassed a large following across multiple platforms including an email list, Twitter, YouTube, and a podcast. (40s)
• The speaker intends to share nine counterintuitive lessons learned from their experience building an audience. (1m16s)
• The speaker acknowledges that there are multiple approaches to building an audience and will focus on sharing their personal experience and insights. (1m57s)

Forget the numbers (2m17s)

• It is more beneficial to have a smaller audience of highly engaged individuals who align with your content than a large, unengaged audience. (2m39s)
• Creators should focus on producing authentic content that reflects their unique perspectives, interests, and experiences. (5m44s)
• The most effective way to stand out in content creation is to embrace individuality and present a product that is uniquely you. (6m5s)

Find your inner nerd (6m11s)

• To create engaging content, one should focus on their passions and areas of expertise, similar to how someone passionate about model trains would excitedly share their creation. (6m52s)
• The internet allows individuals to connect with others who share their niche interests, regardless of geographical location. (8m16s)
• Defining success solely by audience size can lead to feelings of failure, whereas focusing on exploring and sharing one's passions can make the process inherently rewarding. (9m42s)

Build a magnet (9m57s)

• The goal is to build a magnet that attracts like-minded individuals, rather than focusing on building a large, generic audience. (10m1s)
• Every piece of content created, such as blogs, podcasts, and videos, acts as a "honeypot" to attract these like-minded individuals. (10m12s)
• Building this "magnet" leads to valuable relationships, friendships, and accelerated learning opportunities through shared interests and knowledge. (10m23s)

First, Last, Best, Worst, Weirdest (10m40s)

• The "first, last, best, worst, weirdest" exercise can help generate content ideas by prompting you to recall stories from different areas of your life. (11m9s)
• To use this exercise, choose a subject like jobs or relationships and think of stories related to your first, last, best, worst, and weirdest experiences within that subject. (11m20s)
• This exercise helps you develop numerous personal stories to use as content, ensuring you have a wealth of ideas. (12m30s)

The thing I wish I knew earlier (12m40s)

• To build a strong and loyal audience, individuals should focus on being known well rather than simply being well-known. This involves sharing personal stories, hopes, dreams, fears, obsessions, and quirks to establish a connection with the audience. (12m51s)
• The "5 Ds" are a framework for achieving this: Done (track record), Deliver (what you offer), Do (work and fun activities), Dreams (aspirations and goals), and Dork Out (passions and interests). (13m23s)
• By embracing the 5 Ds, individuals can foster a sense of connection with their audience and increase their chances of encountering valuable opportunities. When people are familiar with someone's interests and expertise, they are more likely to reach out to them with relevant opportunities, leading to a form of "luck" in personal and professional endeavors. (15m3s)

No such thing as too long (15m53s)

• There is no such thing as content being too long, only content being too boring. (15m54s)
• If viewers are still watching the video, it is because they are finding the content insightful, entertaining, and useful. (16m12s)
• Content length is not an issue if the content is engaging. (16m15s)

A+ content with C- delivery (16m18s)

• The goal is to create high-quality content, even with less polished delivery. (16m30s)
• Focus on improving content before investing heavily in production quality. (17m8s)
• When starting out, it's important to build a "binge bank" of content, rather than focusing on low initial viewership. (17m50s)

Create a binge bank (17m58s)

• The goal is to create one to two hours of content that will make viewers become fans. (18m3s)
• Building a "binge bank" of content helps to overcome the issue of having no audience when first starting out. (18m25s)
• Content should evoke a feeling in viewers rather than simply providing information. (18m28s)

People don’t want information (18m32s)

• Social media is a highly competitive market where individuals and businesses compete for attention. (18m36s)
• Instead of focusing on information, individuals and businesses should focus on selling a feeling or emotion that resonates with their target audience. (18m50s)
• Consistently providing a specific feeling or emotion can turn casual viewers or listeners into lifelong fans. (19m23s)

Be so good they can’t ignore you (19m55s)

• Mr. Beast advises aspiring YouTubers to create 100 videos, focusing on improving one aspect with each video. (20m11s)
• This advice highlights that success comes from consistent effort and refining one's craft, ultimately making the content so good it cannot be ignored. (20m36s)
• Instead of blaming algorithms for poor performance, creators should focus on improving their content to appeal to the audience. (23m10s)