How I grew my audience online over a decade ago
It looks pretty similar to what I’d do if I was starting from scratch today…
I have been creating content on the internet since 2013.
It all started with a little blog and over a decade later that little blog has become a small business that has sustained and supported my life for almost ten years now.
I don’t have a HUGE audience - a few thousand on my email list, around 7000 on IG - but it’s enough to connect with hell yes clients and customers throughout the year so that I can do the awesome work that I’m so privileged to do as a business guide each week.
And as I was looking back over this journey so far and how I built an audience online from scratch way back in 2013 I realised: if I was starting from scratch today I wouldn’t do all that much differently. The platforms may have evolved and changed since then, but the underlying intentions would remain the same.
Here’s how:
1: I started a blog
Oh that little blog of mine where I wrote about the skincare products that were helping me to clear my acne and my journey of healing through a mental health breakdown at the start of my 20s.
As time went on it evolved into less of a personal blog and more of a resource for my readers but that little blog is what kickstarted everything I’ve built in my business over the past decade.
If I was starting from scratch now? I’d still have a blog on my website I think, to create content that I could optimise for SEO and share to platforms like Pinterest, but I think I’d also start a Substack too - mostly for reason number 2 below.
2: I joined platforms meant for community and growth
It wasn’t enough just to start a blog and consistently publish content - I had to get out in front of potential readers and community too. Back then it was all about Bloglovin and Twitter for me. Hands up anyone else who spent a whole lot of time on Bloglovin back in the day?
What’s Bloglovin, you may be wondering? It was basically a community platform where you could follow your favourite blogs and could search and find new ones too. Bloglovin created a lot of growth for me in the earlier days of my blogging life as some of my posts would be shared and then featured in roundups etc.
Twitter was also really big for me back in the early days of being online - I would join Twitter chats where I connected with fellow bloggers and could share my content too.
These days, if I was starting from scratch, Substack would definitely be where I’d go to find community and connection, and perhaps also any paid for communities where I could find likeminded people and creators inside too.
3: I built relationships and collaborated
I started my first podcast, Make It Happen, way back in 2015 and hosted interviews with fellow small business owners which was an amazing way for me to connect with people whose work I was inspired by and create sharable and engaging content that naturally put me out in front of some new people through the guest’s audience too.
I also ran an online lifestyle magazine with a good friend for a few years which had collaborators and really sharable content and experimented with co-hosted webinars and being a guest on other people’s podcast too - all things that were really fun and also did a great job of introducing my work to new people too.
4: I created content that was engaging, valuable, and sharable
This, more than anything, is what has supported me to gently reach new people with my work and attract hell yes people to my offerings over the past decade: by creating content that was valuable, engaging, and sharable too.
Through my blog, newsletter, podcasts, and resources I’ve created over the years I have made it easy for my hell yes people to dive deeper into my work and find value and support in what I do.
5: I found my voice
I’ve only been able to consistently create content that has supported my business to gently thrive because I also have been willing to show up, experiment, and find my voice as I go.
By being in dialogue with my ideas and voice through my content I’ve been able to build this muscle of taking up space and sharing online in a way that truly feels so natural and easeful to me now. We’re not going to create our best content on day 1, but we have to be willing to show up and get started anyway if we want to be in the arena long enough to get to the good stuff.
6: I went deeper, not wider
I’ve never been interested in going viral or experiencing growth for growths sake. Like I said above, I don’t have a huge audience, just a few thousand people who are subscribed to what I do and who find value and support in my work.
I’ve prioritised nurturing the people already paying attention, through consistent newsletters every week and podcast episodes and delightful resources throughout the year. And, more than anything, I’ve prioritised becoming damn good at what I do as an abundance of client and customer testimonials sharing the magic of working together has also deeply supported my business to thrive too.
So if I was starting from scratch today? The platforms may have evolved since 2013 but the heart of what I’d do wouldn’t: I’d show up, create valuable and engaging content, join communities, collaborate, and be in the arena long enough to hone my voice and build some gentle momentum too.
So whether you’re currently starting from scratch or thinking about ways that you can gently revitalise or rebuild your audience online, this is my biggest encouragement to you: keep it simple.
Show up, share your stories and ideas, be where you can find and build community, and be okay with growth feeling gentle and slow as you go.
And remember: you can’t always see your hell yes people paying attention to your work.
So many of the incredible clients and customers I’ve worked with over the past decade I had never connected with before they invested in working together - but they were there, often for years, reading and listening and soaking up what I was sharing and waiting for the right time for them to dive deeper.
And if you’re trying to find the perfect formula for growing your online audience and connecting with hell yes readers, clients, and customers along the way? It doesn’t exist. I’ve supported hundreds of clients and customers to connect with their hell yes people over the years and it’s always taken intentional experimentation and being in the arena of their business to figure out what truly supports their business to gently thrive.
I’m so damn grateful I started that little blog way back in 2013, for the voice I’ve found along the way, for the business and life I’ve been able to build, and more than anything the incredible humans I’ve been able to connect with and walk with in their business journey too.
Who knows where your next piece of content may take you, here’s hoping somewhere beautiful and magical along the way.
And if you ever want to dive deeper into what a simple, spacious, and thriving business looks like for you in a way that honours your humanness too? I have an awesome 3-part deep dive kit that’s 100% free for you to work through at whatever pace works best for you.
Until next time,
Jen
I think you make a really good point about going deeper, not wider, and it’s easy to overlook that.
Your point about there being no perfect formula for finding your hell yes people is so true! I think we all want an easy way (maybe that’s why the ‘how to grow huge audience’ posts on substack do so well), but it takes a lot of hard work to find the right people 🥰