1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,360 A content strategy isn't something like, on Monday, we're going to entertain them. 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:07,400 On Tuesday, we're going to educate them. On Wednesday, we're gonna 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:11,400 put a sales post up. No, that's not a content strategy. A 4 00:00:11,439 --> 00:00:16,239 content strategy starts with who is your ideal plant, what is going on in 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,640 their heads, what do they need to hear from you, and meeting them 6 00:00:19,679 --> 00:00:25,079 where they're at. Welcome to Imperfect Action. I'm Steph Taylor. For years, 7 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,359 I read all the books, downloaded all the freebies, and did all 8 00:00:28,399 --> 00:00:33,320 the courses, But it wasn't until I started taking imperfect action that my business 9 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:39,280 had its first million dollar year. Imperfect action is about doing things before you're 10 00:00:39,359 --> 00:00:45,159 ready, prioritizing consistent action over perfect action, and moving forward even when you're 11 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,399 not sure you're doing it right. On this show, you can expect mindset 12 00:00:49,399 --> 00:00:53,880 advice, actionable marketing tips, and strategies to build a business that brings you 13 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:59,560 more profit, more freedom, and even more joy. Are you on the 14 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,000 list to get my daily businesses? Every day, I'll send you a bite 15 00:01:03,039 --> 00:01:07,040 sized prompt designed to help you grow your business in a more intentional way. 16 00:01:07,359 --> 00:01:11,400 Sign up at step Taylor dot co. Forward slash DBB or at the link 17 00:01:11,519 --> 00:01:17,879 in the show notes. Hey, welcome back to Imperfect Action this episode seven 18 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:25,400 hundred and seventeen. Today I am talking about the audience growth formula. I 19 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:30,439 know that standing out online reaching the right people, I know that can feel 20 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,319 really, really hard at the moment. And in today's episode, I'm going 21 00:01:34,359 --> 00:01:40,480 to share the four parts that I think anyone needs to be on top of 22 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,519 if they want to grow their audience in today's online world. Now, today's 23 00:01:44,519 --> 00:01:48,280 episode is for you if you are struggling to get your business in front of 24 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:53,319 the right people online and that that means you're not growing as quickly as you 25 00:01:53,319 --> 00:01:57,319 would like to. It's for you if you are questioning whether you're attracting the 26 00:01:57,439 --> 00:02:02,519 right kinds of people into your audience, the people who are being awesome clients 27 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,959 who are taking action, who are getting those results. And it's also for 28 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,120 you if you already feel like you don't have enough hours in the day to 29 00:02:10,199 --> 00:02:15,759 do all of the things that you are supposed to do and don't have any 30 00:02:15,759 --> 00:02:21,520 time to do anything extra. So today I'm going to start with a little 31 00:02:21,599 --> 00:02:28,159 story from my very very first business. So I love marketing like I'm a 32 00:02:28,199 --> 00:02:31,439 marketer at heart, and before the launch of my first business, which was 33 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:36,759 a product based business, it was a subscription box, I spent a lot 34 00:02:36,759 --> 00:02:40,639 of time growing the audience on Instagram because this was, you know, going 35 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:46,120 back now to twenty sixteen, twenty fifteen, even this was when Instagram was 36 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:51,439 at its prime for small businesses. You could reach lots of people. You 37 00:02:51,439 --> 00:02:55,919 could grow your audience on there really easily. And before I launched that product, 38 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,759 I managed to grow the Instagram audience too. I think over ten thousand 39 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,240 people, around ten fifteen thousand people, and I was so excited about it 40 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,879 because I thought, great, We've got this awesome audience. When I launched, 41 00:03:07,199 --> 00:03:12,280 it's gonna be a hit. People are gonna buy it. But they 42 00:03:12,319 --> 00:03:15,039 didn't, and I was like, oh, well, this is really weird. 43 00:03:15,039 --> 00:03:20,080 We've got, you know, ten thousand people following and like maybe fifty 44 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,639 customers. Why are they not buying? And in my mind, I was 45 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:24,599 like, okay, cool, let me just keep growing the audience, Let 46 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:29,520 me just keep adding more people. So I kept growing it, thinking that 47 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:34,080 that growth would lead to sales. And at one point we had like twenty 48 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:39,879 thousand followers and we're making maybe two thousand dollars a month in revenue before expenses. 49 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,319 So this was a physical product business, so I still had to pay 50 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,000 for postage and shipping. I had to pay for the wholesale products that were 51 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:52,280 going into the subscription boxes. All of that so was really turning much of 52 00:03:52,319 --> 00:03:55,360 a profit. And I realize now in hindsight, I'm like, oh, 53 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,800 I know those mistakes that I made, But at the time I couldn't quite 54 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,599 figure fure out why these people weren't converting and some of the mistakes that I 55 00:04:03,639 --> 00:04:10,840 made. So firstly, I relied purely on Instagram for this business audience, 56 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,840 and when the algorithm started to change twenty sixteen was one of the first big 57 00:04:14,919 --> 00:04:19,279 changes that people noticed with the algorithm. Suddenly I stopped reaching as many people 58 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:25,000 with my content. I wasn't thinking about how I would nurture those people in 59 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,639 the audience. I was just focused on how can I get more people in. 60 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,240 I also didn't really focus on building my email list, and I was 61 00:04:31,319 --> 00:04:36,399 sharing kind of content that was attracting the wrong people. This is the big 62 00:04:36,439 --> 00:04:42,720 takeaway. So I was sharing awesome recipes for yummy food because it was a 63 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:47,439 food based subscription box, but the people who were following for that weren't gonna 64 00:04:47,439 --> 00:04:51,079 buy the subscription box. They were just following for the yummy recipes. And 65 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:56,480 then I did one mistake that so many people make because it leads to awesome 66 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:00,160 growth, but those people don't buy, and that was giveaways. I participated 67 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,279 in loop giveaways, I participated in collaboration giveaways, and they grew the following, 68 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:09,560 but they weren't right for the product I was selling. They weren't the 69 00:05:09,639 --> 00:05:15,879 right people. They were freebee seekers. And so I realized, Huh, 70 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:23,480 a big audience doesn't mean big sales. It's all about growing your audience with 71 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:28,399 the right people. A small audience of the right people is going to convert 72 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:33,639 into sales so much more effectively than a large audience of the wrong people. 73 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:39,839 So then after I closed that business down, I worked at a startup for 74 00:05:39,879 --> 00:05:42,920 a little while, as you know, the kind of head of marketing. 75 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,439 And while I was doing that, I started my next business doing marketing consulting. 76 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:53,040 And I knew that I needed to do something different to all of the 77 00:05:53,079 --> 00:05:57,079 other marketers out there because it was a pretty noisy environment. Even though that 78 00:05:57,199 --> 00:06:00,120 was like twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, it was very different. I guess 79 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,199 it was still similar in some ways in that it was super busy, but 80 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:08,680 it was like even back then it was still noisy. Now it's even much 81 00:06:08,759 --> 00:06:11,879 noisier, but back then it was still pretty noisy. And so what I 82 00:06:11,879 --> 00:06:16,879 started doing was I started creating really quality content. I started writing long form 83 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,680 blog posts. I'm talking two thousand word blog posts, sharing unique perspectives that 84 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:28,120 nobody else was talking about. I started doing videos and sharing videos to Facebook, 85 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,600 which back then was a great strategy. Now probably wouldn't work so much, 86 00:06:31,759 --> 00:06:35,040 but nobody else was really sharing videos at that point in time, and 87 00:06:35,079 --> 00:06:38,759 then I would actively get those in front of the right people. So I 88 00:06:38,759 --> 00:06:43,319 would share those blog posts and those videos into Facebook groups where the right people 89 00:06:43,439 --> 00:06:46,360 hung out. Now, while that wouldn't work now because of the way that 90 00:06:46,399 --> 00:06:51,040 the algorithm has shifted, there's still one key takeaway there. You still need 91 00:06:51,079 --> 00:06:57,240 to be creating that content and getting it in front of the right people. 92 00:06:57,399 --> 00:07:01,959 So let me share with you the's growth formula. It's still the same formula 93 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:06,839 as it was back in twenty seventeen, and it probably won't change going forward 94 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:12,000 because it's not platform specific. It's not reliant on any particular type of content, 95 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,040 but it's more about the strategy that's underpinning all of it. So the 96 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:21,920 formula is content strategy plus remarkable content plus visibility plan multiplied by consistency. Let's 97 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:28,680 break that down. The first part content strategy. So this starts with knowing 98 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,800 who you are talking to and what kind of content is going to catch their 99 00:07:31,839 --> 00:07:39,319 attention, the attention of the right people. And a content strategy isn't something 100 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,680 like on Monday, we're going to entertain them. On Tuesday, we're going 101 00:07:42,759 --> 00:07:46,399 to educate them. On Wednesday, we're gonna put a sales post up. 102 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,240 No, that's not a content strategy. A content strategy starts with who is 103 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:55,360 your ideal client, what is going on in their heads, what do they 104 00:07:55,399 --> 00:07:58,680 need to hear from you, and meeting them where they're at. It's not 105 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,480 about, oh, well, my ideal client is age twenty five to thirty 106 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,360 five and they live in Sydney and their favorite food is Japanese food. No, 107 00:08:05,639 --> 00:08:09,680 that's not an ideal client. That is a target audience and knowing their 108 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:16,759 favorite food doesn't really that doesn't help us communicate with them and connect with them 109 00:08:16,759 --> 00:08:20,480 better unless we are selling sushi. Right. So then the second part is 110 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:28,480 remarkable content. Creating and consistently sharing that remarkable content. Remarkable content is not 111 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:33,120 how to content. It's not tips and tricks, because those things, the 112 00:08:33,159 --> 00:08:37,039 how to content, the tips and tricks, chat ChiPT can replicate those so 113 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,840 easily. Instead, it's the kind of content that makes the right person think, 114 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:45,120 hmm, that's really interesting. I hadn't thought about it like that. 115 00:08:45,799 --> 00:08:48,240 Okay, it's the kind of content that they're going to go and then tell 116 00:08:48,279 --> 00:08:52,759 somebody else about. And it's usually going to involve your unique perspectives, your 117 00:08:52,840 --> 00:09:00,960 unique experiences, your stories. That's more remarkable than five tips to grow on 118 00:09:01,039 --> 00:09:05,759 Instagram whatever. Then the next part is the visibility plan. So once you 119 00:09:05,879 --> 00:09:07,480 created that content, you can't sit back and be like, oh, yay, 120 00:09:07,519 --> 00:09:11,600 the algorithm's going to show me to the right people, because it doesn't 121 00:09:11,639 --> 00:09:18,039 anymore. I saw a statistic recently that Instagram's reach is declining by thirty two 122 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,759 percent year on year. So that means that each year your content is reaching 123 00:09:20,799 --> 00:09:26,480 thirty two percent fewer people organically than it was the previous year. So you 124 00:09:26,519 --> 00:09:30,519 can't sit back and rely on the algorithm to show your content to the right 125 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:35,799 people. Okay. Instead, you need to be proactively getting in front of 126 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:41,320 those audiences. The other reason, of course, is that meta who owns 127 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:46,000 Instagram, they don't care about your business. They want you to spend money 128 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:50,360 on ads to promote your business, so they're not going to show your staff 129 00:09:50,399 --> 00:09:56,080 to the right people unless you actually pay them. So instead we want to 130 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:58,120 look at how can we intentionally get in front of the right people. Back 131 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,480 in twenty seventeen, it was me putting that content into those Facebook groups. 132 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,879 In twenty twenty three, I am a guest on podcasts, I speak at 133 00:10:05,879 --> 00:10:09,600 events, I teach to other people's courses and memberships. That is how I'm 134 00:10:09,639 --> 00:10:15,039 intentionally getting in front of the right people. And then all of this we 135 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:20,159 multiply all of this by consistency. Consistency is that multiplier. The more consistent 136 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:24,320 you are, the more you will see results from all of the audience gross 137 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:26,399 things that you are doing when you put them together. It's not something you 138 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,720 can do just once and then be like cool, I sent five pitches out 139 00:10:30,759 --> 00:10:33,519 to be a guest on someone's podcast and I'm done. No, it's something 140 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,279 you need to be able to stick to consistently over time. It doesn't have 141 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:41,399 to be something that you do a lot of every week, but it's something 142 00:10:41,399 --> 00:10:46,039 that you can do sustainably over an extended period of time. And it also 143 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:50,000 means that you have you're on top of your content plan and your visibility plan. 144 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:54,200 You have that structure around what you are sharing and when, who you 145 00:10:54,240 --> 00:11:00,720 are pitching and when rather than waiting to feel motivated and inspired. Because I've 146 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,879 been podcasting three times a week for the last like five and a half years, 147 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:07,159 and if I only showed up and did an episode when I felt inspired 148 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:13,600 and motivated, this show would have ended years ago. But instead, because 149 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,200 I have that structure in place, I know the episodes need to go out 150 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:18,399 every Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I show up and I record them. 151 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:24,639 The other thing that can really help with consistency is repurposing your content. Okay, 152 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:31,000 repurposing that content, so taking that podcast episode and switching your webcam on 153 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,480 while you record it and turning it into a YouTube video like I'm doing, 154 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:39,600 or turning it into short form video clips, repurposing all of it. Okay, 155 00:11:39,639 --> 00:11:43,120 So there you have it. The audience growth formula, content strategy plus 156 00:11:43,159 --> 00:11:48,960 remarkable content plus visibility plan or multiplied by consistency, that is what grows your 157 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:56,399 audience now at the moment, I have some special bonuses available for Booster Brand 158 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:01,440 super Fans. It's always open, but if you sign up in the I 159 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:03,120 think it's like six days of this episode going live, you'll see it on 160 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:07,559 the website page six days of this episode going live, I will chuck in 161 00:12:07,639 --> 00:12:11,960 a bunch of extra bonuses, including weekly Q and A calls for four weeks, 162 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:15,720 so one Q and a call per module, so you can jump on 163 00:12:15,759 --> 00:12:18,679 there, ask me questions all of the details. You can find all of 164 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:22,960 that at stephtaylor dot co slash BYBS, or if you send me a DM 165 00:12:22,039 --> 00:12:26,480 on Instagram and there it's Stephtaylor dot co. Send me BYBS one word and 166 00:12:26,519 --> 00:12:31,279 I will send you the link to find out more about Booster Brand Superfans, 167 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:35,639 where we deep dive into each part of that audience growth formula in much more 168 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:41,799 detail and in a much more actionable way, because I'm all about implementing and 169 00:12:41,879 --> 00:12:46,360 getting results from taking action, not sitting there learning more learning all of the 170 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:50,360 things. All right, that is in for today's episode. If you haven't 171 00:12:50,399 --> 00:12:52,600 already left a quick rating, please take thirty seconds to do that. In 172 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:56,799 Apple podcasts means a lot to me when you do. I read every single 173 00:12:56,799 --> 00:13:00,480 one of them, and yeah, it really does mean a lot, because 174 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,399 a lot of work goes into creating this show. Thank you so much for 175 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:03,600 listening. Catch you next time.