Growing an audience is one of the many struggles an entrepreneur will face off with.

There’s so many different strategies out there. You’ve likely tried them out and they’ve all flopped.

Don’t worry, I’ve been there. We’ve all been there.

We’re at a point where we failed another one of those marketing strategies and we ask the fatal question:

“Okay, what’s next?”

And a lot of those times the answer is hunt for more strategies and hope one of them sticks.

But the thing is, a lot of those strategies you read online skip out on a few details.

In an article explaining how a person can get 10,000 shares in a matter of minutes, they probably forgot to mention they have a very strong and engaging fanbase.

You find that often in many of those “How to get [insert high number] shares/likes/subscribers” types of articles.

They often forget those details that truly make them stand out more.

I believe instead of asking“What’s next”, the real question is “How do I grow a legit audience?”

And I’m confident I found the keys to the kingdom for that.

The strategy is very simple, and I found it buried in a 2015 video from Fight Mediocrity, run by Malkhaz Geldiashvili.

Be Better, Or Be Different

Making money in this day and age is a very simple task. Once you understand the ins and outs of money and drive value you’ll be able to get there.

But growing an audience who will continue to spend money on you — specifically the growing an audience part — that’s the hard part.

The area where you need to work hard and continue to deliver consistently.

But it can’t simply be consistent. To grow a legit audience Geldiashvili presented a question.

A question he presented himself when he failed yet again on his Youtube channel in 2014.

Can I be better? Can I be different?

Being better was difficult at this point. There is a massive amount of people in the self improvement industry all with decades of experience. They’ve been doing this for years.

So at his current state Geldiashvili couldn’t do much about being better.

But he can be different in his approach.

From that moment on, he did do something different. He started making animated videos. They weren’t the greatest at first, but the first animated video he launched got him 1,000 subscribers.

He continued to use this strategy for his channel where he’s now gotten over 880,000 subscribers.

He’s stopped making videos a year ago, however it’s clear when you work hard, when you be different, you can grow.

So How Can You Be Different?

Regardless of who you are and what you do, our work can attract an audience when we find our own creative medium.

Here’s some ways that we can be different

Differentiated Advantage

A differentiated advantage is simply an upper hand over competition just because you are different.

Take for example Apple vs. PC. Have you wondered why Apple products are generally better in most peoples eyes?

Yes, I understand that both platforms have their own drawbacks, but clearly almost every person you know has at least one Apple product.

It’s because Apple has a differentiated advantage. That advantage being the product looks sleeker and more elegant, but also simpler to use.

That’s all because Steve Jobs ran with that design and function while Bill Gates didn’t think people cared about it. Jobs had a differentiated advantage because of that.

Another way to compare it is try turning wifi off on a PC versus Apple. Then go back to square one and try turning it back on.

Creating something like that can be difficult and I believe this strategy would work best when you have something physical to work with. Whether that’s a book, skin care products, tuber ware, or whatever.

Take the time to look at your competition and ask yourself how can you be different? How can you stand out? What is one thing that they aren’t doing and that you can do?

Run With Your Signal

Jon Westenberg wrote an article in 2016 about growing an audience as well. One of the biggest things he ran with was being in peoples faces.

He used examples of some bands he use to listen to: The Minutemen, Minor Threat, and Fugazi. These bands were always asking people to show up to their concerts.

They were passing flyers.

They booked gigs where their audience would go.

They were involved.

They were running with their signal.

As a writer and entrepreneur in 2017, it’s challenging to grow an audience. There is so much noise out there so how can you even be heard?

That’s where you run with your signal.

Start building rapports with other writers, entrepreneurs, influencers. Mention to them you’ve got a post or a video you’d love their input on and share it. Start building a list of those people.

Be involved on other platforms, build a name for yourself. It’ll build up traffic the more you get out there.

Start posting on LinkedIn.

Answer questions on Quora with a link to your blog or a specific post at the bottom.

Delve into Pinterest and devote time to making a few posts per day for it.

You never know where it’ll take you.

Ask Questions

The last route to think about is plain and simple.

Ask the question.

How can you be different?

Malkhaz Geldiashvili asked that simple question and he went from obscurity to making a big wave.

He started to do research and realized that the supply for self improvement videos wasn’t all that great. The demand was certainly there as there were many like him who needed something.

So he learned to be the supplier, he devoted time to research and looking into his competition.

But he also asked himself what could he do differently?

He looked at his existing strategy and thought about what sort of things he could be doing differently.

That’s where he ran with animation. It was fresh, different, and people clearly liked it.

If you’re stuck and have no clue what to do, take the time out of your day today and ask yourself that question.

What thing are you not doing that can make you different?

What are other people in your niche doing?

Is there something that only a few people are doing?

Find that certain thing and start to apply that. Whether that’s doing more research, creating more posts on social media before you launch a post, anything.

Because some day people will notice it.

And they’ll say “this person is different.”

And as long as what you are doing is giving massive value to them, they can become a fan.

Try This

Seriously ask yourself this question:

How can I be different and grow an audience?

Because any person can be different easy. We are all different people. But what sets us apart is how we present how we are different.

Take up some specific habits that I’ve outlined in this article. Apply them and devote yourself to them for several months. Things will certainly change as a result of it.

To your growth!

Eric S Burdon