One of my biggest beliefs in business and life is that you should build an audience. This is a superpower. Think about the celebrities that have the ability to invest in some of the best companies and ideas in the world. Some public figures launch their own businesses without any marketing or sales. Why? Because they already attract attention. For the rest of us, we need to build that trust. That’s another reason why I chose to build in public.
If you already have an audience, great, here is what you can do to craft a successful launch.
- Notify your audience about what you are building (build in public)
- Gather feedback and interest via sign-up forms or waitlists
- Tease the benefits and value of your product/service
- Begin a countdown to the inevitable launch
Bonus: Add referral programs to the mix so that your existing audience can work for you
It all seems so simple when one has an audience. Yet, many entrepreneurs and creators assume that they can follow that same outline. If you don’t have an audience, your process must be different.
To build an audience you need to gain people’s trust and establish yourself as an individual or company that can deliver value. Here is how to get started:
- Find a niche or topic that is important to you. This could be anything from database management to real estate development. Whatever it is, ensure that you have enough material or thoughts to share
- Start writing or creating pieces of content to establish yourself as a voice in that sector/area
- Share your work with the public (I know, very daunting)
- Continue to find your voice via feedback and self-analysis
- Consistency is key here, audiences can take months to build so it is important that you keep feeding it
- Collaborate with other creators in similar or tangential sectors
- Build a list of interested readers/consumers for bespoke content
- Transform that list into a community that you can feed or feeds itself
- Deliver value to your new community through products and services exclusive to them
The steps above aren’t comprehensive but an outline. You can build a community on any topic of your interest. The trick is to have genuine passion and commitment. That enthusiasm needs to be electric and contagious. Millions of people out there might be looking for what you are selling. Your goal is to find them but, more importantly, to put yourself in a position to reach product-market fit quickly and cheaply. A lot of startups waste an extensive amount of time and money financing customer acquisition with a product or business that isn’t suited for their target audience. If you have an audience, you remove the guesswork and can get straight down into delivering your promise.
That’s my big launch plan for Moonshot Digital and the ethos behind Mandeleo Partners. Our thesis is to acquire audiences and build products for them.
Until next time.
The Back Pocket
Athletes becoming billionaires:
Modern-day businesspeople:
Take it from the suits:
Originally published at https://www.khanzain.com on May 12, 2022.
