5 Ways to Reach More Audience- Tips from Austin Kleon
Follow for Follow is not the way to go — Show Your Work Series#7.
A Wise man once told me, “Be careful about your inputs, because they are the things that mold you”.
It’s one of the best advice I received.
What goes in, comes out.
Want to create quality content and reach the masses? Then it would be best to be mindful of what gets your attention and who you hang out with more.
Austin Kleon talks about this in his book Show Your Work, here are 5 advice to capture the crowd and not turn into a human spam.
Shut Up and Listen
One of the best traits a writer could possess is “To Listen”.
As much as you want to talk about yourself and your story, you need to master the art of listening too. For starters, Austin hints us to do the below things.
- The experience of art is always a two-way street, incomplete without feedback. These artists hang out online and answer questions, They ask for reading recommendations and chat with fans about the stuff they love.
- If you want fans, you have to be a fan first.
- If you are only pointing to your own stuff online, you are doing it wrong. You have to be a connector. If you want to get, you have to give. If you want to be noticed, you have to notice.
Otherwise, you’ll just be a producer who doesn’t partake in the consuming process.
In the words of Writer Dan Chaon, “The Writing Community is full of Lame-o-people who want to be published in journals even though they don’t read the magazines that they want to be published in”
Austin, calls these people Human spam, “They don’t want to listen to your ideas; they want to tell you theirs”.
If you don’t want to become a lame-O, for the love of God, shut up and listen.
Hearts, Not Eyeballs
When I was a Rookie on Medium, I came across a few profiles that would ask me to “Follow for Follow” in the comments of my posts. Till date, I never understood the purpose of it.
It is a fool's errand. Those people will never take a genuine interest in any of my work, and I can’t expect honest feedback from them.
The Follow for Follow habit is injurious to the health of a writer. It would never let you grow in any aspect except for your follower count which is the same as the population of Goa— always floating.
Here are some lines of Austin’s that hit the mark for me,
- Stop worrying about how many people follow you online and start worrying about the quality of people who follow you. If you want followers, be someone worth following.
- Make stuff you love and talk about stuff you love and you’ll attract people who love that kind of stuff. It’s that simple.
- “Follow me back ?” is the saddest question on the Internet.
The Vampire Test
“Whatever excites you, go do it. Whatever drains you stop doing it” ~ Derek Sivers.
Do you remember litmus paper? — the tiny yellow sheet which changes its color based on the nature of a Solution.
The Vampire test is so much alike.
To quote Kleon, The Vampire test — it’s a simple way to know who you should let in and out of your life. If, After hanging out with someone you feel worn out and depleted, that person is a vampire.
The vampire test works on many things in our lives, not just people — You can apply it to jobs, hobbies, places, etc.
So take stock of your surroundings, who you are buddies with and what things determine your day’s feelings. If something is sucking you dry, put a few feet between.
Vampires can only come in when you invite them. Ergo stop letting wrong things in your head.
Take Austin’s suggestion for a remedy,
Vampires cannot be cured. Should you find yourself in the presence of a vampire, banish it from your life forever.
Find your comrades
As fun, as it seems, the art of writing can be lonesome at times.
In most instances, it is you, your monitor screen, and the imaginary people in your head against the world.
Hence it couldn’t hurt to find a fellow victim who knows and experiencing similar symptoms of the writer’s bug.
I have a friend in Wattpad, who helped me grow as a writer. We got connected because we both are in the same fandom and things just clicked.
I have collaborated with her a couple of times for a fanfiction challenge. Not to brag or anything but trust me those stories were one of my finest works. Also, the catalyst that gained more reads for my book.
In Austin’s words,
- These are your real peers- the people who share your obsession, the people who share a similar mission to your own, the people with whom you share a mutual respect. There will only be a handful or so of them, but they’re so important.
- Sing their praises to the universe. Invite them to collaborate. How you work before you show anybody else.
- Call them on the phone and share your secrets. Keep them as you can.
Find your comrades and fight alongside them.
Meet In IRL
“You and I will be around a lot longer than Twitter, and nothing substitutes face-to-face.” Rob Delaney
Most people today don’t even know the full form of that. IRL — In Real Life.
Meeting people online and hanging out with them in the inbox is cool, Trust me I found more interesting human beings on my Pinterest comment sections than anywhere else.
However what if you can meet them in person?
Finally, you can put a face to the sarcasm and skills you adored through ones and zeros. It’d be a missed opportunity to let that chance slide.
According to the author of Show Your Work,
A meet-up doesn’t have to comprise a huge group of people. If you’ve been friends for a while with somebody online and you live in the same town, ask them if they want to grab a coffee. If you are traveling, let your online friends know you are going to be in town.
And that’s how you build a community.
Bottom line,
I saw people dump the comment sections of other writers with links and messages directing to their work.
To be frank, no one will notice it and even if they did, no one will give it a genuine try. I know I won’t.
Promotion to a finished work is like adding butter to popcorn. Mandatory. Yet spamming people with links, and requesting “Follow for Follow” is not how you do it.
Get out there and listen to people (without offering advice for once). Build relationships not just follower count. Be cautious about your input and who you listen to.
Step out of your comfort zone and find fellow writers who can help you with the odyssey you are embarking on. Keep them close. If you can bake them cookies or take them to their favorite book store. Just Do It.
Because often, success is not just about the destination but about the journey and your company.
Show Your Work#7
The key takeaways of this post are from the book called Show Your Work By Austin Kelon. Highly recommended for New writers and for those who are thriving in their creative work.
I have a series going on in my publication based on this book, discussing the insights from a writer’s POV and how to apply them to grow your fanbase as a budding new writer. Give it a swirl.
