Do you really need an audience?
Not yet.
Often, the idea of building an audience is to create free content for months and then somehow pitch your products or services.
I’ve tried it so many times on LinkedIn or Twitter. It takes SO MUCH time. I remember trying to write about Design Ops or automation (two industries I know). I couldn’t keep it going for more than 30 days. I got so bored. I wasn’t excited about the topic, and I couldn’t find it in me to interact with people in the industry.
And honestly, it’s a very convoluted way to find customers when you don’t know anyone.
Why spend so much effort? Why wait?
Go where people are
Marketplaces make it easier to put yourself in front of already existing traffic.
You have Upwork and Fiverr to sell your services.
You have Udemy and Amazon KDP for info products.
There’s also the good old SEO to get existing traffic from Google and Bing.
Last year, I interviewed Jamie Northrup, who leveraged Amazon KDP and other platforms to launch his side hustles. He eventually branched out to build a newsletter. But when you don’t have a crazy following on socials. It’s a great way to validate your demand and put yourself in front of people with money in their hands.
Easier to find customers
Finding customers is an eternal problem for any business. But those platforms allow you to verify if there is enough demand and traffic for the services or products you’d like to sell.
That’s how I started with selling automation services. I knew how to use Zapier and had done a bit of programming here and there. I simply searched “Zapier” in Upwork out of curiosity and found a treasure trove of people looking for help. I remember being so excited!
No one knows me on Upwork, but I was able to find clients there. Obviously, reviews and a clean profile help.
Talking about Upwork. I don’t have an audience on Reddit. I decided to post an article on how to find your first gigs on Upwork. I got 200 upvotes and 150k impressions in a week or so. The post ranks on the first page of Google for the keyword “Upwork first gig.” I got lucky with this one.
But it shows you that an audience is not a prerequisite to getting eyeballs on your stuff.
What about you? What ways have worked for you to find clients without an audience? Leave a comment below or reply to this email!
Newsletter spotlight
is a financial copywriter. He shares tips from the trenches on how to become a copywriter and how to find clients (). I loved his article on how to pitch to clients which can be used in any industry, and I plan on using his method in the coming weeks. He’s not trying to spam or hard-sell people which is refreshing nowadays.3 juicy links of the week
It takes time to transition from services to products
I appreciate this post because it resets my expectations and makes me feel like it’s okay to stick with client work for some time before I learn the product game. I was set on having only products, but having a good balance of services and products sounds like a more realistic strategy.
Don’t be afraid to use ads but use them as part of an overall strategy
I don’t know why some independent circles are so against ads. To me, it just makes sense to get exposure to existing audiences. It’s a good boost when it makes sense for the product.
I like this essay because it shows how Jordan O’Connor (an independent entrepreneur) listened to and followed signals. He started getting some momentum and built on it with amazing success.
I appreciate this post. I think that the process of building an audience is undeniably worth it if you want to make a living as a creator, or if you want to become one of the few so-called experts that can rise above the fray. But it requires an investment of time and energy that cannot be justified in many cases. I don't have the time or energy and I'm okay with that.
Kenny I love this post. It's so important to find something you genuinely love writing about and to just go all-in on that. That's the only way that any of us will stick with it and eventually grow a following of our own. I'm happy you pivoted.