Okay, so you’ve done something, you’ve put something out there and nobody’s responding.
Creating content when no one is paying attention can be hard. However, this shouldn’t stop you from showing up. Even if you’re getting crickets, put out work like you’ve already reached your dream people.
Here are my tips for you on how you can still keep going when you’re getting crickets:
Dare to suck when you’re first starting out
Even if you don’t know what’s going on and you don’t know what you’re doing, you have to take the dare to be bad at it.
Most likely you’re going to suck on your first attempt.There might be technical issues or some unexpected things that might come up.
Make a check log
Set a certain number of times that you are committed to trying something. Create a log of how many times you are going to show up.
Once you commit to how many times you are going to show up, document it and check off your progress.
For example, you want to commit to doing 50 video appearances on social media on a particular day and make sure you do it regularly. Because it takes awhile to get traction and it’s easy to get discouraged too early on when you’re not getting any attention.
Most people quit too soon. Because it’s hard to get over that hump of, “this isn’t working. This is really uncomfortable. People aren’t coming and it’s just me.”
Making a check log helps you to stay focused and prevents you from quitting too early. Once you choose to commit, YOU CAN’T QUIT and YOU CAN’T MAKE EXCUSES. You might as well try to make this work.
Tweak as you go
After you have your check log, obviously, you don’t want to keep doing the same exact thing. You want to give it enough time to see if it’s working.
Sometimes we change things up too early and then we don’t get to see if that’s actually working. So if you’re changing things right away, you may not see the results you wanted. You have to give it time.
Tweak as you go. Ask yourself, “What went well? What didn’t go well? How can I improve?”
Look objectively from the lens of an outsider
This is how you can really figure out what’s going on because sometimes it’s hard to see from your own point of view. Really try to view what you’re doing from your ideal client’s perspective.
First of all, DO THEY KNOW ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
Don’t assume that because you posted something a couple of times that everybody remembers or that they even saw it or paid attention.
We have so many distractions that our audience might have overlooked or forgot about it.
DO NOT ASSUME THAT THEY REMEMBER YOU. You have to tell them exactly what you do.
People are VERY BUSY. We’re bombarded with so much information online that we need constant reminders.
If you’re doing an event or Livestream, tell them the time. Even if they put it on their calendar, they’ll be too busy to check, tell them. Remind them – as a service.
WIIFM
Everybody is tuning into the radio station, WIIFM – “What’s in it for me?”
Do they understand why they want to watch, show up, engage, sign up?
Do they understand what’s in it for them?
Are you using industry jargon/words/phrases that are not translating to your audience?
Are you using your ideal client’s language around how they talk about their goals, problems, or fears? If not, they tune out because it doesn’t resonate with them.
Make your content relatable, make it personable. Let them know exactly how you can help them and why they would want to show up.
Even if you are giving out free stuff, you really have to clearly say what they will get when they watch or read your content.
You really have to narrow in on what’s in it for them and be specific with your niche.
Have you co-opted others to be involved?
The more the merrier, especially when you’re starting out.
How well you work with others can greatly impact the outcome of your reach. This can help you get higher engagement rates.
Inviting people who you can potentially work with allows you to exchange meaningful conversations, build relationships, and increase your following.
Is your branding enticing and clear
Is it easy to understand what you’re offering and appropriate for the channels that you’re on?
Every platform has a format that looks native. The more it looks like it was made for that platform, the less it looks like an ad.
Add a personal touch. Show your audience photos or videos of how you use your product or service.
Does it look like an ad? We’re so bombarded with ads that we have our own filters now and scroll on by if it looks like an inauthentic and outdated style.
Professional but with a personal touch gets noticed. Make it visually attractive enough to make people stop and take a look at it.
Are you marketing through the right channels?
If you’re posting on the wrong channels, then you’re not going to get people, you’re going to get CRICKETS.
You want to make sure that you know where your people hang out.
If you want to get people to come to your wellness class, you want to market at a health food store or a yoga studio because people that hang out there are already interested in wellness.
This applies online too. Know which online groups or platforms your ideal clients hang out on.
Have enough data to sample for testing
Give things time to stick. You should have enough data to sample. You want to be able to look at it and have enough data.
You can’t have a sample of three people and say, “this is the way the world works.”
You need to have enough audience and data to know if what you’re doing is working or not.
I hope these tips are helpful to you and can help you become more confident when it comes to creating content for your business.
Be sure to grab my free guide to making engaging videos for your business. It will help you stand out and create videos that are easy and exciting to watch to connect with and educate clients. Grab it here.