Why building an audience on someone else's platform is a risk every solopreneur should stop taking
As a fractional CMO I work with a lot of businesses. Independent, small, growing, and well-established (mature) businesses.
One thing I see often (and still surprises me) is how many times businesses don’t have or maintain an email list. Especially the businesses that make a point of collecting email addresses during the sales process.
Everyone is after the same thing: the viral post, the follower count, or gaming or hacking the algorithm.
I get it.
It would be very exciting to get your content in front of thousands of strangers for free.
However, what gets missed in all of that excitement is that moment doesn’t last long and if you’re fortunate enough to gain new followers from it, you still don’t “own” them.
Every follower you have on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or LinkedIn is owned by that platform.
Anytime the algorithm changes, and it happens often, your reach and access to those followers can change with it.
If the platform ever decides your content doesn’t fit its current priorities, your numbers can, and likely will, drop.
And if a platform eventually shuts down (remember Vine, Periscope) or gets bought by a billionaire (Twitter), you may have to figure out how to bring that audience with you.
You built your audience or community on else’s land, and they can change the rules whenever they want.
Your email list is different.
People who gave you their address directly said yes, I want to hear from you.
That’s a much different connection than a follower scrolling past your content at eleven o’clock at night.
You also have a much more direct way to reach them. You aren’t depending on a social platform to decide how many of your followers get to see what you have to say, or to charge you a fee to reach all of them (advertising). If you ever decide to change email providers, you can take your list with you.
I’ve seen businesses with fifty thousand social followers struggle to get people to show up for an event.
I’ve seen businesses with a focused email list of a few thousand generate more revenue from a single campaign than their entire social presence did in a year.
The size of your audience does matter, but not as much as your relationship with the people in it and your ability to actually reach them.
If you’re not currently building or maintaining an email list, here’s what I’ve learned the hard way:
Choose a platform and get started.
Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Klaviyo, Constant Contactand plenty of others can handle the basics. Substack handles your list automatically if you’re publishing here. But don’t spend three weeks comparing features when you don’t have a single subscriber yet. Pick one that works for what you need right now and start building. Remember, you can take your list with you if you decide to switch later.
Provide real value and give people a reason to subscribe.
A general “sign up for updates” doesn’t convince the user to exchange their email address for what you’re offering. Offer something specific and useful - especially to your target audience. A free guide, a checklist, a discount, a piece of content they can’t get anywhere else. Make the trade feel worth it.
Email consistently.
Once a week or once every two weeks is a great start and enough for a lot of solopreneurs. The goal is to show up often enough that people remember who you are when you have something to offer. If they haven’t heard from you in eight months, don’t be surprised when they don’t remember signing up.
And don’t email for the sake of being consistent - you don’t want to send out stuff that’s of no value and eventually gets ignored. Whenever you get ready to send something, ask yourself, is this genuinely valuable to my audience?
And unless your brand needs it, I would discourage you from emailing daily. Big brands like Verizon, Best Buy, Old Navy, and more blow up my inbox with nothing more than sales and promotions, and they’re on ignore now. In fact, it’s aggravating to sort through my inbox and delete their messages every day.
Protect your list.
Don’t sell it.
Never spam it.
Treat it like the investment that it is. If someone gave you their email address, they trusted you with access to their inbox. Treat that like it’s worth something. Don’t take your subscribers for granted or squander the opportunity to develop a real connection with them.
Use your list to find more people like the ones already on it.
This is one of the more useful things you can eventually do with the audience you’re building. Platforms like Meta, or LinkedIn can use your lists to help you build audiences of people similar to your existing customers or subscribers known as lookalike audiences.
Think of the popular proverb, “birds of a feather flock together.” The people on your list likely have similar interests, goals and challenges and Meta and LinkedIn can help you reach them.
*Note - using lookalike audiences is a paid feature (advertising) on these platforms.
If you’re going to spent the money to reach new prospects, make sure it’s worth that effort and your investment.
Keep growing it.
Add a signup option everywhere it makes sense. Your website, your social profiles, your email signature, at the end of your content. Don’t make someone hunt for a way to hear from you again.
I’m not suggesting you to abandon social media. Social is a great place to get discovered, build an audience and put your work in front of people who might never find you otherwise.
I just think it’s dangerous to put all of your eggs in the social media basket where the platform can hold your audience hostage based on their changing business needs. You cultivated the audience and you should be able to reach them as you wish.
Your email subscriber gave you a direct way to keep the conversation going, and you’ll want to respect that.
Use social to help people find you, give the ones who want more a reason to join your list.
Then keep giving them a reason to stay there.
Rinse and repeat.