Do I Need 10k Followers To Get Started?

Today I want to address a common question regarding writing, self-publishing, and thought leadership.

It’s this: “Can I still write if I don’t have any followers yet?”

I think the concern is that, without thousands of “followers”, your work won’t reach enough people to make a difference. And so you can’t really get started until you’ve built up an audience of hundreds or thousands.

I used to have the same concern myself. But here’s what I’ve learned.

Guess how many “followers” you actually need to get started?

Zero.

That’s right. Zero.

Imagine this. You write a blog post, hit publish on your website.

You create a “subscribe to my email newsletter” thing on your website, so people can sign up to your email list, which so far is, zero.

Great. Fine. Right now, no one is seeing your work.

But then maybe you ask some people you know if they’d like to join.

Maybe it’s a few clients you have. Maybe it’s a couple friends. Maybe it’s your mom. (Hi, mom! 👋)

Fine. All good.

Because if you’re just getting started, here’s what really matters:

Getting started.

In fact, here are some benefits to writing and publishing while no one is watching:

- Less risk. Who cares if it’s a rocky start? Who cares if you screwed up and put an apostrophe in the wrong place’. ;) If no one is reading it then you don’t have to worry about it.

- More creativity. If you haven’t established a readership or audience yet, you also have less of that “someone’s standing over my shoulder judging me” vibe, which is a major creative buzzkill. If you have a minimal audience, embrace it. Experiment. Play around and try stuff.

- More engagement with the people who DO show up. You can actually take time to respond to questions and feedback. You can get to know your readers and develop relationships with them. You’re not wading through hundreds of responses. Learn from the people who do show up, and serve them well. (By the way, suppose you have five people on your list, and each of them write you back and share some thoughts on what you’ve written. That’s impact. Five people may seem minimal to you, but it’s not. It’s direct engagement with five living, breathing human beings. And it’s a sign that your email is doing something right.)

- The freedom to ignore all the marketing noise and concentrate on what you do best. You’re not running a major operation trying to juggle tons of different kinds of media, publications, and platforms. So don’t worry about all the things other people are doing. Just choose a couple channels to focus on that you enjoy, and make them great. (Alternatively, you can try a whole bunch of stuff and see what you do like. In general I recommend focusing on just a couple of areas, but if you don’t know which ones to choose, try a few. If you hate it and want to quit, no problem, because no one is watching, right?)

- An opportunity to consider your MVA. I love Seth Godin’s concept of the “minimum viable audience”. In other words, for you and your business, how many people do you have to reach? Challenge your assumptions here. Who says 10k is the magic number? Who says 100K is the magic number? What about 10 people to start with? The real question is: how many people do YOU have to engage with in order for you to be successful? If you’re writing purely to make a difference and have an impact, how many people do you need to reach to consider that successful? If you’re writing to run a business or sell a product, how many people have to engage with for you to do that successfully? Crunch the numbers. Set your own targets. It’s wise to figure this out before you launch into a whole bunch of campaigns and initiatives. If you understand how much you actually need to grow, you’ll be able to make smarter choices and save yourself time and energy.

- A chance to settle into a routine. Getting into the habit of writing and publishing regularly takes work and it is a major roadblock for most people. But consistency is a must. Use this time to figure out what pace works best for you.

If you are writing and publishing regularly and want to grow your audience, great. Go ahead and build. Over time, other people will show up — but you have to show up first.

So, if you’re on the fence about starting, have I convinced you? :)

What next action will you take to get started? Comment and let me know.