Ever wondered why some creatives grow cult-like followings and crush the competition, while others starve in obscurity and barely make a ripple?
No artist can flourish without a devoted, engaged tribe that snaps up her products and services. It’s just not possible. You need people who’re into you enough to support you and trust you with their precious time, attention, and cash.
So, if you’re birthing or nurturing any kind of creative venture, it’s kinda important that you also nurture a vibrant community of your ideal audience so you have people to market to, otherwise what’s the point?
And yes, you still need to market it even if it’s just a hobby. Do you want eyeballs on it? Comments, likes, shares, reviews? Then you gotta make it attractive enough to other people that they linger on your content and keep coming back for more.
The smaller the world gets, the easier it is to connect with those who share your values and interests, need what you’ve got, and are willing to pay for it (’cause we all need some dolla dolla bills, honey).
Thanks to social media and the Internet, your peeps are just a swipe, click, or Google search away. Even if they’re on the other side of the planet, you can design (or join) a platform that plugs you right into the heart of your dream community.
Cue the confetti!
Buuut, none of that helps if you hide yourself so well that nobody knows about you. You can’t be totally off the grid and still expect a steady stream of loyal tribe members unless you’ve already built a super engaged fan base that sings your praises and does all the work for you.
Even if you decide you can’t be bothered with Facebook, Instagram, and the rest, you still need a website, an email list, a podcast, a YouTube channel, or something that puts you on the map.
The digital wave isn’t slowing down any time soon (if anything, it’s ramping up), so you gotta carve out an online space to house your art and draw your right people in.
If you’re short on time, money, fancy gear, and all the other glitzy stuff, good news! You can still get in the game and prep for where you wanna be when you take focused, intentional action.
Take these 3 steps to go from virtual unknown to household name:
1. Be Bold
Stop hiding your gifts. Being humble isn’t an excuse to shrink or be mediocre.
You can be modest and still be an extraordinary creative with larger-than-life presence, art, and impact.
You can be confident in who you are and the value you give without being arrogant, condescending, or delusional.
You can change lives without losing who you are in the process.
Don’t be afraid to raise your voice, take up space, and make your exuberant art. Dare to glow, to bloom, and to share your gifts with the people who need you most.
If you’ve got ideas pounding in your skull and keeping you up at night, you’ve got solutions to the urgent problems keeping your tribe up at night, but they can’t get any relief because they can’t find you!
See, your gifts, skills, and talents aren’t just to make you money or make you feel good. They’re your tools to serve your community, solve their problems, and help them transform their lives.
Maybe that means teaching them how to sweat off 10 to 20 kg, make an extra €1,000 a week, go vegan, or design their own websites.
How can you do any of that if you’re too afraid to put yourself out there?
For the record, you don’t have to work with them one-on-one if you don’t want to, or it’s not feasible, or it’s just not your business model.
Start with blog posts, vlogs, podcasts, PDF guides, an email series, or any other easily digestible content that gives them action steps to follow. Help them reach their goals without feeling super stressed, overwhelmed, or demotivated.
Comfortable with the bite-sized content and wanna go deeper?
Create masterclasses, online courses, programmes, masterminds, and live events that give specific, measurable results through hands-on training.
So if you’re teaching people how to create more original content for their platforms to double or triple their quarterly revenue, you can craft a full-day workshop that walks them through a step-by-step process to get there.
You teach them how to:
A) get clear on their superpower (their niche) and who needs it most (their tribe);
B) build a solid relationship with that audience so they can serve them better;
C) stay inspired and full of brilliant ideas; and
D) take focused, intentional action so they don’t lose momentum or market share.
Your clients can then go on to design the products and services that soothe their tribe’s pain points, which makes them raving fans (and loyal clientele!) because they feel lighter, brighter, and more fulfilled.
The ultimate results of your workshop?
Your clients feel good because they’re serving their dream tribe and making bank, their peeps feel great because their problems now have elegant solutions that they love, and you feel amazing because your content works!
And each time you teach it, you reach more clients who go on to impact their clients! It’s the gift that keeps on giving! Wins all around!
That, my friend, is what’s possible when you’re bold enough to share your gifts, talents, and skills with your tribe.
What’re you waiting for?
2. Be Consistent
Stop flaking out.
Your tribe can’t count on you if you’re never there or you only pop up to sell them something. These people have way too many ads flooding them every day and they’ll tune you out if you’re just another money-grabber. It’s called white noise for a reason, y’all.
Remember when I said you need to nurture your tribe before you can sell them anything? They gotta know you well enough to like you and trust you as an authority who can help them.
No, you don’t need a stack of medals or awards before you’re an expert, but you do need to connect with your audience often enough and deeply enough to keep their interest and get their dollars.
That means sending weekly emails to your list (you have one, right? RIGHT?), showing up often on your social media platforms, and giving your audience a reason to hang out with you.
Think about your favourite brands and influencers.
Why do you love them so much and stalk their pages? Why do you snap up their stuff and gush about them to anyone who’ll listen?
Is it just because they’re marketing experts, or because you feel a visceral connection to them? Do they just ask for your money and bounce, or do they enhance your life even when they’re not selling anything?
Unless you’re an ultra-exclusive brand with a 12-month waitlist brimming with people eager to throw their money at you, you can’t afford to be inconsistent or go rogue because your business just won’t survive it.
Are there brands and influencers who barely use social media and still make bank?
Yes, but that means they’re talking to their audience somewhere else, and they’re doing it often enough to nurture a robust relationship anyway, or they craft a super compelling sales pitch that seals the deal on the spot.
You don’t have to do allll the things all at once (hello overwhelm), but you do need an email list and a platform for your art before you can market your products and services.
If all you can do is put up a landing page and collect some email addresses, start there.
Beam them valuable content every week. Hype them up to see you in their inbox.
Be the first person they think of when they wanna get fresh tips and ideas about knitting sweaters, painting canvases, writing books, designing code, or making their own double glazed pottery.
Can you start an email list and a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel?
Even better! Now they can take you on the go with them, watch how you move your hands when you talk, and dive deeper into your vibe.
Meet yourself where you are and take it from there. You can’t be everywhere all the time without a team supporting you, so focus on one or two channels and master those before you layer in a tonne of apps just to say you’re on them.
When you pop up on the same day(s) each week on the same channel(s), you train your audience to expect you, trust you, and buy from you when you debut new products and services.
Show your peeps that you genuinely care about solving their urgent problems because they’re not just dollar signs to you.
Yes, they want to love you, but they’re still casual browsers first before they’re raving fans. You’re the one who has to stop them mid-scroll and speak their language so fluently that they can’t help staying with you (and coming back for more).
Can you do that if you’re not consistent?
Yeah, didn’t think so.
Ante up.
3. Be Excellent
Master your craft.
The superstar creatives who dominate the market aren’t dabblers. They become iconic brands with rock-solid clientele and major influence because they invest the time, money, energy, and effort to be the gold standard in their industry.
You gotta do the same thing to stand out from the crowd. Nobody settles for vanilla products and services when they can have sumptuous, extraordinary experiences instead, and only the masters design the extraordinary.
You’re excellent when you deliver on your promises every single time. You’re excellent when you create tangible results that spark joy, abundance, and lasting transformation.
It’s not enough to rock at sales. Be the superstar who pulls off five-figure launches for your premium clients.
It’s not enough to be a great business coach. Be the business coach who takes newbie entrepreneurs from €0 to €100K in 12 months or less.
It’s not enough to be a brilliant marketing strategist. Be the hotshot who designs award-winning campaigns that triple your clients’ monthly revenue every time they work with you.
As a creative, it’s your responsibility to be the best at what you do.
When you’re bold, consistent, and a master of your craft, you design a seamless experience that takes you from unknown to household name. You become the expert your tribe needs so they can get from where they are to where they want to be.
This experience is organic (you nurture the relationship first) and carefully curated for maximum impact (you solve urgent problems for the right people who can pay you for it) because your free content offers great value before you roll out the paid stuff. (see #2)
You are the hub your tribe’s been looking for. You have a treasure trove of gifts, ideas, and systems to soothe their pain points and speed up their transformation, but none of that matters if they don’t know about you.
They need you now, so help them find you. Every hour you spend hiding is an extra hour of pain for them, but it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.
Starting today, commit to showing up, doing the work, and serving as much as you can. Commit to the journey and don’t stop ’til you tap into your sweet spot of blazing creativity and explosive impact because you’re bold, consistent, and excellent.
Your tribe wants to love you. It’s time to put yourself on the map and become the beacon you’re here to be.
Pour your genius into your art and make the difference only you can make.
Transcend your limits, sculpt your star ideas, and blow the roof off what you think is possible for you because you refuse to settle.
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