7,000 Followers in 424 Days and How You Could Do It In 212
How following general best-practice cost me four months of optimal audience growth
In my latest article, I go over my astonishing growth curve that started with a commitment to do more and better in 2021.
Eleven months into the challenge, 7,000 new followers joined me on this journey toward writing enlightenment.
We have probably crossed paths somewhere in the narrow corners of the maze, and we looked into each other eyes and saw a beacon of light glowing in the dark, and for a moment in time, we decided we wanted to make the journey together.
Thus, here we are today, a guild of many voices, walking together toward the center of the labyrinth while trying to find the best pathway through all the twists and turns.
Along the way, some will encourage us to go left, while others nod and argue: — Hmm, right seems a better option.
I have said it more than once, and I will say it again even if the aphorism is not mine:
Chaos is not a pit, chaos is a ladder!
The maze sometimes is not even like the gardens of Versailles, nor is it a downward spiral like Dante’s Inferno.
Often, the labyrinth seems like the Tower of Babel, and each floor is overflowing with many voices that speak foreign tongues but write in the same language.
And that, dear reader, is the beauty of the relational writing platforms — this unique melting pot of ideas, opinions, cultures, beliefs.
Don’t Niche
After taking the first step, I moved forward carefully as I walked into the maze. I stayed close to my comfort zone and avoided the fringes.
I had found my niche a decade ago, and now that I was revamping my career, the best course of action seemed to go back to writing within the music business niche.
That didn’t work!
The following graphic will give you a better picture and help you understand why, for me, sticking to a specific niche like “music” or even a broader one like “entertainment” was blocking my growth pattern:
The graphic depicts my FROG (Following Rate of Growth). The analysis shows the number of new followers per month.
I focused on music-related pieces from September 2020 to January 2021; hence, I published many album reviews and interviews with some of the biggest rock and heavy metal bands.
Looking at that flatline, now I have a clear picture of how that wasn’t working out for me.
Hence, I took some time to rethink my overall strategy from January to February, as my FROG was stalling.
If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor. — Edgar Rice Burroughs
Branch-out
From February onwards, I branched out and started writing on a potpourri of new topics.
This novel approach presented quite a challenge. I moved from a third-person perspective toward a more personal writing experience where I shared more about myself and my world vision.
I had never realized this so clearly until I inserted the data and saw the graphic while writing about my FROG.
Branching out opened up my writing to waves of new followers, and my audience grew exponentially.
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Final Thoughts
Please consider that all these findings relate to my experience. I know many successful writers that have their niche and abide by it with terrific results and will keep scaling their reach no matter what.
If you have found a niche and your growth trajectory follows that green line. That’s great, and things are working out for you; keep up the good work.
On the other hand, if you are stalling or even seeing a downslide as it happened to me. Then maybe it is time to look beyond your favorite niche.
Takeaway:
If it seems like you have hit a dead-end and are not getting the best results. The best advice I can give you is:
▶️ Experiment with new topics and introduce yourself to a new audience.
If you struggle with writer’s block or lack the inspiration to break new ground, you can check in the Write Here challenges on the Creators Hub.
“A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” — Thomas Mann, Essays of Three Decades
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