Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of authenticity and self-discovery in building a genuine audience, rather than focusing solely on strategic tribe-building.

Abstract

The author of the article, Michelle Monet, reflects on the societal pressure to 'find one's tribe' in the context of personal branding and business growth. Monet advocates for a more introspective approach, suggesting that finding oneself should be the primary goal. She argues that by being true to oneself and sharing honest stories, a natural and authentic audience will form. The article also touches on the seven steps commonly advised for building a tribe, such as knowing one's business, discovering where potential followers are, making the first move, building relationships, learning from one's tribe, using the tribe to grow a business, and hiring a tribe. However, Monet expresses reservations about getting too caught up in analytics and strategy, preferring to focus on the joy of writing and storytelling as her core purpose.

Opinions

The author is skeptical about the importance placed on finding one's tribe, especially through trendy methods like SEO and social media strategies.
Monet believes that the key to attracting a genuine audience is to be honest and true to oneself in one's writing.
She acknowledges the value of engaging with like-minded individuals and learning from those who have found success.
The author is wary of spending too much time analyzing past work, fearing it could detract from her primary passion, which is writing.
Monet suggests that some stories may not be well-received, but this should not deter a writer from sharing their work, as even seemingly unremarkable stories can resonate with someone.
The article concludes that authenticity is the cornerstone of building a real and supportive audience, and this should be the ultimate goal rather than chasing after numbers and trends.

‘Finding Your Tribe’ Means:

Simply telling your truth. Hey, your tribe might just find YOU.

I’ve never been one for following trends much or worrying about SEO, figuring out marketing strategies or trying to convince anyone to follow me, etc. I still haven’t figured out the fascination with or how to use Twitter either!

On medium I haven’t been concerned about analyzing my past stories, figuring out which stories were most popular and why, or finding out how to develop or build my tribe…

— at least not yet.

It’s funny how many classes, webinars podcasts books speeches are made about

FINDING YOUR TRIBE. YOU MUST FIND YOUR TRIBE!!

I really think your main goal should be to: FIND YOURSELF, NOT FIND YOUR TRIBE.

Then, I believe it might just…happen.

or…it wont…

which is fine too because you will have found YOURSELF! So its a no lose proposition.

You will win if you find YOU.

Hmmm. This thought just came to me this morning before my first cup of coffee.

Ironically this email came today about the importance of BUILDING A TRIBE:

Here are SEVEN STEPS to capturing and cultivating your business’s tribe:

1. Know what your business is all about. …(Ok. I think I know this. It is to be honest in my writing. Period)

2. Discover where your people are. … (Still working on this one. I’m not totally sure WHERE they are but I am sniffing my ‘people’ out — finding out that they might be in many places!? Who the heck knows!)

3. Make the first move. …(Yes. I’ve been doing this often by reaching out to like-minded writers and people online who I resonate with — hey, even on Twitter!!)

4. Build relationships. …(I’ve slowly been coming out of my hermit shell and am doing this more and more often.)

5. Learn from your tribe. …(I AM learning from everyone around me. I look up to those who have had more success and honestly I am happy for them. They are role models and I learn much from them)

6. Use your tribe to grow your business. …(I am connecting with a few memoir writing groups and even now we are discussing ways to combine our forces and grow our businesses)

7. Hire a tribe.(Not sure what this one means honestly)

MY GOAL

My main goal is to THROW STORIES out there, against the wall..and to do it OFTEN.

Why?

…because its fun, it’s what my heart wants to do and is called to do.

Today someone suggested a new app that helps you track and analyze your medium stories. Supposedly it’s even better than ever !— You can find out how well your medium stories have done and analyze it all even more!

UGH! It does look intriguing but will it take me away from my purpose, which is to WRITE?

If so…I don’t think I want to spend my time doing that! I don’t wanna go down that rabbit hole.

I could get stuck there analyzing, pondering, wondering, trying to figure out why this story worked, this one was shit etc. etc.

BLAH BLAHHH!

NO!!!

I don’t want to spend my precious time on stuff that isn’t moving me forward in my life anymore. Period.

I am well aware some stories will flop. I’m fine with that. Recently I think I put up a few pooopy ones.

Ohwell. Some of my own stories make me go ‘HUH?? WTF is that you just wrote? or ‘Why are you putting that out there?”

BUT guess what? I throw it out there anyway.

You know why?

Sometimes I surprise the shit out of myself. Some times the story I deem to be shitty or unworthy turns out to resonate with someone...

…then I laugh...

So, I think to build a true authentic ‘tribe’ we just need to keep on being ourselves… that’ s IT… whatever that is.

THANKS FOR READING!

Michelle Monet has published 5 non-fiction books including 4 Poetic Memoirs. Her upcoming Memoir will be about her life in show business including her surviving domestic violence, panic disorder and a dependency on prescribed medication. It will be a story of redemption and healing. Coming Soon!______________________________________________________________

CONTACT INFORMATION- [email protected] www.michellemonet.com

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