How I’ve Gained 91,600+ Followers Across Platforms
The only technique I’ve used to build an audience. It works, if done well.
Building an audience is crucial, regardless of what your goals are. It’s not about stats or followers, but knowing that you’re adding value.
If your content is either inspiring or entertaining for a group of people, they’d want to hear from you. If you’re talking about something they want to know more about, you’re adding value.
Even if you impact one person, it’s better than zero.
And the audience doesn’t equate to numbers. One platform where I used to write has 59,000 followers, but no traction. That isn’t an audience, they’re unengaged followers.
Also, no audience is too small. If you have 50 people who want to see what you create, it is a big deal.
Think of 50 people sitting in front of you — it’s a large crowd, isn’t it? Think 500, or 5000. That's a lot of people. Every one person who hits the follow button is important.
I have:
- 59,000+ followers on Quora (no longer active)
- 11,500+ followers on Instagram (account deleted, here’s why)
- 3,800+ readers on Medium
- 15,600+followers on LinkedIn
- 2000 followers on Twitter
That's 91,600+ followers across platforms. I also have 3000+ email subscribers combining my personal and ebook mailing list, but I won’t count that as the subscribers come from the platforms I’m active on.
And the technique I followed is the same across platforms, here’s exactly what I do.
A little storytime.
In 2016, I lost about 55lbs because I wanted to battle obesity. I was also diagnosed with PCOD, a hormonal disorder, which I wanted to combat.
So I put two years into losing weight, and I documented that journey.
I wrote about:
- what works (workouts/diet)
- what doesn’t work
- what I’m eating
- how much weight I’m losing
Even after losing weight, my fitness journey only enhanced, which I blogged about on Instagram until July 2020.
I also answered weight-loss related questions on Quora and an increasing number of people started following me. A few of my answers went viral with millions of views.
Now, there’s one more thing.
I solo travelled to about 12 countries when I was doing my Masters degree in England in 2017–18. At that time, I wrote excessively about them. They were budget travels across Europe and completely changed my life. It put me out of my comfort zone in a way I could never imagine being able to survive.
I wrote limitedly about it on Quora but more on Instagram with pictures. Like a photo diary.
The number of followers kept increasing. Plus, who doesn’t like to see pretty travel pictures?
Now, Medium, LinkedIn, and Twitter are a different ballgame.
I started writing on LinkedIn at the beginning of the pandemic with about 250 followers. I started writing on Medium in September 2020 (but consistently from March 2021).
Twitter is still new (and one tweet helped me create a business too). I started tweeting consistently in July 2021.
I followed the same method here as I did earlier.
On Medium, I’d write about health and travel when I started. Soon, I started freelancing along with my 9–5 and wrote about side hustles.
In fact, I still write on side-hustles often because I have done it for so long. I even released an ebook on side hustles and making money online that got over 1400 downloads in under 6 weeks.
I then started writing about quitting your 9–5 because I ultimately did that after 9 months of side hustling. These articles were around:
- how to prepare before quitting your job
- mindsets that helped me make money online
- how my self-employment sucked initially
And plenty more!
I have extensively written about freelancing with whatever experience I have around it, such as a winning contract or attracting high paying clients.
In a nutshell, I write my articles depending on what I’m doing in life.
I’ve also written about Adhoc stuff like my viral LinkedIn post or writing-related things.
The same goes for Twitter — 90% of the time I take inspiration from my articles and add value on Twitter (content repurposing).
This will be quick, I promise.
On LinkedIn, two of my viral posts were about my personal experience.
- One spoke about becoming a self-employed writer (1 mn+ views)
- Another was about my surgery (4.77 mn+ views)
Now, let’s jump to the juice.
If you haven't noticed a pattern already, let me explain.
I have gained an audience across platforms simply by talking about my journey. And being consistent on the platform.
I am now active on only 3 platforms but I’m consistent with:
- 20 articles/ month
- 40 tweets/ week
- 15 LinkedIn posts/ month
Another ingredient is — talking about my journey.
Right now, I’m building a business in public. If I win, I inspire. If it miserably fails, people will learn what went wrong. Either way — others will learn and I’m improving their life in a tiny manner.
I have never researched how to build an audience online because When you’re being honest and interesting people want to listen to you, in my opinion.
It makes you stand out, it sprinkles a bit of you in all that you do. It makes you connect on a deeper level with them.
If you add value, add personal experience, have a takeaway for the reader, and do all this consistently— you will build an audience.
Want to build a side hustle and make money online? Click here for my free ebook.
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