Listen to the Episode
At the time that I’m working on this episode, I have just shy of 3,000 subscribers on my list. My 2025 goal related to my list is to grow to at least 7,000 community members. That’s an additional 4,000 people. Last night during our “Shh, We’re Talking” livestream that (I co-host with Angela Hollowell of Please Hustle Responsibly/Melanin MVP and Corey Gumbs founder of the Black Podcasters Association) Anyway, Angela asked me really good question which was “How to you plan on doing this?” Meeting this really aggressive goal-especially (she didn’t say this, but I was thinking it) considering how long it took to get the first 3,000 subscribers. I explained my strategy and thought process in the conversation…but, I think this really is a conversation about what I haven’t been doing and what I will be doing moving forward. If you’re trying to grow your list, here’s how I plan to add 4,000 subscribers to my list this year. It’s my hope that by sharing my strategy I will inspire someone else to take action and also hold myself accountable to this goal.
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Your Next $1000 (Dollars)
Are you needing inspiration and community to earn your next $1,000 dollars? I’m launching a live challenge that in August. You’ll be a part of my beta group. when it goes “live” in August. Why am I launching this challenge? Because sometimes we’re building momentum with our income and then we get stuck. Maybe we’re tired, or we need support in reimagining who we’re serving. That’s where this challenge comes in. Go to creatorsgettingpaid.com/challenge to get on the waitlist today.
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Show Notes
I feel like this goal is really a story about what I wasn’t doing for the past 3 years. I wasn’t using social media as a part of building my brand. I wasn’t running challenges to grow my list. I wasn’t aggressively pitching to be on podcasts as a guest expert. In fact, when I think about all the things I wasn’t doing-I’m amazed at the results that I’ve despite showing up quietly. I think it’s important, before I get into the meat of this conversation, to share how timing is everything. In both good and bad ways. I started my list building focus and newsletter hosted on Substack during the summer of 2022. Things were still kind of rough in Denver. We were still feeling the fallout from COVID. Things weren’t business as usual. I still wasn’t my normal self. In fact, I’m now a new version of myself that previous version of Michelle is long gone. I share this to say that my capacity, bandwidth and motivation is different than at that time.
To be honest I’m still mentally very tired. We’re dealing with a lot right now. The increasing uncertainty, feeling of destabilization and also just time in the content creation space has changed my focus. Now is not the time to play it safe. And I know that “The Money is in the List” how do I know this? I have a number of friends who have done very well for themselves and when momentum, clarity of purpose and their end goals came together-I watched them double-down on building their lists.
Lesson Learned.
Collaboration is Key
Action #1
My absolute favorite thing to do is to collaborate with other creators. I love learning about their work, community building and just soaking in their wisdom. Collaborating could look like (but isn’t limited) to the following:
- Co-hosting a livestream series such as “Shh, We’re Talking” which I’m already doing. I really enjoy this project and am loving learning from Corey and Angela.
- Designing an online resource and uplifting other experts. This could be an online summit or something similar.
- Sharing other creator’s work. I can’t do everything or all the things. I love sharing the work that other people are doing that compliments what I’m doing and help the people that I serve.
I’m sure there are other actions that I will focus on as I have more time to work through my thought process.
Guest on Podcasts
Action #2
It’s wild to me that I haven’t really been a regular guest on podcasts. I love being a guest on people’s shows. It’s so fun to have conversations, share wisdom and get in front of other audiences in a way that is very authentic for me.
I love to talk. I love all the words. I also really enjoy sharing strategies, tips, personal stories with the goal of being helpful, inspiring and yes-entertaining to other people. Because I’m not a social media forward creator, I have to think about how to optimize where I show up that creates that type of brand collateral without me having to do it. There are also a number of well-known content creators who focus primarily on a podcast guesting marketing strategy and they love it because of the following reasons:
- People who listen to podcasts take action. They will subscribe, follow, download or at the very least check out what you’re working on.
- Podcasting warms up the audience to you even faster than showing up regularly on social media. With the exception of live audio or video.
- Podcasts (as long as they stay “live”) work on your behalf 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One of my podcasts is around 10 years old. I love that show and it works as a portfolio piece and markets my brand on my behalf whether I’m napping, traveling, hiking, snowboarding, soaking in a hot tub or at a concert.
Adding a regular podcast guesting strategy means that I have to set aside time to pitch and also think about how to efficiently record episodes. Right now I’m looking to book back-to-back episodes a couple of times a month.
Content Design
Action #3
This action is huge. Content design touches on a couple of things:
- Is my content engaging?
- Am I answering questions that people have and that I feel qualified and comfortable enough to answer?
- Do I ask or invite people to subscribe? Both verbally and non-verbally in the following places that I’m showing up
- In my podcasts
- As a guest on podcasts
- In my website content
- In resources that I’ve built out
- On my Substack
- On Threads
- Am I communicating the benefit of saying “yes” to what I’m sharing? While I’m primarily talking about the list building goal for Creators Getting Paid-all this reflection is for any brand that you or I am building.
- Is SEO or search engine optimization something that I think about in my content design?
- And the newest thing that I’m thinking about is AI Search-How does it work and how can my work be found and cited when people are trying to find something.
Miscellaneous Marketing
Action #4
There’s the obvious and not-so-obvious approaches to marketing my work that I’m considering. Here’s a short list:
- Hosting an in-person meetup in my town (for content creators)-I love attending meetups. The goal is to keep it SUPER simple. Pick a time and a place, show up. If it’s one person who shows up-great. If it’s 17 people-great. The goal is to just have fun. Meetups in Denver can sometimes look a little different even for business focused projects. I’m planning on the following this summer:
- Hiking meetup
- Happy Hour
- Hot Springs Road Trip
- Concert
Why those types of events? Because people who work for themselves, even just part-time sometimes miss out on these types of experiences that are common in town.
- Market my newsletter in other newsletters-I have already been doing this. Sometimes you can do this for free, other times it costs money. It just has to make sense and the newsletter has to MATCH YOUR AUDIENCE. Don’t be random.
Share the Goal
Action #5
I’m telling people that I have a goal of adding at least 4,000 additional subscribers by the mid-November. Having other people watch what I’m doing will build in accountability AND some people will subscribe just to see what’s going on behind the scenes.
Creators Getting Paid
Don’t forget to join Creators Getting Paid. Creators Getting Paid is a community resource that shares online money making strategies, case studies and more. For $8 a month or an annual payment of $76 you’ll gain access to workshops, case studies, creator conversations, co-working days and more. Go to creatorsgettingpaid.com/newsletter to begin your Creators Getting Paid journey.
