If your default is opening social media and binging on updates from others, there's a problem. The world needs to know what YOU can offer, and I believe everyone can add value. So first, switch to intentionally becoming a creator.
10 ridiculously simple tips I wish I knew about building an audience when I first started:
I mostly winged it 🤫
Let me share my lessons so you don't have to:
(a thread 🧵)
If your default is opening social media and binging on updates from others, there's a problem. The world needs to know what YOU can offer, and I believe everyone can add value. So first, switch to intentionally becoming a creator.
Most beginner creators people aim too far high and crash. It never works for me. Instead choose tiny habits like 2 tweets a day in the morning. Or 1 video for Youtube. Or 1 short essay each day on Substack. Optimize for consistency.
What comes naturally to you? Writing your thoughts, choose Twitter. Editing interesting footage and layering a voice-over? Choose Youtube. Short essays? Choose Substack. Pick one and stick with it for at last 1 month.
Don't focus on big bold segments with hundreds of active prolific creators already fishing. Find specific audiences and move towards them.
I was a no-code maker in 2018 so that niche came naturally. Later, I expanded to the community niche. Now #buildinpublic
If your favorite niche still feels big, combine two different ones and see if it resonates w people.
Many of my fav creators are masters at this. @5harath blends mindfulness + product, @JensLennartsson is marketing + no-code, @jackbutcher is design + mindset
Each social platform has styles that work and formats you can be inspired by
Don't copy their content but use their style/format as a guide
Ex: @brandonthezhang @jackbutcher @shl have unique recognizable formats on Twitter
People are scrolling so fast on all these feeds, if you sound half-ass or hesitant, they'll move on
To write with conviction, speak about things you know and have tried and have worked well (be ready to produce proof!)
Some people never make progress because they are trapped by trying to look flawless. I make a ton of mystakes. Typos. Bad grammar at times. Busy professionals don't care. They'll get the message.
Pride yourself in consistency
It goes without saying but I think it's worth mentioning
There are no free lunches
If you want to build an audience, you have to give value, your time, resources you already have etc.
You can't just ask people favors without giving freely first
More from Social media
2/ Thread writing
Chirr app
Price: Free
What I like: has a nice blank space for drafting and a good auto-numbering feature
What I don't: have to copy and paste tweets into Twitter after thread is drafted and can't add pics
https://t.co/YlljnF5eNd
3/ Video editing
Kapwing
Price: Free
What I like: great at pulling vids from youtube/twitter and overlaying captions + different audio on them
What I don't: Can't edit content older than 2 days on the free plan
https://t.co/bREsREkCSJ
4/ Meme making
Imgflip
Price: Free
What I like: easiest way to caption existing meme formats, quickly
What I don't: limited fonts
https://t.co/sUj13VlPiO
5/ Inspiration
iPhone notes app
Price: Free
What I like: no frills & easily accessible. every thread i write starts as an idea in notes
What I don't: difficult to organize
The goal?
Learn how to craft interesting threads, and grow a following. It (mostly) worked.
- New followers: +2.5K (+100% MoM)
- Top thread: 373K impressions
- Top tweet: 2.5K likes
Here's what I learned. Quick thread 👇👇
To start, here's the most popular thread I've written.
Thoughts on what made it work, below.
Nikola Tesla was the greatest inventor of his era. He died penniless and alone, swindled by both Thomas Edison and JP Morgan.
— Mario \U0001f98a (@mariodgabriele) September 2, 2020
A thread \U0001f447\U0001f447\U0001f447 pic.twitter.com/80Gco1e6uq
1. Quality
The threads that performed best were (usually) the ones I put the most effort into.
One example is this one about Jeff Bezos's origins. I spent hours researching and drafting it.
It's worth taking the time to craft your
[Story time]
— Mario \U0001f98a (@mariodgabriele) July 30, 2020
Yesterday, Jeff Bezos testified in front of Congress. It was almost exactly 15 yrs ago that Amazon introduced itself to the world.
We have all heard some version of his story. But in investigating his childhood, I was surprised to find much that has gone unshared. pic.twitter.com/CDaIAA0Fzj
2. Timeliness
Capitalizing on the news can be one way to expand viewership.
When Fornite launched its #FreeFortnite campaign, I wrote this thread.
At the time, it was my 2nd best performing thread. It also introduced me to the lovely
Fortnite is standing up to Google and Apple.
— Mario \U0001f98a (@mariodgabriele) August 13, 2020
They're offering 20% discounts to players that buy digital currency in the app, bypassing the payment systems of Big Tech.
This is a thread about the game's humble beginnings. \U0001f447
(All likes + RTs appreciated! \U0001f64f) pic.twitter.com/Zg5Lr3hDRu
3. Narrative Arc
Have a clear start and end in your mind.
I made this mistake with a few Amazon threads. I thought because my first one worked, I could keep the story going. But they didn't have as clear a narrative arc and were much less popular.
A book about lichen saved Amazon from going out of business.
— Mario \U0001f98a (@mariodgabriele) August 10, 2020
A thread \U0001f447 pic.twitter.com/kgfmBf4Dsj
Thread 🧵
Below are a few insights I gathered while researching on how Gen-X use WhatsApp as a part of @10kdesigners Cohort!
Okay, let's go!
1/x
Gen-X? Who are they?
Gen-X (short for Generation X) are basically people with birth years around 1960–1980. That’s basically our (millennials’) parents!
2/x
Check out this detailed case study by @zainab_delawala
📮 Communication/Community
This is the primary feature of WhatsApp.
This feature is the entry point for most of the Gen-X, they come to WhatsApp to communicate and engage with small
Can a movie (96') change how people use an app (Whatsapp)?
— Rajesh Raghavan (@rajeshraghavan_) October 1, 2020
YES. It can.
Let's see how\U0001f440 pic.twitter.com/BV0scQ2KEc
- WhatsApp group is one of the most used features by Gen-X. Most of the message more on groups than on private chats.
- Forward messages received mostly are written in vernacular languages. They are all well scripted.
4/x
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As someone\u2019s who\u2019s read the book, this review strikes me as tremendously unfair. It mostly faults Adler for not writing the book the reviewer wishes he had! https://t.co/pqpt5Ziivj
— Teresa M. Bejan (@tmbejan) January 12, 2021
The meat of the criticism is that the history Adler gives is insufficiently critical. Adler describes a few figures who had a great influence on how the modern US university was formed. It's certainly critical: it focuses on the social Darwinism of these figures. 2/x
Other insinuations and suggestions in the review seem wildly off the mark, distorted, or inappropriate-- for example, that the book is clickbaity (it is scholarly) or conservative (hardly) or connected to the events at the Capitol (give me a break). 3/x
The core question: in what sense is classics inherently racist? Classics is old. On Adler's account, it begins in ancient Rome and is revived in the Renaissance. Slavery (Christiansen's primary concern) is also very old. Let's say classics is an education for slaveowners. 4/x
It's worth remembering that literacy itself is elite throughout most of this history. Literacy is, then, also the education of slaveowners. We can honor oral and musical traditions without denying that literacy is, generally, good. 5/x
make products.
"If only someone would tell me how I can get a startup to notice me."
Make Products.
"I guess it's impossible and I'll never break into the industry."
MAKE PRODUCTS.
Courtesy of @edbrisson's wonderful thread on breaking into comics – https://t.co/TgNblNSCBj – here is why the same applies to Product Management, too.
"I really want to break into comics"
— Ed Brisson (@edbrisson) December 4, 2018
make comics.
"If only someone would tell me how I can get an editor to notice me."
Make Comics.
"I guess it's impossible and I'll never break into the industry."
MAKE COMICS.
There is no better way of learning the craft of product, or proving your potential to employers, than just doing it.
You do not need anybody's permission. We don't have diplomas, nor doctorates. We can barely agree on a single standard of what a Product Manager is supposed to do.
But – there is at least one blindingly obvious industry consensus – a Product Manager makes Products.
And they don't need to be kept at the exact right temperature, given endless resource, or carefully protected in order to do this.
They find their own way.
📈 ~12000 vistis
☑️ 109 transactions
💰 353€ profit (285 after tax)
I have spent 1.5 months on this app. You can make more $ in 2 days.
🤷♂️
I'm still happy that I launched a paid app bcs it involved extra work:
- backend for processing payments (+ permissions, webhooks, etc)
- integration with payment processor
- UI for license activation in Electron
- machine activation limit
- autoupdates
- mailgun emails
etc.
These things seemed super scary at first. I always thought it was way too much work and something would break. But I'm glad I persisted. So far the only problem I have is that mailgun is not delivering the license keys to certain domains like https://t.co/6Bqn0FUYXo etc. 👌
omg I just realized that me . com is an Apple domain, of course something wouldn't work with these dicks