Why You Should Build an Audience Before You Build a Business

Why You Should Build an Audience Before You Build a Business

Reader Comments (22)

  1. Great post on building an audience first. Eben Pagan once spoke about
    how he got all his product ideas from his list telling him exactly what they
    wanted.

    He built it and sold it to ‘um. The problem I see over and over is, some
    so-called big marketers YELLING, build a list ,build a list. So you
    can spam the crap out of ‘um and make your zillions, all the while
    having a unsubscribe rate higher than gas prices.

    They don’t tell ya how to take care of that list and provide value to them.
    Not to mention learn from ‘um and find out what they need and want,
    then give it and sell it to them.

    Ron

    • That’s what I LOVE about André Chaperon’s course “AutoResponder Madness 2.0”. It’s the best course I’ve ever taken on how to actually nurture the relationship with your list. I highly recommend that you check it out. Just Google it.

      David

  2. I agree with the audience first approach wholeheartedly. that’s how I started and that’s how I recommend my students to start. thanks for the great podcast – Hector

  3. I love the term Minimum Viable Audience and this is a great point. It’s better to focus on adding value and getting loyal subscribers and then turning that into a business vs. the other way around. I think Ron makes a great point which I’ve experienced first-hand and with my clients. Once you get the list, how to take care of them, learn from them, keep in touch, be a real person, and make money is a whole new ball of wax. But if people want to build businesses, it’s essential. Looking forward to digging into the podcast!

  4. You had me at “Scotch”. What do you drink, Bruce? Chivas is a must at my homestead 🙂

    But I digress to my question in regards to observation & research. Do you simply look for feedback on the stuff you post or do you use keywords & see what social media is talking about related to your topic?

    Solid stuff you guys. Cheers!
    -M

  5. I whole-heartedly agree that building the audience and then “Listening” is the best way to achieve great success online.

    It’s important to listen to your audience: ENTREPRELISTENER

    Thank you for the info Brian.

  6. Robert/Brian,

    Although it does sound a lot easier than it really is, this model seems to be the ONLY way to go if you want to create a business that’s sustainable.

    I think a lot can be gained by surveying your audience, but not by asking them what they want, more by asking them what they DON’T want and what problems they’re losing sleep over… then crafting the product from that feedback.

    As always, the final vote is the moment when they either buy or don’t. However, without that personal, intimate, frequent relationship with the seller, even the perfect spot-on solution will NEVER leave the shelf.

    -Joshua Black

  7. We didn’t turn our neighborhood-news site into a business until it had been online almost 2 years and getting about 2,000 uniques a day. Of course, we didn’t even start it with the thought it might EVER become a business – but we listened, and responded, and somehow it turned into a neighborhood news/information/discussion hub. It’s not fair to ask people to pay to advertise someplace they might not even be seen, so I don’t think you can in good conscience sell ads from day 1 – or if you do, you’d have to sell at a ridiculously cheap price from which it would be difficult to upsell. When people ask us for advice, we suggest that you make sure you have a cushion for at least a few months of creating something to see if it will resonate. If it does, THEN get out there and start getting revenue.

  8. I always enjoy these posts from Robert, and listen to the audio a few times.
    I do, however, look forward to moving on to a new term to replace “content marketing”.

  9. I started my first business as trial for a real deal. I was ready that it will fail and it will work as a lesson for me. And I was right it really failed but meanwhile I got an audience, contacts and everything I needed to start some real deal.
    Thanks Robert for suggestions!

  10. Thank you for another magnificient show, Robert and Brian. By the way, I listen to a ton of podcasts and Robert has THE voice for the job.

    Quite honestly, not enough has been said about this issue and it is THE difference that makes the difference in being successful online. Understanding people is the linchpin to a longt-term, successful online business. While everyone is focused on content and search engines and traffic and conversion and blog design, I think you could stand way out by concentrating your readers on people. How do you segment people, what are examples of niches (special interest groups), how do start communicating with people, and so on.

    That’s where the edge lies. If you’re very good at understanding people, you could be a mediocre copywriter and still sell a lot. Conversely, the best copywriter in the world couldn’t sell his way out of a paper bag without understanding his audience.

    If Copyblogger Media is able to develop a piece of software that helps marketers tune into people, I think that would be an unprecedented contribution.

    Once again, congrats on the show and I look forward to the next ones.

  11. I content that most of the world still does not understand this concept of ‘building an audience’. I know some otherwise very smart people who cannot grasp the significance and value of building an audience- no matter what niche they’re in.

    If everyone was building an audience, then there wouldn’t be any room left to build one. That’s why it’s so valuable. The people who really ‘get’ the value of building an audience are the ones succeeding in business because they give the audience what it wants. While some people obsess over trivial details, the real hustlers are out there continually building their audience asset and discovering through feedback what the audience would happily pay for.

    This is the approach that makes sense to me. Thanks Brian and Robert for a fantastic listen.

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