Does audience size matter?
To find customers or clients, we first need people to know about our work. But how big does that audience need to be?
So much marketing advice emphasizes building a huge audience. 10x your subscriber list! Get 10K followers on Instagram! Maybe these are the kind of promises you are hoping for from me as well.
If you know me, you know that I feel differently about this. When it comes to audience size, I am a big believer in quality over quantity. In my experience, you don’t need a huge audience to run a successful business and make good money.
People are often surprised that I have a six-figure business, given my modest audience size when compared to other six-figure businesses. I just never had it in me to hustle hard for followers, so growth has been organic, slow, and focused on quality rather than quantity.
Now, that doesn’t mean that I am not interested in continued audience growth. With my pivot to Calm Business, I want to become even more intentional about growing my audience. That’s because Calm Business is not just about revenue but also impact. I want to make more people aware of the Calm Business movement and its potential to change how we run successful small businesses—away from toxic patriarchy and towards a kinder, calmer, and more inclusive world.
One other aspect that is often not considered when we talk about audiences is the nature of your businesses. As a 1:1 service provider, for instance, you don’t need a big audience to have a thriving business. Whereas if you sell products, whether digital or physical, you need to reach a lot more people to affect your bottom line. Just something to bear in mind.
The bottom line is: don’t worry so much about the numbers and just focus on the quality of your content, service, and interactions. That, I believe, is also what makes a business sustainable.
Here are five tips for nurturing your audience:
Appreciate every interaction. Whether it's a thoughtful reply to your newsletter, a chatty DM conversation, or a supportive comment on your blog, cherish each interaction. Picture the real human being on the other side and remember that an audience is built one person at a time.
Focus on relevance and value. Prioritize creating content that resonates deeply with your desired audience. Share some top tips on a social post, write an SEO-optimized long-form blog post, create a free lead magnet that provides genuine value, and go deeper in your newsletters.
Be generous. Take the time to answer questions in groups, be helpful in email responses, and share your expertise generously.
Be patient. There’s no getting around it: growing a quality audience takes time. Stay patient and committed. Trust that nurturing genuine connections will pay off in the long run—because it will!
Know and be yourself. This sounds obvious, but given all the noise around us and people telling us to do this and be that, it can be easy to lose ourselves. Know and honor your energy levels, set boundaries, and take good care of your mental and physical health. Trust me, your audience will take notice, and the right people will appreciate you for it.
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