✋🏽 Stop focusing on audience size

As creators, we often look at audience size to measure our level of success. We even use this to distinguish between “big” and “small creators”. But does size really matter?

I can’t stop thinking about the conversation I had with Thomas Frank on Creators on Air. He spent years building his YouTube channel to 2.8 million subscribers, but he made the decision to shift his focus and start a second channel. While much smaller, he’s been able to earn 10x more in revenue.

So how has he done it?

He builds and sells Notion templates to his audience who are interested in productivity.

By finding an offering that aligns with his audience, Thomas successfully monetised his subscribers and became less reliant on the platform where he creates his content. And he’s not the only one:

• Jay Clouse has made over $300,000 by building a paid community for creators.

• Sarah Renae Clark makes over $200,000 per month with The Color Cube, a physical product that helps artists with color selection.

• And Ali Abdaal made $2.5M in annual revenue last year through his cohort-based course, Part-time Youtuber Academy.

These creators have not only scaled their businesses but they’ve become less reliant on views and audience size. This means they can step off the content hamster wheel and know they still have revenue.

So how do you identify and build a product or offering that aligns with your audience? Here are some tips:

🤕 Understand your audience’s pain points. Take the guesswork out of understanding your audience by engaging with them through surveys, comments, and DMs. Find out what they're struggling with and what they need. Keep an eye out for common themes and problems that you could build the solution for. Sometimes your audience might even ask for what they want from you. For example, Amanda Rach Lee noticed she had numerous comments asking for her bullet journal, so she decided to create one to sell to her audience.

📚 Use your special skills and knowledge. Think about what you're great at and why your audience came to you in the first place. That's the magic sauce for building your audience and developing a product they'll love.

⏰ Work with what you have. Time and money are real factors we have to always consider, right? If you're short on time, digital products might be preferable to live courses and memberships, which are more time-consuming. On the other hand, physical products might need some upfront investment. While it’s great to keep your audience in mind, take a moment to figure out what's practical and doable for you.

📈 Keep an eye on trends. It’s time to do some market research! Check out what other creators in your niche are offering and how they're making money from their audiences. And don't limit yourself – take inspiration from other niches too and see how you can apply their ideas to your own audience.

💡 Once you have an idea, it’s time to get some feedback. Put your idea out there and let your audience be the judge. Share it with the world, ask for feedback, run surveys, or even create a minimal viable product (MVP) to test the waters. It's all about gauging the interest and willingness of your audience to pay for your creation.

🚀 It’s launch time! As you release your products, remember to keep an eye on how they're performing. Your audience's feedback is gold, so gather as much as you can and use it to make your offerings even better.

Create something great for your audience and you can scale your business without relying on views and followers alone. Size doesn’t matter after all.

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Stay passionate,

Akta✋🏽