Serve Your Audience

If you are going to make an impact, you have to reach beyond yourself and touch others with what you do. It’s simple. To make a difference, to leave a legacy, to impact other people, other people have to know who you are, what your message is, and why they should listen.

This is your audience.

Oprah asked her producers before every show, what is our intention with this show and how will it serve our audience. Is what we are doing aligning with our mission of uplifting, enlightening, encouraging and entertaining?

Having that clarity of vision, certainty of intent, and the power of values made her show memorable and a mainstay for 25 years.

That is a worthy goal, and I am doing my best to uplift, enlighten, encourage and entertain here, with my own contribution in the Algorithm for Life.

It is rare that someone is not only able to articulate what they want to do, but also in a way that is easy to understand, and actionable by others.

This simple framework is brilliant, and when I think back to all the content I am most drawn to, it has these traits. The blog Wait but Why. The YouTube channel Kurgustadt. FS.blog and the associated books Shane Parrish has written with the lessons he’s learned. They all have this combination of uplifting, enlightening, encouraging and entertaining, consciously or not. It’s truly amazing.

So now that you know what to do, how do you get an audience? Bear in mind you have to give, before you can get. You have to put yourself out there, willing to fail, before you get anything back.

You have to keep at it, day after day, week after week, year after year until eventually you will start to gain an audience.

Seth Godin started off this way, with a blog a day. Simple.

He added value, and gained an audience. He then wrote books with unique perspectives his audience loved, and his audience grew. He continues to do so today, and his reach is exponential.

There’s also the theory that 1000 raving fans are all you need to sustain yourself and your lifestyle. That’s not too many. But how do you get there?

It’s simple really. You create whatever you are going to create. Whatever impact you’re going to have on the world, and you share it with 10 friends. Then you ask for them to share it with 10 friends each. There’s your first hundred.

If you’re really bold, you can ask your friends, to ask their friends, to share with 10 friends. Bam. You’re at 1000 people.

Now not all of them are going to be raving fans, but some will. Some will hate it, and they won’t share it with anyone. Some will love it, and will share it with everyone they know.

So with this simple start, you’re off to the races, and you have your audience.

So don’t be shy. Uplift. Encourage. Enlighten. Entertain.

You will be made famous for it.