8 easy ideas to grow your audience for free

You’ve probably heard the saying, “There’s gold in your list”, right?

Simply put, your list is the total of all your leads, customers, or connections you have. These are people who (for the most part) already know, like, and trust you and to whom you can make offers.

And it’s true by the way... there really is gold in dem hills.

Today, we’re going to walk through 8 very easy ideas you can implement right away to grow your audience without spending a dime to do it.

Imagine for just a moment that you’re a fisherman (or fisherwoman)...

But instead of just catching any kind of fish, you specialize in fly fishing and catching rainbow trout. Your pole, line, and bait are all designed for this single kind of fish.

This is similar to your online business.

As an online entrepreneur, you’ve now picked your market (your fish), you’ve got your bait (your lead magnet), and now you need to find your specific fish.

Well if you’re catching rainbow trout you’re probably not headed to the Arctic Ocean, right?

Of course not. You’d be beelining it right for the freshwater lakes and rivers.

And it’s exactly the same when you’re seeking to build your audience.

Do you want to constantly be thinking about what lakes are your “fish” already in that you could easily drop your line into? And sometimes just having a line in the water and constantly trolling can pick up more fish than you know what to do with.

It makes audience building much easier and far faster.

So with that idea in mind, let’s cast our line out into the 8 different ponds that could potentially reel in more prospects, leads, and customers...

Pond #1: Your Email Signature Line

Now, this might seem incredibly basic, but hear me out…

Think of all the emails you respond to every single day. What if your email signature had a very clear statement of the kind of people you help and a freebie attached to it?

Say you’re a health coach:

“Take My How Healthy Are You Quiz, Click Here.”

“Free Report: 7 Days To Lose 7 Pounds, Click Here”

A simple statement underneath your name with a call to action to get something for free. Who knows...the next customer service email you just responded to could become your favorite new customer.

It’s a simple way to add traction to actions you’re already taking anyways.

Pond #2: Your Personal Facebook

As a business owner, you want to continue to work the muscle of “getting comfortable being uncomfortable”. And for many, posting about their business on their personal Facebook wall is the perfect start.

Many of us expect people already know what we do...but they don’t. Or don’t know the “whole story” and why we love doing it.

Or worse, we think people already know how good we are at what we do. Well if that was the case we’d never need any more marketing...people would just know.

Never ever assume people know how much you love what you do OR how good you are at it. You need to tell them.

One easy way to use Facebook to build your audience is to post success stories of others who have used your products or services. That way it’s someone else doing your bragging instead of you.

And if you don’t have a success story to post just yet, you can use one of the most proven copywriting formulas there is: Problem - Agitate - Solve.

Problem: Do you want to grow your audience but you just don’t know how?

Agitate: Many of your Facebook friends would love to hear about what you’re up to, but you just don’t know exactly how to post in a way that doesn’t feel “salesy”.

Solve: Simple. Just state a problem that “your fish” may struggle with, agitate it a little more, then offer a solution.

Just like that.

Optimizing your personal Facebook strategically to help people know exactly what you do is a great way to organically build your audience.

Pond #3: Facebook Groups

Similar to your personal Facebook wall, you want to take advantage of Facebook Groups related to your niche.

Warning: DO NOT join the group and immediately begin spamming about your products, services, or anything remotely like that.

Instead, just go and give value. Offer advice, leadership, and genuine service...people will connect with you. Also, post valuable information in the group positioning yourself as a thought leader...because you are.

The people in the groups will inevitably click on your profile and come back to your page to “stalk you”. That’s where you can have your own call to action and links to your own products, email lists, etc.

Pond #4: Get Interviewed On Podcasts

Podcasts are everywhere. A quick search on Google or within iTunes will quickly show there are podcasts in every niche you can imagine.

And guess what?!

They’re all actively looking for people like you. They NEED you. Seriously. Many of these shows are desperately in need of content each and every week and you reaching out to them could be just the thing they’ve been hoping for.

Compile a “hit list” of possible podcasts where your “fish” might be swimming in.

Search “your niche + podcasts” on Google and browse the show categories within iTunes.

Be sure to do a little bit of research before reaching out. That way when you do reach out, you can sound informed and interesting, and make a good first impression.

Some podcasts will have their own website with a contact form, while others you’ll need to connect with via email, social media, or whatever way is available to you.

When you reach out, make it ALL about them and how your message can help their listeners.

What Not To Do:

“Dear Kajabi, Today is your lucky day. I’m going to allow you to have me on your podcast. I am incredible. Just wait, you’ll see.”

What To Do:

“Dear Kajabi, I just wanted to send a quick THANK YOU!

I’m a big fan of the show and yes have already given you a “5 Star Review” (insert screenshot)

I loved the episode you did about knowing how to test if your idea is a winner.

Recently I used some of the things you mentioned in that article to launch my own coaching business and made over $40,000 in the last 4 months!

I’d love to come on and share some of what I’ve done and how Kajabi has helped me do that.

What sort of messages resonate well with your audience? I’m happy to tailor my message around that as well…”

Something like that.

Make it about them and how you can help their listeners, and share a link to your website or anything which gives you credibility.

This is a great way to cast your net to a wide amount of people really quickly.

Remember, these podcast hosts need your help.

Pond #5: Referrals

Few people ask for referrals as much as they should, yet it’s one of the best opportunities you have to leverage the trust of your existing connections.

You want to incentivize your existing tribe to give you referrals by giving away relevant prizes. You can use giveaways, contests, or even just a flat dollar amount per referral that becomes a new customer.

You can get referrals from individual people, groups, businesses who need your help, and other influencers who have large followings.

The goal is to be creative. As you focus on constantly adding value, it should feel natural and easy to ask people to connect you with those they know who could benefit from what you do.

But if you don’t ask...you’ll never get it.

Pond #6: Joint Venture

Have you reached out to your existing customers or even your Facebook connections about doing a joint venture?

Maybe they have a business whose audience compliments your product or service and the two of you can promote one another.

Or sometimes you can simply have them promote your business in an email they send out to their list. You could also create a special deal just for them.

Then you can also give a percentage of the revenue that gets generated by that promotion back to the original sender. It’s quick and easy affiliate marketing with people you know who have an audience you could serve.

Pond #7: Write Articles on Medium

Medium now has over 60 million monthly readers and offers the opportunity for anyone to publish their message to the world. It’s fast and easy.

You can write on pretty much any topic you can imagine from entrepreneurship, design, productivity, etc.

But don’t think your article needs to the size of a Stephen King novel in order to help your prospects find you. In fact quite the opposite tends to be true. Writing shorter pieces but doing so consistently seems to be what wins.

At the end of the day you don’t really know till you try.

It’s a great way to cast your net out into your pond without needing anything other than your own message.

Throughout the article be sure to link out to your website or different opt-in pages where you offer something valuable so you can use that content piece as a way to generate new leads again and again.

Pond #8: Guest Posting

Guest posting is simply writing a content piece for someone else’s blog.

Before podcasting became as big as it is today, this was a go-to strategy for getting your name out there and quickly building your audience. The good news? It’s still incredibly effective and there are more blogs now than ever.

So there is more than enough opportunities no matter the niche.

You’ll follow the same strategy as outlined in Pond #4 above, but instead of searching for podcasts, now you’re searching for blogs.

Again, these people need you! Constantly putting out quality content is no easy task and your offering to help (especially if you can show a few well-written articles you’ve done before) is a breath of fresh air.

So reach out and make some new connections!

They’re waiting to hear from you.

Use Kajabi to Turn Your Knowledge And

Content Into Products You Can Sell

We know that you have something to teach the world. We also know there are people out there who want to learn what you know.

That’s why we created Kajabi. It’s a full-featured platform that allows professionals like you to create their own businesses from home.

Create online courses, establish membership sites, and sell other digital products. We offer tons of marketing tools to help you spread the word about your products and earn more revenue.

Of course, launching a business represents a huge commitment. We understand that.

To help ease you into the process of creating a Knowledge Commerce business of your own, we just released a brand new, 3 part video series, taking you from an idea and creating your online course, to making your very first sale.

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Get unfettered access to our tools, templates, and other assets so you can fully explore what Kajabi has to offer.

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