The audience-building flywheel

Updated: August 28, 2024

4 min read

A question creators commonly ask is, “how do I get more subscribers?”

As a brand new creator, finding followers is probably your top concern. And although there are many answers depending on who you ask, the best explanation may be something called the flywheel effect. In short, you have to put out content consistently and strategically, blending social media with email to reach the most subscribers possible.

While it’s hardly rocket science, sending out content when you’ve only got one or two subscribers to your email list or five followers on Instagram can be nerve-wracking. However, in order to set the flywheel in motion, consistently creating in public is the name of the game. Or at least part of the name of the game.

In this episode, Alyssa and Melissa describe each step of the flywheel concept, explaining how to maximize your results and stay motivated along the way, even with just one follower to your name. It may be a slow process, but if done correctly, the flywheel concept guarantees growth and may be the simplest answer to that number one creator question.

Key Takeaways

[02:03] – The flywheel concept explains audience building as a process with a painfully slow start. Consistency speeds up the flywheel until the wheel spins faster and faster and audience-building becomes easier and easier.
[12:29] – The first step of the flywheel process is posting to social media and creating in public.
[14:57] – The second step is telling followers to sign up for your email list and telling them exactly what they’ll get out of it. In other words, incentivize subscribers to join your list.
[19:09] – The third step is to send an email and then send consistent, high-quality content to your list.
[22:23] – The final step is to tell social media about the email you’ve just sent. Let them know what they’re missing out on if they aren’t subscribed.

Quotes

[14:21] – “When we say high value, that kind of depends on what your subscribers or followers find value in. It doesn’t necessarily mean something that took you hours.” ~ @alyssa_dulin

[19:23] – “The key here, and this is what we’ve talked about through all of our episodes, is to send consistently high-quality content to your list that meets the need that you just told them you were going to meet.” ~ @alyssa_dulin

[19:35] – “People tend to lose interest in things that they forget about. And that is what I notice on social media and also related to email. People like consistency. Even if you have to repurpose your content in some way or ask questions for more content, it’s better to send something.” ~ @mel_lambert_