Nearly everyone I know on social media is obsessed with numbers. How many followers and subscribers do I have? What are my impressions like? Is engagement up or down? Behind the scenes, it's a different story.
This is so true. It reminds me of a quote I heard from this gentleman who owned a really successful restaurant. Someone asked him, "What's your secret? How did your restaurant become so successful?" His response was simple, "The secret was always on the plate."
Give them what they came for. They'll tell others. Others will benefit from transformation as well. They'll in turn tell others. And so the snowball grows...
I saw a girl grow 4x as fast as I did. And then she posted her paid subscriber count. I had 10x as many as hers. But those connections are important to me, and they text and call me regularly and we are in community together. My constellation. It’s more important than any metric imaginable. Being in community.
"Create more impactful content for your community..." - very true.
Almost every day in my Substack Chat, I posit something for everyone to think about, and sometimes it gets a response, and sometimes, none at all. Recently I changed it up, proposing a problem to solve that ties into that days theme, and have started sharing it on Notes as well, and it's seemed to take off.
I’m on this journey right now. I’m challenged with really honing in on who my audience truly is. After 7 years in business, I still have not identified my “Raving Fans”.
While everyone's chasing those flashy follower counts, the real magic happens in forging authentic connections. You can either spend your day counting numbers or you can create something valuable and meaningful. It's not about the size of your audience; it's about how well you engage with them. And a loyal community will do the heavy lifting for you, sharing your work because it genuinely resonates with them.
The surface has a shelf-life, and when it expires, people are left empty and unfulfilled.
I see people leaning into depth of connection and experience. It’s why shared, human connection — in real-life — matters. It’s a powerful trend right now, and it speaks to your point about impact happening from depth.
It will be interesting to observe whether it continues to build. My hunch is that it will.
Those are wise words! It is so important to go deeper rather than wider. Content can easily skim the surface, but the real impact comes from addressing the deeper needs or challenges within your audience! That's when it really resonates.
I can testify this. My email list is less than 3,000 people, but I'm one of the top 2% of course sellers on Thinkific. I focus on a really specific niche helping educators transition from the classroom to being student coaches, and I'm certain I make more money than most of my mastermind buddies who have a million-plus followers on my YouTube channels.
This reminds me of being present in the 1-2 seconds it takes to swing a golf golf club related to impacting coaching students that are typically stuck in their heads with tips, formulas, and "quick fixes" that are fleeting at best.
By boiling their intentions down to simply feeling their own direct experience compressed into going deeper in the present moment, their desired results beginning showing up through this type of "head fake" - rather than trying to remember EVERYTHING, they simply feel ONE thing, their own presence....
There is a World of difference between being noticed and being known.
When we are noticed, the goal should be to invite our audience to get deeper and get to know us better.
In my view, too many fail at this hurdle because they insist on wanting to be noticed, thinking that the crowd will bring virality and money.
I personally aim to help founders and CFOs to become more investable and I often note that the fewer the ones who interact the better the quality of the conversation and this has happened a lot lately.
The magic point about being known is that people will start to rate you and you start to have a market : low value service, mid value service, high value service, elite value service.
I am sure you will have noticed this path, Justin.
This is so true. It reminds me of a quote I heard from this gentleman who owned a really successful restaurant. Someone asked him, "What's your secret? How did your restaurant become so successful?" His response was simple, "The secret was always on the plate."
Give them what they came for. They'll tell others. Others will benefit from transformation as well. They'll in turn tell others. And so the snowball grows...
Yes! This captures it so well.
Such a great reminder, stick to what you know ,what you came for and what the people want- be you and keep going!
Love it, Jill.
I needed to hear this today. Thanks, Justin
You're welcome! Thanks for reading.
I saw a girl grow 4x as fast as I did. And then she posted her paid subscriber count. I had 10x as many as hers. But those connections are important to me, and they text and call me regularly and we are in community together. My constellation. It’s more important than any metric imaginable. Being in community.
"Create more impactful content for your community..." - very true.
Almost every day in my Substack Chat, I posit something for everyone to think about, and sometimes it gets a response, and sometimes, none at all. Recently I changed it up, proposing a problem to solve that ties into that days theme, and have started sharing it on Notes as well, and it's seemed to take off.
Awesome. Great work, Matt.
Well said Justin
Thank you, Adam.
I’m on this journey right now. I’m challenged with really honing in on who my audience truly is. After 7 years in business, I still have not identified my “Raving Fans”.
While everyone's chasing those flashy follower counts, the real magic happens in forging authentic connections. You can either spend your day counting numbers or you can create something valuable and meaningful. It's not about the size of your audience; it's about how well you engage with them. And a loyal community will do the heavy lifting for you, sharing your work because it genuinely resonates with them.
The surface has a shelf-life, and when it expires, people are left empty and unfulfilled.
I see people leaning into depth of connection and experience. It’s why shared, human connection — in real-life — matters. It’s a powerful trend right now, and it speaks to your point about impact happening from depth.
It will be interesting to observe whether it continues to build. My hunch is that it will.
Such a great message!
Impact over metrics
I say, depth over popularity, especially on social media
Those are wise words! It is so important to go deeper rather than wider. Content can easily skim the surface, but the real impact comes from addressing the deeper needs or challenges within your audience! That's when it really resonates.
Thank you Justin Jan! I learned from your point of view.
I can testify this. My email list is less than 3,000 people, but I'm one of the top 2% of course sellers on Thinkific. I focus on a really specific niche helping educators transition from the classroom to being student coaches, and I'm certain I make more money than most of my mastermind buddies who have a million-plus followers on my YouTube channels.
This reminds me of being present in the 1-2 seconds it takes to swing a golf golf club related to impacting coaching students that are typically stuck in their heads with tips, formulas, and "quick fixes" that are fleeting at best.
By boiling their intentions down to simply feeling their own direct experience compressed into going deeper in the present moment, their desired results beginning showing up through this type of "head fake" - rather than trying to remember EVERYTHING, they simply feel ONE thing, their own presence....
There is a World of difference between being noticed and being known.
When we are noticed, the goal should be to invite our audience to get deeper and get to know us better.
In my view, too many fail at this hurdle because they insist on wanting to be noticed, thinking that the crowd will bring virality and money.
I personally aim to help founders and CFOs to become more investable and I often note that the fewer the ones who interact the better the quality of the conversation and this has happened a lot lately.
The magic point about being known is that people will start to rate you and you start to have a market : low value service, mid value service, high value service, elite value service.
I am sure you will have noticed this path, Justin.