I bet you’ve never heard the term ‘river fishing’ when it comes to audience building.
But it really is an important lesson. After all, if you don’t have a way of building an audience, you’re making the life of being a business owner far harder than it needs to be.
There are two camps most business owners sit in; those without an audience who are constantly looking for clients, and those who seem to connect with people easily.
The latter have worked out how best to invest their time in order to put themselves in front of more potential clients. But what if you need to build your audience from scratch?
And what on earth do I mean by river fishing?!
Building an audience isn’t selfish
The word ‘audience’ might make you feel a bit queasy if you’re just starting out.
After all, it sounds like something a Love Island contestant desperately wants. They need to feel loved, adored, and admired.
Surely you don’t want to be that person… right?
I’d have to agree. But when we talk about audiences in business, we’re actually referring to gathering a bunch of people who you can HELP.
It’s not about you. And it’s definitely not selfish. It’s entirely about what’s in it for the individual members of your audience.
The bigger your audience and the more relevant it is for the services and products you offer, the more people you can help. That’s a wonderful thing and it’s a win-win for everyone.
‘On stage’ vs ‘working the room’
Picture these two scenarios:
- Scenario 1: Sarah is on stage, holding a captive audience during a talk about the latest evolution of her product.
- Scenario 2: Rob is wandering around the floor of a networking event speaking to as many people as possible in a bid to find a potential opportunity.
Who do you think has more influence? More importantly, who is investing their time most wisely - Sarah or Rob?
It’s Sarah, obviously. And the reason is simple - she has built an asset (her influence) over time. This won’t have happened overnight, either - it’ll have taken long hours, late nights, and lots of long-term thinking.
But the result is clear for all to see. Rather than working the room like poor old Rob, Sarah is able to inspire an entire room of people in one, clean hit.
Rob, on the other hand, is doing the business equivalent of river fishing. He’s hoping for a bite during that long day on the networking arena floor. He might find one, of course, but how much time is he expending in the process?
By comparison, Sarah’s time is maximised. She’s built an audience, crafted her influence and married the two. By the time Rob has left his venue, Sarah is already ticking off the last item on her to-do list - that time on stage now a distant, happy memory.
How big is your audience?
Time to ask yourself a tough question: how big is your audience?
It’s not big enough, is it? So, with that in mind, what’s stopping you from building it?
Tech?
The messaging?
Self-belief?
Start today. Invest your time in compound thinking and plan to build your audience rather than working endless rooms. It all starts here.