mapping out your growth needs vs wants

I have a love/hate relationship with social media.

On one hand, I’ve seen how transformative building an audience can be.

For example:

A friend of mine is a health coach with 100k+ followers on IG…

And they’ve sustained his business for 5+ years…

Allowing him to enjoy the kind of freedom many others would sacrifice a limb for.

(along a slew of unwanted DM slides and a few marriage proposals, lol)

I’ve also written ads for several clients recently who’ve got monster followings on social…

And the lift they get is unreal.

Not to mention their organic sales provide a comfy cushion to protect against the normal day-to-day fluctuations within an ad account.

That said:

I’ve personally found building on social to be vexing at times.

Partly because lots of people like to masquerade as potential customers:

- Liking and commenting on all your posts
- Joining your newsletter
- Replying to your emails
- DM’ing you
- Etc etc

Yet they’ve got no intention of ever buying.

They’re just doing this in hopes that you’ll reciprocate and engage with them.

It’s an implicit agreement among many growth-minded creators…

That gives rise to a desperate cycle of trying to keep up with everyone…

When the reality is:

You need people to BUY STUFF in order to justify the time & energy it takes to be active.

Now, this isn’t meant to be an blanket rejection of audience building or social networking.

Or to say I haven’t reaped any rewards from my own organic efforts.

It’s just a contradiction I’ve been reflecting on a lot recently.

And ironically, I’ve come to think running ads is actually a more “authentic” way to build an audience.

Because the agreement is straightforward:

If someone thinks you’re worth paying attention to, they’ll do so.

And if not, they’ll move on.

That’s it.

There’s no veneer of reciprocity to muddy the waters.

So that’s why I’ve re-jigged my “needs vs wants” when it comes to growing my newsletter.

Specifically:

- Running ads is now my #1 growth channel (need)
- Creating content for social is optional (want)

I encourage you to get clear on these two things.

Both traffic sources have their advantages.

But as legendary entrepreneur and business coach Rich Schefren says:

It all comes down to tradeoffs & payoffs.

Choose wisely.

Jim Hamilton

P.S:

Another reason I backed off social was because I didn’t have an easy way to monetize my followers.

But that’s about to change.

I’m releasing my new Email Storyselling Playbook on Monday.

In less than 70 pages, I walk you through my 4-step formula for converting subscribers into buyers even if you’re not a natural writer or storyteller.

Of course I’m biased, but I think this thing is a banger.

And best part is, it’ll be available for just 3 bucks.

So if you don’t already own any of my Email Storyselling or 15-Minute Emails That Sell Products…

I reckon you’ll wanna get a copy ;)

More details on Monday.