You DON'T Need More Views

When it comes to selling online, almost everything you’ve been told is a lie. 

You don’t need hundreds of thousands of views to sell your products / services on social media, what you truly need is: DEEPER connections with FEWER people…

Whether you’re selling a book, a new album, graphic design services, author services, or t-shirts; the marketing ‘influencers’ have trained and conditioned us to prioritise one message above all else, and that is:

MORE VIEWS equals MORE SALES.

It's an easy message to sell to business owners, as the premise is mega simple: BIGGER NUMBER EQUALS ‘BETTER’. When positioned like this, it’s so much easier for these marketers to sell you their templates, ‘viral hooks’, or PDF downloads. In marketing ‘THE SIMPLEST MESSAGE WINS’, and this over-simplification of the challenge is the tool used for pitching products to you.

What I have discovered is that selling online is much more sophisticated and nuanced than just views alone…

As a professional YouTuber / Writer / Content Creator (who has had millions of views across multiple platforms!) I can tell you right now that loads of views (or even followers) on social media ISN’T the immediate cheat code for success. 

If all it took was ‘BIG views’, then my Facebook group with 100,000+ members should have (theoretically) earned me 33 times more revenue than my smaller Facebook Group (with just 3000 members!) – however the INVERSE was true.

My smaller, more targeted / intimate group made MUCH MORE money than the larger / more ‘viral’ group.

When it comes to effectively promoting your business / product / service online, it all boils down to this simple premise:

YOU NEED DEEPER CONNECTIONS WITH FEWER PEOPLE.

Kevin Kelly’s ‘1000 True Fans’ thesis touched upon this concept, where he argues you can build a powerful / lucrative business by having just 1000+ devoted customers / ‘True Fans’ (who will spend $100 or more per year with you). This is particularly relevant if you’re a smaller / independent creator or in the creative industries.

To grow and nurture a fanbase of this size, you do not need a social media audience of millions or even hundreds of thousands. 

Absolutely anyone is capable of gaining 100,000’s of views if they’re willing to ‘play the game’ and debase themselves on TikTok or Instagram… but the attention is ‘empty’ and doesn’t really mean anything. 

Without context, rapport, or emotional resonance, all you’ve done is generate some ad revenue for the platform you’ve posted to. That’s great for Zuckerberg’s bottom line, but not so great for you!

As a small business owner you actually have a true ‘super power’, and that’s the fact that you’re a REAL person with a REAL story… not just a soulless / disembodied corporate brand or logo. This is why I stress over and over again that personal anecdotes, stories, and photos will always outperform ‘graphic design’ (or slick marketing content) on social media 10-to-1. 

Your face and your ‘story’ is by far the GREATEST marketing weapon that you possess.

It’s not just genuine vendors that you’re up against now, the modern marketplace is also flooded with hustlebros and dropshippers who leverage (lazy) AI automation processes and remote workers from developing countries.

It’s unfortunate, but this is how it is now in the modern marketplace…

Soulless (faceless) cheaters / pretenders / and interlopers (who recently learned from a YouTube video that your niche is low hanging fruit) – will swarm your industry en masse to eat into your market share.

I’m in the training and education niche. Today, ‘information’ is practically FREE and instantly accessible (via AI and YouTube etc), so the landscape in this industry has completely changed…

These days people aren’t buying WHAT’S being taught, they’re now buying WHO’S teaching it – and this same logic can also be applied to pretty much any other niche or industry…

With so much abundance and choice online almost everything has become a commodity. People used to base their buying decision on WHAT was being sold, now they base their  decision on WHO is selling it.

This is why major brands put so much stock into ‘Influencer Marketing’, they fully understand that RAPPORT and PARASOCIAL relationships outperform traditional methods of advertising by a very wide margin.

TV and magazine ads just aren’t hitting like they used to.

With so much ‘noise’ and competition online, it’s the GENUINE / HUMAN story that prevails.

You can make more money with less views on social media by telling your story. Your vibe that will attract your tribe.

Here are three instant methods for ‘humanising’ your content, telling your story, and separating what you offer from everyone else:

In your posts, state explicitly what you’re FOR and what you’re AGAINST. The soulless and corporate approach is to try and appease everyone, but as a small business owner you don’t need the entire world to be on your side… just those aligned with your values. 

Sometimes ‘drawing a line in the sand’ is one of the very best things you can do.

I’m personally a staunch advocate for ARTISTS and CREATORS, I push for their rights and celebrate the value of the (human-driven!) creative industries as a whole. 

I’m also heavily opposed to generative AI being used for writing and the visual arts. 

This a very DIVISIVE position as there are many out there who strongly disagree with me, however there will be many other business owners who are passionately aligned with my stance.

These are the people who I want to work with.

By broadcasting my ethics and explicitly stating where I stand, these are the people who will also be attracted to ME (as opposed to the ‘hustlebro’ marketers whose entire process is built upon AI, automations, outsourcing, and plagiarism!)

When you take a stand (for or against something), you’ll potentially lose some of the audience, however you'll build a MUCH greater sense of rapport and connection with those aligned with your values.

Lose a few to win a LOT. Don’t be afraid to stand for something.

You don’t have to be explicitly SELLING in every post you make, it’s actually better to leave some ‘gaps between the notes’...

The truth is, we all have an uncanny knack for tuning out advertising messages, even when they’re disguised as social media posts. AD-BLINDNESS is absolutely a thing!!

The ‘constant sell’ also becomes incessant and boring for all involved, so you gotta switch it up a bit.

The simple truth is that PEOPLE WILL BUY FROM THE PEOPLE THEY LIKE. If every single message you put out is a dry / corporate sales broadcast, no one has the opportunity to learn  WHO you really are.

This concept is brilliantly demonstrated on Ru Paul’s Drag Race, where the host explains to the contestants that they need to drop the ‘armour’, stop being ‘flawless’, and show some humanity / vulnerability in order to fully connect with the audience:

“WE NEED TO SEE THE HUMAN BEHIND THE MASK”.

This is brilliant advice that can be applied to any public-facing endeavour. If you’re hyper-polished and hyper-professional at all times, no one will be able see through the armour and experience your true emotional depth.

Emotional depth is what separates a HUMAN BEING from a SALES PITCH: this includes sharing your trials, tribulations, wins, losses, aspirations, goals, and dreams. 

Talk about this stuff more often in a genuine /  honest / candid way, to build the LORE of your personal journey and humanise what you do. You’re no longer a disembodied logo, you’re a genuine human being with fears, goals, and aspirations. This is relatable.

Sharing your journey will be the greatest weapon in your arsenal when competing with faceless dropshippers or AI hustlebros.

In life we all want to be recognised and ‘seen’. 

You don’t typically expect a larger creator or brand that you admire to reply or interact with you, but when they do – it can really make your week!! You see this often on YouTube where the channel owner jumps on the comments section of a new video (replying to fans), who never really expect a reply, but are super happy when the presenter responds.

The truth is, a certain % of your customers or fans will REALLY be into what you’re doing, and will act as evangelists / cheerleaders for your brand… telling their friends, family, or anyone that will listen about you and your product.

You should make it a priority to LIFT and ELEVATE these Super Fans.

Not only is it a positive means of expressing gratitude, the practice also has the added benefit of strengthening the rapport and connection you have with these fans.

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." – Maya Angelou

When I launched my social media training course, it was the posts made by my ‘Super Fans’ that drove the majority of the sales in month one. 

The Super Fans were happy with what they received, had experienced immediate / positive results with my program, and made (unprompted) posts on their personal profiles to tell their friends and family about it!!

I made it my mission to go the ‘extra mile’ and give these Super Fans additional support and guidance, to help them achieve their goals.

Whether you’re a fiction author, a professional illustrator, or run an Etsy store – these principles can be applied to whatever industry you’re in!

Sheer numbers look impressive and it’s definitely fun to feel ‘seen’ for a day, but the true glory in selling your product or service online is being memorable for the RIGHT reasons.

You are the hero in the story of your business and it’s the narrative behind the work you do that will connect with your buyers infinitely BETTER than meaningless graphic design or spammy AI junk.

If you want help with that I’ve put together a free PDF cheat sheet that will help you create this (honest / relatable) content in under 30 minutes ❤️

Be real, be yourself, and go forth and prosper!