Followers can "make or break" the leader.
The relationship between leaders and followers seems pretty straightforward:
- Leaders lead and followers follow.
Followers can and will influence the leader. Imagine this scenario. You follow a specific person. No matter if it's a model on Instagram, a talented artist or author on Steemit or if you're a subscriber of a newsletter from an internet marketer.
You pressed that subscribe or follow button because this person got your attention. This person shared great stories, amazing photos or other valuable information. Information that you appreciated. - Information that was valuable for you.
When you finally get tired of deleting 10-15 emails per week.. You'll finally come to one decision. - You will unsubscribe from that newsletter. Just like you will unfollow if the person you follow start to share content you're not interested in. - It's common sense!
A famous youtuber with thousands of views and subscribers each day wouldn't be famous if it weren't for the followers.
- That's also the main reason for most of these people to be niche-oriented.
Niche-targeted content.. or not.
Most of my followers should be aware of the fact that I'm a freelancer by now. I've been working full time online for the past 5 years.. And I would probably be able to build myself a huge audience by niche targeted content. - I would definitely be able to attract like-minded followers.
If I publish freelancer related content. If I publish content based on my own experience, and my knowledge. If I share tips & the "secret ingredients" to some of my success and all that.. Then I would obviously increase my chances to build a decent following. A following that consist of like-minded people. Freelancers. People interested in freelancing. People who's interested in making money from home.. - If I shared content in various niches.. I would end up with less results.
As a freelancer with brand building as his main business.. Stories about my childhood wouldn't be accurate or in place if I tried to build a following or if I tried to attract new customers. - Right?
Generally speaking, that is correct. - Potential clients wouldn't be interested in such stories. Or interested in photos of my girlfriend or interested in any of my cake recipes..
But what if I added this as "something extra". As a bonus?
If you've ever bought a product online you should be aware of the bonuses and the upsells. And downsells.
Up-sell
Also called up-selling, this technique involves selling a more expensive product to the customer (instead of the one he wanted to purchase), or selling a complement to the product the customer has chosen, increasing the overall profit margin of the sale.
Example: Have you ever been to McDonald’s and ordered a 300ml Coke, only to hear that for 30 cents more you could get a 500ml Coke instead? That is up-selling. What about when you order a cheeseburger and they ask if you want some fries along with it? Up-selling too.
Cross-sell
Also called cross-selling, this technique involves selling new products or services to the customer that are not related to the first one the purchased from one. Usually this technique is employed to increase the profits, but it can also be used to solidity the relationship with the client.
Example: Suppose you sell web design services. Many clients will not know how to promote or search engine optimize their websites, so you could cross-sell these consulting services (either by providing them yourself, or by creating a partnership with a company that will provide them for you).
Down-sell
Also called down-selling, this technique is used when the customer, for some reason, decides to back down from the purchase. In this case you can offer him a cheaper product, which has higher chances of being accepted. The goal here is to acquire a customer, even if you will not profit as much as possible right away.
Example: Car dealers down-sell all the time. If you enter a dealership looking for a BMW and get scared with the price, the salesman will certainly bring up many other options that cost a lot less. That is down-selling.
If you are not up-selling, cross-selling or down-selling, you are probably leaving money on the table and when you think about it, some of these things applies to Steemit too!
Take a look at this
That's what I used to do previously, when I first started out on Steemit. - Ever since I started out on Steemit, I made sure I did everything I could to build my following, increase my reputation and to become an establish steemian. - And I still put in effort and time to achieve that!
- I cross-promoted my own blog posts.
At the very end of my posts, I always put this:
- I do this as a reminder to my readers. I encourage them to follow me if they appreciate my posts.
That said, I use some of these "tricks" I've mentioned above. And you should too. - It's easy & powerful.
Alongside of this, I'm also active. I publish content regularly. However, I do it in various niches. I don't publish niche-targeted content due to one reason. - I'm not a salesperson on Steemit. - I don't sell anything. I share.
And that's probably one of the reasons I've lost a few followers too!
I can't say for sure, but I believe I've lost a few of my followers because of one single reason. - Due to the fact that I share various content.
I suppose some of these people got tired of hearing my personal stories, or the opposite. Perhaps they got tired of hearing "tips & tricks" like this post. Perhaps they got tired of reading the "same old" content day in and day out.. Perhaps they got tired of me, because they follow a bunch of other people who publish similar content.. - Perhaps they had a bad day and decided to unfollow me. Perhaps they unfollowed me and a bunch of other people too..
- None of that really matters. - There's more fish in the pond.
I might have lost one follower today but I will gain two new ones by tomorrow.
With that being said..
If the people who decides to unfollow others would tell them why.. Then I wouldn't be in this situation. Or would I?
- I definitely would. I'm not a knowledge bank to riches. I am on Steemit and I can be myself here. I can share whatever I want here.. And I will gain followers based upon my content, no matter what I decide to share.. Because people here will always decide to follow you as long as you contribute and share something they find valuable.. No matter what it is. - And people who unfollow others will also be here. Just like they would unsubscribe to that newsletter I mentioned above.
I will continue to share the things I want to share.. Because I'm on Steemit. - If you want to follow me it's entirely up to you. Just note that I will continue to share various things. In various niches. And I will share things from my personal life.
I will add the "bonus" in my posts. The "bonus" I mentioned previously. - You will get posts about this and that.
I'm not interested in building a huge "freelancer" following. I'm not interested in building a list or to attract potential clients. - I'm not interested in sharing niche-oriented content. - I'm not interested in selling anything. I do that outside of Steemit. - At Steemit, I'm nothing more than myself. My usual me, with insights, experience and ideas. -Just like you.
Perhaps I won't be able to convince you to follow me, or to upvote my content, but I will be able to do one thing. - I will always be able to share the content I want to share. Whether you like it or not. I will continue to be me. - That's one thing I'm good at.
Image Source #1 - Up/down/cross-sell Source - Image Source #2 - Image Source #3 - Image Source #4