When we talk about showing our work and building an active presence online, it's hard not to talk about getting results. Because we all want to see results! We want to know that our effort is worthwhile.
This is a question I get from my Build in Public workshop: "How do I get results with less than 30 mins a day?"
A lot of you are busy entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs with full-time job, so this topic is too important not to cover.
First, I want to show you a realistic chart of how your journey will look like comparing Time Spent vs Your Presence.
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Initially, you'll have to put in the time to build up your foundation. Your presence & credibility will compound and get to an acceleration point. Then your time spent will decrease to a flat point where you just maintain at that level.
"Wait, Kevon? Really? Are you sure about that?"
The closest example I can think of is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you're unfamiliar with SEO, it means getting more visibility for your site & content when people search. When you have a new website, Google doesn't know you, so even if you have high-quality content, you don't get ranked.
But as more people read your content (traffic: perceived credibility) and more websites link to you (backlinks: actual credibility), Google starts to say "Hmm, this (your) site is legit!" Then it treats you better, better and better.
It is exactly the same case in growing a presence, audience, and credibility. When you first start out, you're focusing on the foundation: writing quality tweets, engaging in conversations, and making friends. As your follower count goes up (perceived credibility) and more people mention your name or work (actual credibility), you establish yourself as a credible person.
"Then when can I see some results, Kevon?"
I'm glad you asked!
Often times, we're thinking about results as the end game. The destination. The finish line. It feels like there's a moment of "results" and then the future is bright.
But I want to show you a new chart:
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Results can actually start showing in very early days. And they keep showing up to move us along the journey.
If you look around your circle on Twitter, I'm very sure that you'll find a good number of people seeing results when they're at 400 or 500 followers. They have already made their first $100 online, they have gotten gigs or collaboration opportunities, they have met their co-founders, etc.
The truth is: you don't have to wait to see results if you set up milestones of small wins along the way.
What you should think about is where you're at in your journey and what the next small win is. For example,
- If you're completely new on Twitter, your next result is making 30 friends.
- If you have 200 followers and some friends, your next result is creating an easy system to help you show up consistently and still enjoy it
- If you have a sizeable audience, like 600 followers, your next result is to create a free mini project that people find it so good they cannot wait to re-share to their friends. It is a product built intentionally to accelerate your credibility. As I said in my previous newsletter, it doesn't have to a big product. Writing a piece of super useful content can work too (with the advice here).
- When people start saying "Hey you help me a lot!", your next result is to create products monetizing and scaling what you can offer.
Once you get used to this rhythm of finding the next result to support everything you do, not only will you feel that it doesn't take much effort & time to keep showing up, you will also feel much more confident in yourself because you're hitting small wins after small wins.
When I first started out, I spent a good 1-2 hours a day building my foundation. Now I spend 1-2 hours a week creating tweets to show up for the rest of the week, and I spend 30 mins a day to engage in conversations and make friends.
The best part is my perceived credibility (follower count) and actual credibility (friends and recommendation) have gotten to a level that even if I take a day or a week off, everything is still intact. This is the power of compounding and having a solid foundation.
So now, what's your next result (small win) to hit?
I know this is not easy. If you want my help to plan & strategize this, I have a few limited hours each month for private consultation.
