#94: Opportunity Amidst Confusion

“Building an audience to monetize and building a customer base are two different activities that are often conflated. The confusion between the two strategies is a large part of what ends up making so many would-be social media marketers miserable,” wrote Jane Friedman on Twitter.

She was referring to an article by Tara McMullin, a writer, podcaster, and producer who explores what it takes to navigate the 21st-century economy.

I am one of the tiny percentage of people who joined the creator economy in their sixties. Most of my learning came from the young creatives whose births were announced on Facebook and who have been building their following from age five.

My humble dream was to write books, but I soon realized that I had no hope of publishing my work traditionally. The traditional publishing industry is dead, and if I want to pursue a career as a writer, I have to build my audience base.

So I started learning all there was about building an audience. If you are in my age group or younger and have never built an audience before, you will be as confused as I was not so long ago.

Today’s ‘Behind The Scene’ issue will answer some questions you might be struggling with.