How to Build your Social Media Following? (Without making Content)

Summary

The transcript discusses strategies for building a social media following based on Austin Kleon's book 'Show Your Work'. The key concept is to share something small every day, known as a 'Daily Dispatch', which can be anything from a blog post to a tweet or video. The process involves sharing different types of content depending on the stage of your project: early stages (influences and inspiration), middle stages (work in progress), and completion (final product and lessons learned). The author emphasizes the importance of focusing on daily creation rather than waiting for the perfect moment, and suggests that a Daily Dispatch is more valuable than a resume as it shows current work. The framework provided is adaptable for various creators and encourages sharing authentic and ongoing work, rather than just finished products.

Takeaways

• 📚 Read 'Show Your Work!' by Austin Kleon to understand the strategy of building a social media following.
• 🎯 Focus on sharing something small every day, known as the Daily Dispatch, to engage your audience regularly.
• 🚫 Dismiss the myth of overnight success; substantial work takes time, so be patient and persistent.
• 🌅 Break down your work into manageable daily units rather than overwhelming long-term goals.
• 🤔 Force yourself to create daily, which will naturally lead to self-reflection and improved content creation.
• 🎨 Share your work process, influences, and work-in-progress to build authenticity and connection with your audience.
• 📈 Use the Daily Dispatch as a living resume or portfolio that shows your current work and progress.
• 🌐 Choose the right social media platforms for your work and audience, and don't spread yourself too thin.
• 📝 The form of your Daily Dispatch can vary; it could be a blog post, email, tweet, video, etc. – adapt to what works best for you.
• 📈 Show the final product of your work and share the lessons learned, including any 'scraps from the cutting room floor'.
• 🔍 Look for inspiration from others, like Tommy Edison, a blind film critic with a successful Instagram account, to see creative ways to share your work.

Q & A

What is the main strategy discussed in the book 'Show Your Work!' for building a social media following?

The main strategy is to share something little every day, which is referred to as the Daily Dispatch. This involves consistently putting out work or content to engage with the audience and grow a following.

According to Austin Kleon, why is it important to focus on sharing daily rather than in larger chunks?

Focusing on daily sharing makes the process more manageable and less overwhelming. It allows creators to build a body of work over time, showing their current work and progress rather than only showcasing completed projects.

What does Austin Kleon suggest is a myth that people often believe about success?

Austin Kleon suggests that overnight success is a myth. He points out that behind most stories of overnight success are years of hard work and perseverance.

How does the process of creating something every day help a creator to find direction and content to share?

Forcing oneself to create something every day leads to self-reflection and questioning, such as what to create and how to approach a project. This process helps creators to identify their interests and generate ideas for content that they are passionate about.

What are the steps outlined in the script for sharing a Daily Dispatch?

The steps are: 1) At the end of the day, find a piece of your process to share. 2) If you're at the start of a project, share your influences and inspirations. 3) If you're in the middle of a project, share your work in progress and methods. 4) If you've completed a project, show the final product and share what you've learned, including any 'scraps from the Cutting Room floor.'

What is the significance of sharing 'scraps from the Cutting Room floor' after completing a project?

Sharing these 'scraps' provides a behind-the-scenes look at the work that didn't make the final cut. It offers insights into the creative process, decision-making, and can add value by showing the evolution of a project.

Why is a Daily Dispatch considered better than a resume or a portfolio?

A Daily Dispatch is more dynamic and shows what a creator is working on in real-time, providing a more engaging and up-to-date representation of their work and process compared to a static resume or portfolio.

What forms can a Daily Dispatch take?

A Daily Dispatch can take various forms such as a blog post, an email newsletter, a tweet, a YouTube video, or any other form of media that the creator finds suitable for their work and audience.

How should one choose which social media platforms to use for sharing their Daily Dispatch?

One should choose platforms based on where their target audience is most active and what format of content best represents their work. It's also important to consider the nature of the platform and how it aligns with the creator's goals.

What advice does the speaker give regarding the fear of missing out on being on every social media platform?

The speaker advises not to worry about being on every platform. Instead, creators should pick and choose based on what suits their work and the people they're trying to reach. It's more important to be effective on a few platforms than to be spread too thin.

What is the advice given for what content to focus on sharing on social media?

The advice is to focus on sharing work and the process behind it, rather than personal or unrelated content. The emphasis should be on showing what you are working on, which can include work in progress, finished pieces, and lessons learned.

How does the speaker describe the landscape of social media platforms?

The speaker describes the landscape as constantly changing, with platforms popping up and disappearing over time. This implies that creators should be adaptable and open to exploring new platforms as they emerge.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Building a Social Media Following with 'Show Your Work'

This paragraph discusses the strategy of building a social media following as outlined in Austin Kleon's book 'Show Your Work'. The key idea is to share something little every day, which is the central thesis of the book. The author emphasizes that overnight success is a myth and that building a substantial body of work takes time. Instead of focusing on years or months, the focus should be on daily progress. The process involves sharing different aspects of your work depending on the stage of your project: early stages require sharing influences, middle stages involve sharing work in progress, and post-completion involves showcasing the final product and lessons learned. This approach helps creators to consistently engage their audience with meaningful content.

05:00

🌟 Sharing Your Daily Dispatch on Social Media

The second paragraph expands on the concept of a Daily Dispatch, which is a daily share of your work or process. It can take various forms such as blog posts, emails, tweets, or videos. The choice of social media platform should be based on the creator's work and target audience. The paragraph also suggests that the form of sharing does not matter as much as the consistency and relevance of the content. It's advised to pick one platform and excel at it rather than spreading efforts too thin across multiple platforms. The Daily Dispatch is likened to getting DVD extras before a movie's release, offering a unique insight into the creator's process. The paragraph concludes with a real-life example of a film critic using Instagram to share his experiences, highlighting the power of creativity in social media engagement.

Keywords

💡Social Media Following

Social Media Following refers to the accumulation of individuals who choose to engage with a brand, person, or entity on social media platforms. In the context of the video, it is the goal of the speaker to grow this following by consistently sharing content and showcasing their work.

💡Show Your Work

This is the title of a book by Austin Kleon, which the speaker references as a source of inspiration and strategy. The concept implies that by consistently sharing one's work and process, an individual can build an audience and following. It is central to the video's theme of growing a social media presence.

💡Daily Dispatch

A Daily Dispatch, as mentioned in the video, is the practice of sharing something small every day on social media. It is a strategy to maintain engagement with followers and to show what the creator is working on at any given time. The speaker emphasizes the importance of this habit for building a substantial body of work and a following.

💡Overnight Success Myth

The term refers to the misconception that success can come quickly and without effort. The speaker uses this concept to emphasize that building a following and a body of work takes time, patience, and consistent effort, which aligns with the video's message of persistent daily sharing.

💡Influences and Inspiration

Influences and inspiration are the elements that motivate and shape a creator's work. The speaker suggests that, especially in the early stages of a project, sharing these influences can help connect with an audience and provide context for the work being done.

💡Work in Progress

Work in Progress (WIP) refers to content that is still being developed or completed. The speaker advises sharing WIP to give followers a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process, which can foster a sense of connection and anticipation.

💡Final Product

The Final Product is the completed work that results from a creative process. In the video, the speaker discusses the importance of sharing the final product along with insights and lessons learned, which can provide value to the audience and showcase the creator's expertise.

💡Cutting Room Floor

The Cutting Room Floor is a film editing term referring to footage that is removed from the final cut of a film. In the context of the video, the speaker uses this term metaphorically to describe additional content or insights that didn't make it into the final product but can still be shared for added value.

💡Platform Selection

Platform Selection involves choosing the appropriate social media platforms for sharing content based on the creator's work and the target audience. The speaker advises not to spread oneself too thin across platforms but to focus on where the intended audience is most active.

💡Content Creation

Content Creation is the process of producing material for sharing on social media or other platforms. The video emphasizes that creators should focus on making and sharing content that reflects their work and interests, rather than creating content solely for the purpose of social media.

💡Consistency

Consistency in the context of the video refers to the regularity with which a creator shares their work or updates on social media. The speaker highlights that maintaining a consistent schedule for sharing a Daily Dispatch is key to building and maintaining a social media following.

Highlights

Author Austin Kleon's book 'Show Your Work' provides a strategy for building a social media following.

The core idea is to share something little every day, which is the 'Daily Dispatch' concept.

Instead of waiting for the perfect moment, put work out there and let it evolve.

Overnight success is a myth; it takes a decade of hard work and perseverance to build a substantial body of work.

Focus on daily progress rather than long-term goals to manage the journey effectively.

The process of sharing daily work helps in self-discovery and shapes what you want to say or create.

Create something you like that doesn't exist yet, and share that creation process.

The Daily Dispatch can be in any form, such as a blog post, email, tweet, or YouTube video.

Choose social media platforms that align with your work and your audience's preferences.

Film critic Tommy Edison, despite being blind, uses Instagram to share his daily life, gaining over 30,000 followers.

Social media is often about typing into boxes, but focus on sharing work rather than mundane details.

Use the prompt 'What are you working on?' as a guide for your social media content.

A Daily Dispatch is more effective than a resume or portfolio as it shows current work and progress.

The framework for a Daily Dispatch includes sharing influences at the start of a project, work in progress during the project, and final outcomes and lessons learned after completion.

Adapt the framework to your specific work, whether you're an illustrator, writer, musician, etc.

The act of sharing daily helps in gaining a following and provides a record of your creative journey.

Don't be afraid to abandon a platform if it doesn't serve your needs or if a better one comes along.

The key takeaway is to consistently show your work and the process behind it to build an engaged social media following.

Transcripts

today we're going to talk about how to

build a social media following using a

very specific strategy from this book

called show your work so whenever I'm

sort of word or uh not knowing my

strategy with social media and how I

want to approach that there's an author

who I always sort of goer and it's it's

Austin Cleon he's the writer of Steal

life an artist show your work and keep

going that's another book that I have I

have that in my house actually it's on

my table all the time like a reminder

don't get dragged down by all the these

things keep going keep going right so

anyways in this book show you word right

as I was reading this right now I came

across this thing this chapter called

share something little every day thesis

of that chapter is thesis or the IDE of

the chapter is sent out in Daily

Dispatch meaning put something out every

single day the author is saying is like

put work out there put stuff out there

then you'll know what you want to say

right do the thing then you'll know

instead of the opposite which is I know

and then I'll do the thing right sort of

that's the whole idea so as I was

reading this I was like the question

came into my mind great man you're

telling me to put something out every

day what is the process how do I go

about it and he says that too this is

the first idea which which he sort of

shares which is just very nice overnight

success is a myth dig into almost every

overnight success stories and you'll

find about a decade worth of hard work

and perseverance building a substantial

body of work takes a long time a

lifetime really but thankfully you don't

need to take all that time into one big

chunk do all that time into one big

chunk so forget about decades forget

about years and forget about months and

focus on days here's what he says say

like the day is the unit of time that he

sort of handles he he focuses on the day

rather than the weeks and the months and

the years right so that is nice the sun

goes up and sun goes down I can handle

that so what is the exact process of

putting out the daily disc patch how do

you build your following ah here's the

thing like context right how I build my

following in holidays of sketching

through holidays of sketching I put out

a piece of work every single day and

that made me ask questions questions in

terms of like how do I find what do I

want to draw then when you put yourself

when you force yourself to create

something every single day you ask

yourself questions or you force yourself

to ask certain questions well I have to

draw something what should I draw maybe

I should draw something like like okay

great what do I like I like to draw

something or make something that doesn't

exist

that I want to exist I want that thing

to exist but it doesn't exist how about

I create that so that is the answer

right there I'll draw something that I

like shut up phone I'm doing a podcast

here man I'll draw something that I like

that does not exist that I want to exist

boom simple so my idea has a specific

framework that I can work with and uh

yeah you're good the act of doing that

every single day helped me to sort of

gain following put the thing you know

all that stuff right and and all lot of

that seems very similar to this little

book right here so here's the process

right which is very good I found it very

resonating step one once a day after

you've done your day work go back to

your documentation and find one little

piece of your process that you can share

now the question is what should I share

what you share will depend on where you

are in your process if you're in the

very early stages of your project share

your influences and what's inspiring you

simple if you're in the middle of

executing your project write about your

methods and share your work in progress

simple if you've just completed the

project show the final product share the

scraps from The Cutting Room floor and

write about what you've learned so if

you're done with the project talk about

what you learned if you have lots of

projects out in the world you already

completed a lot of projects you can

report on how they are doing you can

tell stories about how people are

interacting with your work man some

genius some brilliant framework for

people for creators such as yourself and

I to come up with ideas to share on our

blog on our social media on our

platform my phone you know we can we can

know what to share what to create

instead of creating something or doing

something so that we can share on social

media and that's the problem right here

that's the problem that we're all facing

right right we don't want that we want

to know what kind of things we need to

share this is a great this is fantastic

actually wow it's a great great

framework like how how did I not see

this it's just amazing it clicked for me

this morning when I was writing I was

writing a couple of blog posts and it

clicked for me that is nice good it's

cool a Daily Dispatch is even better

than a resume or a portfolio because it

shows what we're working on right now so

yeah that is so cool that is so nice and

another thing another framework to add

right is this the Daily Dispatch is like

getting all the DVD extra before the

movie comes out you get to watch some

deleted scenes and listen to the

director's commentary while the movie is

being made that is nice the form of what

you share doesn't matter your daily disc

no discat no Your Daily Dispatch can be

anything you want it can be a blog post

an email a tweet a YouTube video or some

other little bit of media there's no

one-size fits all plann for everybody so

social media sites are perfect place to

share daily updates don't worry about

being on every platform pick and choose

based on what you do and the people

you're trying to reach filmmakers hang

out on YouTube or Vimeo business people

for some strange reason love LinkedIn

writers love Twitter visual artists tend

to like Tumblr Instagram or Facebook the

landscape is constantly changing and M

platforms of constantly po popping up

and disappearing so just choose one

don't have to be the you know don't

afraid to be an early adopter jump on a

new platform and see if there's

something interesting you can do with it

if you can find a good use for a

platform form feel free to abandon it

use your creativity film critic Tommy

Edison who's been blind since birth

takes photos of his day-to-day life and

post them on Instagram under @ blindf

film critic he's followed by more than

30,000 people that is nice a lot of

social media is just about typing into

boxes I'm just reading out things right

now because it's very nice a lot of

social media is just about typing into

boxes what you type into a box often

depends on the promt Facebook asks you

to indulge yourself with question like

how you feeling what's on your mind

Twitter is hardly better what's

happening I like the tagline of

dribbble.com what are you working on

stick to that question and you'll be

good so yeah what are you working on

don't show your lunch or your latte show

your

work that's that's nice that's a great

freaking article right there ask Cleon

how you how you so the awesome maybe I

need to talk to you sometimes I really

love to talk to you I've been I've been

I've been following work for a long time

so cool schools folks that is the

framework that I shall use so summarize

how do you build an online following

show your work okay how do you show your

work put out a Daily Dispatch how do you

put out a Daily Dispatch use this

particular framework if you're at the

start of a project simple show what in

is inspiring you and show your

influences and how you think you're

going to go about doing that project if

you're in the middle of a project show

you behind the scenes show you work in

progress those are are like Vlogs things

this that you know processes stuff right

stuff like that if you finished your

project what do you do you show your

final product and also share what you've

learned and you know like some scraps

from The Cutting Room floor is what they

say what does that mean scrap from The

Cutting Room floor is like if if they

make a movie they cut out a lot of

scenes maybe you can include all those

scates and show those seats in the movie

that'll be nice so stuff like that so

like adapt it to you work adapt it to

your thing if you're an illustrator

writer musician this that blah blah blah

put it and see what works for you cool

[Music]

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