5 Tips on Building a Raving Fan Base, Starting with YOU!

Gathering your ingredients for your Raving Fan Base!

Building a following for yourself, your brand and your biz, especially as a solopreneur, is all intertwined.  I eat, breathe and sleep my biz. What about you?  Same thing?  Of course we do other things, we have families, kids, activities and a lot of you even hold a part or full-time outside job to boot.

But even with all that, our creative "cravings" are still never far from our thoughts.  It's an integral part of our very being.

I'm at the stage of my biz now, where I feel like I'm on the brink of finally bringing it all together. So, I have been putting in even more of the hustle, hard work and hours upon hours of creative marketing that it takes to get a creative biz off the ground. I am so flippin' excited, I could throw up at a moment's notice.  But I won't. (That's some true authentic talk right there!)

Which is what got me thinking about the whole "following" thing in the first place. (The word "following" bugs me too, like some kind of cult thing where they serve Kool-aid.  Eww. I'm going to use the term "fan club" instead and raving fans and cheerleaders and pep squad.  That's more me.  But feel free to interchange these words with what feels more "you" to you!

'Cause, for real guys, that's what it comes down to.  YOU.  Nobody else is going to think about your biz like you do, love it like you do or get it . . . like you do.

So that's where this whole authenticity thing comes in to play.

I wrote about it in this blog post sharing about my new biz, which I realize I have been "almost" ready to launch and have launched and relaunched for such a long time now, or so it may seem to some!  

But you know what?  I'm cool with that.

It's been since April of 2014 when I opened the brick and motor Domesticraft and then the move to completely online in October of 2014.  So it's been about a year of so much growth and learning and stumbling and discovery, tears of frustration and a whole lot more tears of joy!  In a word, I would say it has been AMAZING!

Okay, so you might be wondering what all that has to do with being authentic.  

It has EVERYTHING to do with it.  First you have to be authentic with yourself.  Get to know yourself.  Find out what you really like and what you totally hate.  Find out what your real passions are, not just what you thought they were.  And be real . . . really, really real with yourself.

You've probably seen the hashtag #bonafidebosslady that my friend Dana from Dapoppins.com and I came up with.  Bonafide means authentic and it reminds me to be me.

All this me, me, me is not meant in the selfish "it's all about me" way either.  It's more like quit trying to be like what other people think you should be like or as is more likely the case . . . quit trying to be like what YOU think other people think you should be.

 


Aspire to attain those qualities you admire in others.  Work your banoonies off to be the best YOU! EVER!  Take that step to start.  

And give yourself a break.  I don't know how many times I hear women say, "Well, I should have done this already or I shouldn't have done that and then they stop dead in their track and stagnate in negative feelings and the whole woe is me crap.  ACK!  Stop!

Build yourself up!  Hang out with people who build each other up and want to help and love to see you succeed!  Start with them. Help them too! 

That's when you'll find out that you know a WHOLE LOT more than you thought you did . . . about so many things. 

Look for these ladies.  They are everywhere! Make them your bonafide CORE team.  Your own pep squad! You go, girl!!  Woot!

And discover yourself, learn about you.  Take yourself on a creative journey to all the thoughts and ideas that have been brewing in your brain and heart for so long. Give yourself permission! Dare to dream them.  Put it on paper and start making it real.

But be sure you are making it real.  Not someone else's idea of what you should be doing or thinking or acting like or anything!  You are the boss of YOU. 

Yep, You!

Reach out and speak up and enjoy the process.  Oh boy, I want to emphasize that last sentence, 'cause it's SO BIG!!


None of us know when our time on this earth will be over.  Any time you wallow in worry, freakin' out, stressing and carrying on till your eyeballs pop or berating and belittling yourself OR anyone for that matter, you lose. Everybody loses.

This behavior is non-productive, soul sucking, gut wrenchingly, bad for your body, mind and heart and soul. So I say . . .

KNOCK. IT. OFF!  Do something to propel yourself forward, no matter how insignificant your think it is.  

Let me tell, you . . . a hot shower to wash away the grungy feelings and then a couple of hours of doing something that feeds my soul, my mind, my heart, my feelings, my love of all things cute and crafty, whatever it may be, I must DO IT!  

Consider it PTO.  Paid Time Off.  What this simple activity saves is more than your bottom line, it allows you to regroup,regenerate and re-energize so that you can get back to your happy place. 

Ahhhhhh . . .

So that is the FIRST INGREDIENT in getting yourself a HUGE, lovely fan base.   

"BE YOUR BIGGEST FAN!"  

Oh, and let yourself be vulnerable. I know this is a toughie, so here's a tip that might work for you.  

HELP SOMEONE ELSE.

I find it impossible to feel vulnerable when I'm helping someone, because it is no longer about me, it's about them.  Try it, it's pretty cool! 

So obviously, this has now turned into a series.  I didn't realize I had so much to say, but I kinda, sorta, shoulda figured I would! I'm rather passionate about this subject matter! :)

I'll post part two on Friday, September 25th, around the same time.  I hope you enjoyed this post and if you've got any ideas or thoughts or questions, please ask me in the comments.  

Let's start a conversation about this and see if we can help each other out!  Thanks for stopping by guys! :)


xoxoxo
Nancy