Now. The answer is now. 

There is no perfect time, but there is a better time, which is sooner rather than later.

It doesn’t matter if you have a big idea already or a prototype of your product. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never written a day in your life or if your social media accounts are primarily pictures of your dog with birthday hats. The answer is to start now.

Building an audience doesn’t mean spamming your friends and family, although they can be part of your core group. It doesn’t (necessarily) mean creating on-trend social media posts, either. It can and will look very different for everyone. But one thing is for sure if you want to do anything in the future where you need to inspire people to join a story, having an audience who cares about you first will help!

If a business launches in a forest, does it still get off the ground?

We have all heard the classic question; if a tree falls in a forest with no one around, does it make a sound? Well, the same question applies to your new big idea. You need users, customers, and followers to grow. 

Building your audience is one of the most challenging parts of starting anything. You can get all the pieces in place, but if no one is there to take action, you have a huge uphill battle. Why not start with the most demanding part first? Even if you get 100 core people invested in who you are and what you offer the world, you have 100 people to launch, too – 100 people to start sharing your idea, product, or business. 

Also, if you start with the audience and bring them with you no matter where you go, you can quickly pivot to new ventures or side projects. In other words, if they are following you more than what you do, they will be more portable. If you create a business selling dog treats and gain a vast audience, it won’t be easy to bring those people to your next venture selling customized journals. Sure, there will be some overlap, but they are most interested in dog-related ideas. But if you built your audience up before you launched the dog treats, they will care more about the journals because you made them.

I don’t have any concrete steps for you to start audience building. Just a simple challenge, start now. 

Takeaway:
Building an audience is hard work, but the sooner you start, the better. When you get a core group of people to follow you, you gain flexibility in launching new ideas and ventures in the future – so start today!