Today our topic is setting realistic goals for social media and beyond. To listen to this in podcast format click here. If you prefer reading, please, continue!

When I talk to potential clients, I always ask them what their goals are.

Some of what I hear is; “I want 5000 people on my email list,” “I want 1000 followers on whatever platform might be relevant today,” “I want 1000 subscribers on my YouTube,” or “I wanna go viral!”

My follow-up question is always, “Why?”

The responses I get are usually quite interesting, but it is often because someone’s been “shoulding” on them. You should be on every platform. You should have X number of subscribers on (fill in the blank)!

Or worse, maybe they were told they HAVE to do these things to be successful. It’s a numbers game after all.

I’m calling BS on that crap!

A numbers game might be accurate if you’re selling widgets. That can absolutely be numbers driven. If you have 100,000 followers and sell to 1% of those people on a regular basis, that could be a nice business.

But my guess is most of you aren’t selling widgets. 

So let’s look at this through a slightly different lens. 

How many clients or customers do you need to work with in a year to achieve your financial goals? For many of the people I talk to, that number is fairly small. Let’s say less than 50.

If that’s the case, you may not need a large audience to get you the business results you’re aiming for. 

In fact, there are studies that have shown the bigger the audience, the LESS engagement of any kind on social media. So that can actually backfire on you. 

There are some intentions though that might be worth identifying and pursuing.

– I wanna get clients 

– I wanna book speaking engagements 

– I wanna be a podcast guest 

– I wanna grow my email list etc.. 

All of these are absolutely possible with a targeted effort online.

Clarity is key to make sure you can do this. If you haven’t had a chance to read my blog post about  content buckets, I would invite you to go back and do the exercises in it.

Having really clear themes and ideas for what you’re talking about on social media is one of the easiest ways for you to create content and be known for your expertise.

Another helpful strategy is to focus on a smaller group of people you can listen to and engage with on a regular basis.

I call these people your champions and advocates. Champions and advocates are your chosen community, and they can make a huge difference in your life and business. Read more about creating your community here!

What is one action you can take based on what you read today? What is one realistic goal you have for your marketing? What is ONE thing you would like to accomplish? I look forward to hearing from you!