SoulPreneur Tip #11: Followers are Only Vanity Metrics

My definition of vanity metric:

"A number that looks good from the outside but will have little to no influence on the actual gross income of a business." - Lora Perry

If you're interested in building a business and attracting those you want to help through social media or expanding the amount of people you can help, then posting on social media is a good place to put some of your energy.

However, I see a lot of businesses putting a ton of energy to post online thinking that it will get them sales, clients or customers, but it rarely works that way. This is different of course for e-commerce and retail, so I'm specifically talking about selling your programs, coaching and courses: services.

Followers are simply individuals who have an interest in what you're sharing, your energy, your content, or the solutions your offering. That's it. They still have to be converted into paying customers. 

The best way to do this, I always preach, is to get them off of social media and into your subscriber list or any list where they can be nurtured regularly and personally by you. 

There are many different ways to convert followers into paying customers, so you can pick what works best for you, but here's the overall 3 step process:

1. They follow you to learn or experience more  2. They convert into a more interested prospect by you nurturing them 3. They convert into a paying customer. 

Social media is optional. I've run many businesses successfully with zero social media. It is however recommended. Just make sure you use it as a tool and not allow it to determine your sense of worth or self-belief! Here are a few benefits of posting on social media and using it as a tool to support your business:

• You can reach more people and attract them to you
• You can share, educate, and inspire for free
• There are some paid options for content on some platforms
• Posting on social media regularly can help you get very clear on your messaging and content that resonates with your avatar & target market, this is one way you can get really clear on your product, services, and who you love to work with. 

When it comes to posting on social media, there are processes separate from your business to posting regularly in a way that hooks people into what you're offering. It is tied to your business of course, but is also essentially separate from it. So it's important for you to determine if this is even something you want to infuse your energy into regularly.

It can be especially helpful when starting a new business.

The reason I share this with you is because we will be sharing our data with you, our follower counts, subscriber counts, active students and/or academy graduate counts so you can see how we grow from the outside-in/inside-out. And in case we (or you) rack up followers, its important to remember that there is still lots of work to be done behind the scenes - This goes for any and every business or person selling online.

Finally, it's important to know that vanity metrics don't mean anything or much to someone's bottom line. I've worked with individuals with millions of followers that were broke. And I've worked with businesses with 100 followers that hit 6 and 7 figures. 

Just like anything, social media is a tool that when optimized and used in the best way for you and your business, it can pull in a lot of people to convert into paying customers.  

If you have questions you'd like answered sumbit your question to [email protected] and I'll answer.

My final words this week are this... 

What we focus on, grows. We know this. A better way to see this is:

You are always building what you spend your time on and your energy is infused into everything you spend your time on.

So, do an audit of your time to find out what you've been building.

Another option is to just look around and see where you're at. It's telling for sure.

Let us stay dedicated to our path. 

See you soon.

Lora