In 2008 there were only 5 million people on Twitter and 50 million people on Facebook, but today there are nearly 4.6 billion social media users.
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Why it matters
Social media made a promise to the world. That promise was access to a worldwide audience of billions. An audience that could change your life and grow your business without having to pay for attention.
How do I know?
Because that’s what was delivered to me.
In just a few years I grew a following of over half a million on Twitter with some growth hacking tactics that launched my online business. It allowed me to leave my corporate career behind and find freedom and independence from the 9-5.
In the span of a year or two of starting my online business my website traffic passed 5 million views per year and my followers and subscribers grew to over 1 million.
Two ways to get attention and traffic
I have also discovered that there are two ways to get attention online.
- Pay for it (social media advertising)
- Earn it (grow your followers that crowdsource your traffic for free)
The reality of having over half the planet on social media means that with some clever tactics and patience you can grow an online business that doesn’t need millions in investment from a venture capitalist.
If you are time poor and have the resources to pay for it then it is fast (but expensive) to get people to buy your product and services.
If you are savvy and don’t have a big budget then earning free traffic by growing your followers with a smart strategy is a great option.
Social media is one of the best ways to get that traffic and eyeballs for free. But you still need to earn it. What are some of the best ways to “growth hack” and drive eyeballs to your product, side hustle or online store without paying for it?
Here are some books that provide some great tips and insights on getting free attention on social media. These books include strategies for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok that you could steal.
1: The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
Scott Galloway is a professor at New York University and writes with a sense of humor that is both insightful, entertaining and informative. This book is an overview of the big digital 4 platforms that have changed the world.
This book is worth reading just to get context and an overview of a large digital world that we often only see in small snippets
2. How to Get 10,000 Fans and Turn Them Into Your Next Cash-Paying Customers
Kim Phillips personally showed me how to grow a massive audience on Facebook and turn that audience into cash-paying customers.
In this book you’ll find the social proof you need, and build an audience that’s ready to buy, converting leads to sales through a system that runs on auto-pilot.
Here is the book that reveals how to do it.
3: One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days
According to the overview of Brendan Kane’s book on Amazon “Over 60 billion online messages are sent on digital platforms every day, and only a select few succeed in the mad scramble for customer attention.
This means that the question for anyone who wants to gain mass exposure for their transformative content is no longer if they should use social media but how to best take advantage of the numerous different platforms.
How can you make a significant impact in the digital world and stand out among all the noise?
Digital strategist and “growth hacker” Brendan Kane has the answer and will show you how (in this book) in 30 days or less. A wizard of the social media sphere, Kane has built online platforms for A-listers including Taylor Swift and Rihanna.
I have read it from cover to cover and it provides tips and tactics that you can apply to your social media marketing strategy.
4: YouTube Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Following and Making Money as a Video Influencer
YouTube is the second biggest search engine after Google. And guess who owns YouTube?
Video continues to be the media of choice and if you can nail how to use it for getting online attention then you are well on the way to getting free traffic for your start up or side hustle.
In this book Sean Cannell reveals the following:
- The seven-ingredient recipe to building a successful YouTube channel
- How to leverage and manage social media in your YouTube strategy to expedite your growth
- The latest YouTube updates you need to know in order to skyrocket your videos
- Foolproof video ideas to get you started on the right path to becoming a YouTuber
- The tactics that Sean and Benji have used to create six-figure channels and go full-time with YouTube
5: Instagram Power: Build Your Brand and Reach More Customers with Visual Influence
Instagram can’t be ignored as a marketing channel as according to Semrush, it is one of the world’s top 10 most-visited websites globally, with 2.9 billion total visits per month. That’s a lot of eyeballs.
Jason Miles reveals in this book how to:
- Leverage Instagram to build and strengthen your business or personal brand
- Design an effective marketing plan for the platform
- Sell directly on Instagram with Shopable posts
6: The Definitive Guide to TikTok Advertising: How to Access 1 Billion People in 10 Minutes!
TikTok is hard to ignore. It is addictive and compelling and needs to be considered in your social media marketing strategy. Here are some numbers to think about.
In September 2021, TikTok announced it had reached one billion active users worldwide, with 142.2 million users in North America. Not only is it a milestone that few other social networks have reached, but the platform also achieved it in just 4.9 years. Facebook took 8.7 years to reach that milestone. (Source: Shopify)
In this book, Perry Marshall and Denis Yu reveal “How to save 80% of your time and money by zeroing in on the right 20% of your TikTok Advertising efforts—then 10X, even 100X your success for as little as $10 a day in ad spend”.
Wrapping it up
Tapping onto the power of the sharing economy is something that you need to weave into your marketing. If you can get attention for free by growing your social media followers and learning how to create addictive and shareable content then you have crowdsourced your marketing.
Cracking the code to that is gold.
Read Part 1 of this series: 6 Books That Inspired My Online Side Hustle Success
Read Part 2 of this series: 5 Books To Supercharge Your Creativity
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