How To Build A Profitable Following
245: Make more money, build relationships
Well Happy Friday guys.
It’s been an insane week on the news front but wanted to take a step back today — there’s plenty of time next to week to get into the heavier stuff.
I was messaging a handful of Arb Letter readers for some on ideas on the content of today’s posts and got some interesting answers. There’s no doubt that 2024 will be an unprecedented year for global news and market related updates but another part of what I champion through my business and following is starting your own thing.
I was reminded of my personal reasons for building on my own just this morning when an executive reached out about an inconsequential project I was working on and asked for a timely update — it drove me absolutely nuts. Truth is I despise reporting to anyone. I also despise exercises in futility and long meetings that waste time — two hallmarks of a traditional corporate or 9-5 role.
If you’re goal in 2024 is to begin a journey to start your own business, brand, venture, or company — this is an important guide to that process. These things are infinitely easier when you are able to grow a sizeable following. Growing a following online has gotten harder in recent years for a number of reasons — there’s content saturation, there’s more participants vying for people’s attention, and there’s more options for competition to employ.
But it’s not impossible.
And if you want to eventually have a shot at earning your freedom financially or earning back your time to what you actually want in life — building a following is going to make this much easier.
Times have certainly changed — I’m not 24 anymore, I am 31 and because I have seen this acceleration and transformation of the way brands and influencers interact online — I have some valuable perspectives to share with you if you are looking to build a following.
When I started Arbitrage Andy in 2017 I had the idea of starting an anonymous page dedicated to posting everything I was infatuated with at the time as a young trader in New York City — deal sleds, hot women, Jordan Belfort quotes, lions, you know really obnoxious classic finance douche stuff. At the time, reels were not a thing. Memes were still the primary content that was exploding online on forums like 4chan, reddit, Twitter, and elsewhere.
These were crudely created simple memes made with classic templates or etched together in powerpoint, paint, or other 3rd party apps from the app store. As time has passed so have the preferred styles of content people ingest. A classic Arbitrage Andy meme doesn’t do well anymore — part of it is likely the fact I am shadow-banned into the depths of hell but part of it is also that attention spans have shortened and people are craving more dopamine more quickly.
Now the rage in my opinion is two fold: it’s short form video with text and other videos laid within the content OR it’s differentiated commentary, viewpoint, and analysis. Which is one of the reason I started Arb Letter, I will walk through my approach to this venture and where it stands in the case studies section of today’s post.
People are looking for influencers, brands, and individuals who stand out in the sea of mindless media and content that exists today. In order to build an effective following you need to be unique and bring an angle that isn’t already covered elsewhere (or is being used poorly).
Today we will go over several examples of brands, individuals, and companies that have managed to capture large audiences in a short period of time. Today post is a follow up to the content provided in The Simple Guide to Making Money Online post below.
If you plan on starting a business, brand, or social media account to build a following and eventually drive revenue today’s post will offer some valuable tips and examples for you to draw inspiration and guidance from.
“Whatever you do, be different—that was the advice my mother gave me, and I can’t think of better advice for an entrepreneur. If you’re different, you will stand out.”
- Anita Roddick
Case Studies To Pay Attention To
Being a social media “influencer” and running online businesses for 7 years has exposed me to a large degree of content each and every day. I never would’ve imagined that one day I would own an online brand with several business arms but here I am. My first tip is to identify a skill or passion you have early on in life — the earlier the better.