The Power of a Polarizing Message: How to Build an Audience

Building an audience– easier said than done, right? 

 

It doesn’t matter what business or industry you are in, we hear it all the time. You have to build your audience to find real success. 

 

It will not matter how good your product, service, or content is if there is no one to hear it and support it. 

 

But how do we truly build an audience? How do we build the right audience for our niche? I believe the answer to both of these questions is in our message. 

 

And not just any message but a polarizing message. The real power to building an audience is in developing a polarizing message.

 

So read on to hear why you should  and how to build an audience using the power of a polarizing message!

Why You Should Build an Audience

 

This might be considered Networking 101, but it is important to go over the reasons why you should spend time and resources into building your audience.

• An audience provides feedback

 

When you are establishing your business, show, or service, receiving feedback is invaluable. 

 

Whether it is to help you know where you are lacking or how you are improving their lives, the audience will provide clear communication on what they are receiving from you. This feedback can in turn help you correct and grow your business!

 

If you want to hear more on the best advice I’ve received on dealing with negative feedback, listen here.

 

• An audience establishes credibility and validates your work

 

When people listen to you and follow you, this provides the best proof that what you are doing is real!

Saying you can provide results, but having no one able to show that they have seen the results you’ve promised, does very little to back up your original claim. 

 

Building an audience comes from delivering on your promises. People will follow and listen when they see what you are doing actually works. 

 

I recently spoke to an entrepreneur who experienced this in his own business that grew from $300,000 to $25 million in revenue in 28 months! That is incredible.

 

If you’d want to hear more of his story, click here to listen to our conversation on my show.

 

• An audience ultimately becomes a group of qualified buyers

 

Of course, in any business the goal is ultimately to build an audience that will become customers. 

 

Once you have built a trust with your audience, they will be more likely to spend their hard-earned money to support you. Not just because you have a pretty ad or fancy offer, but because you have listened to them, given them results, and provided content to better their lives. 

 

Why is building an audience important? Because it is your foundation for doing what you do, whatever field that may be in. 

 

The Importance of True Fans in Your  Audience 

 

Have you heard of Kevin Kelly? He wrote an essay called A Thousand True Fans. Basically, the whole concept of the essay is saying that if you can build up an audience of a thousand true fans then you can build whatever life you want to create. 

 

These true fans are not just listeners, watchers, or viewers, but people who will do anything for you. They support you 100%. These are your repeat customers and subscribers. The ones who sign up for your pre-launch of anything.

 

The true fans are those in your audience who have seen maximum results and improvement in their quality of life because of you, and are in turn willing to put their money where your mouth is. 

 

And I totally agree with Kevin. I think that if you have a thousand true fans, you can build anything you want to build and it will be successful. I would go so far to say that if you can build one hundred true fans, I think that you can have a multi seven figure business built off of just the people who follow you.

 

Here’s the thing-  if you have one hundred true fans, you probably have 10,000 to 20,000 people who are engaged in what you do. 

In whatever endeavor you are pursuing, I’d challenge you to do these three things to build your right audience:

1. Set a realistic goal of how many true fans you want to see in your audience
2. Set up ways to build those relationships- 1 on 1 conversations, Facebook groups, email lists, etc.
3. Read on to learn the real power in a polarizing message 😉

The Power of a Polarizing Message

 

People for the most part are not willing to be polarizing, and being polarizing, I think, is a necessary part of building up a true fan base. 

 

What does it mean to be polarizing? The word ‘polarizing’ is defined as “to cause (people, opinions, etc.) to separate into opposing groups.” 

 

If you are constantly saying things that most people agree with, then you are just maybe the guy that everybody kind of likes, right? 

 

And it is so easy to want to have an agreeable message. If you stick with the comfortable nobody’s got anything bad to say about you. I mean sure, the reality is some people still are, but most people are going to have good things to say about you. Seems like a happy medium.

 

But if you’re never taking a stand for anything and you’re not creating a polarizing message, that true fan base will never be established.

 

What I encourage people to do is to find whatever that line is for yourself. 

And the best way to show you what I mean is to give you the example of what I do on my show, Build Your Network.

At the very beginning of my show, I draw a hard line in the sand. The first thing that I say when I come on is “I believe that who you know is more important than what you know.”

 

I go on to say that “if you agree, keep on listening for tools and tactics to learn how to build meaningful connections the right way. If you disagree in any way-  let me prove you wrong.” 

 

I am establishing what I believe- who you know is more important. And I am also boldly stating that if you believe it is what you know then you are wrong, and here’s why. I have immediately given my polarizing message.

 

With this simple yet polarizing message, I have given a reason for three types of people to tune in to my show.

 

There will be the neutral ones who don’t really have an opinion. They are listening in to see if I can help them form an opinion one way or the other.

 

Then you will get the diehard fans. They are the one who are going to immediately be attracted to me because they can’t agree with me more. 

 

Typically what happens is they had a personal experience that made them come to this side. They had this one time, when they went to get this job and were way more qualified, but another person got it because they knew the hiring manager. Classic “who you know” over “what you know”.

 

The third group is made up of those who disagree with me completely.

 

This will cause them to do one of two things.

 

• They’re going to leave because they think I’m a joke.

 

And here’s what is important to remember as the messenger-  if they do that’s great! Because guess what? They were not my avatar anyway. They are not the right audience I am trying to build. So they can go listen to somebody else’s show. 

 

Again, this is the whole point of coming up with something that’s polarizing. It’s a statement of belief. And you have to realize that people will actually not listen to your show, but that also means you’re definitely going to have people who are listening to your show. 

 

Building a true fan base means you cannot be focused and discouraged by the listeners you do not have. It means you pour all you have into those who are truly listening and supporting you because they line up with what you are saying.

 

• They’re going to listen anyway to see if you can prove them wrong

 

Some people will actually tune in more because they want you to prove the polarizing message you have stated. If they do not sit on the same side of the fence as you, they are curious to know why.

 

They are taking me up on my offer to try to change their mind with the content I produce.

 

This group actually has the potential to be where your hardcore fans come from. If you can provide the content to prove your polarizing message that not only changes their mind, but helps benefit them in a real way, they are going to support you forever.

I’ve had people tell me that they used to be on the side of what, but  after six or seven months of  watching what I do and listening to my stuff they now think it’s who you know!

 

Those people are hooked on my content because I actually got them to experience something that changed a belief system inside, right? I have actually positively affected their life and convinced them that this mindset is a better mindset than what they were previously believing in. 

 

How to Use Your Polarizing Message

 

Once you have determined that line in the sand for your particular business, brand, or show, start creating content surrounding that message. And give it away for free!

 

When people start getting results from the content that you create and give away for free, then  that’s when you start building that true fan base. Trust me! Again, back to my show, for example- people tell others that they need to listen to my show because they have found the value in what I produce, and it’s totally free!

 

The reviews and testimonials come in on the regular because they have seen results. But see, that would not happen if I did not draw the line in the sand and actually say no to an entire group of people.

 

More Proof of the Power of a Polarizing Message

 

I have given the example of my show, and how I use a polarizing message. But don’t just take my word for it. Here are a couple examples of others who have used the power of a polarizing message.

Gary Vaynerchuck

 

Most people, when they start a show, want to attract everybody, right? They want to be Gary Vaynerchuck.

But here’s the thing. Even Gary V is polarizing. There are a bunch of people who don’t listen to his stuff because he cusses too much.

 

Even then, you don’t see Gary too worried about it. He has been asked about it, but he cusses just as much, and he doesn’t care because he has attracted his audience. So the people that don’t want to listen to his cussing, they’re going to probably listen to  Mel Robbins or someone else that they can vibe with.

 

And that is ok. They get what they need, and it is not hurting Gary V at all because he’s attracting those hardcore fans. He has built an audience with a polarizing method in how he presents his message.

 

President Donald Trump

 

The most extreme example of this has to be Donald Trump. He’s the most loved slash the most hated dude on the planet.  Quite literally!

 

His message is insanely polarizing, and no matter if you stand on the side of a diehard fan or harshest critic, I think we can all agree that he has utilized the power of a polarizing message to make his way all the way to the presidency.

The content he “produces” is in front of us at all times. This happened because he was not afraid to draw the line in the sand of what he believed on particular issues.

 

Those who do the polarizing stuff at the highest level are the people who are absolutely crushing the game, getting the most attention, and seeing things happen. 

 

While I definitely discourage you from becoming so polarizing that you stand completely alone in your message, the truth is that a polarizing message, when done the right way, will help you build a true audience.  

 

Conclusion

 

So…how’s your message? What element of building a true fan base stuck out to you?

 

Let me know in the comments below how you plan to utilize the power of your polarizing message!

 

As always, if you know someone who needs to hear this too, feel free to share.

 

Here’s to leaving every relationship better than you found it! See you next week!