Too Big or Too Small? How to Set Your Unique Audience Growth Goals

00:00:00
How big a platform should you really have? Should it be a hundred followers? A thousand followers, a million followers? Is big always good? Is small sometimes too small?

 00:00:13
And how do you decide we're going to help you with that today, especially as a creative who is more concerned about the quality than the quantity? But you also realize that God might be calling you to a bigger platform than what you currently have. We're going to help you answer that question and figure out not only how many, but how to reach the people that you're called to reach on today's episode of The God and Gig Show. Give us just a moment to welcome those of you who are new to our platform, and then we'll get right into this important discussion.

 00:01:00
Hello and welcome to our show. Thank you so much for making this podcast a part of your creative day. My name is Allen C. Paul. I'm a creative coach, musician, and author.

 00:01:10
And we are here at God and Gigs to help you to transform your life from the inside out by solving those nagging creative problems with timeless spiritual principles. And one of those problems that we all face is that big issue of how big should I be? How many followers should I be reaching for? What's my goal? Is it to always become that big content creator that has hundreds of thousands of followers, that artist that has millions of fans?

 00:01:42
Is that the goal? Or is there something to be said about being small? Is it okay to have a small platform? Is it okay to not want to be the biggest or to be the most well known creative musician, author, or platform builder on the planet? And how do you know where that lies?

00:02:02
Where us here at God and Gigs, we're always going to start with the spiritual. We're always going to start with that idea that God has given us a certain audience, a certain reach, a certain mission that comes with our creative brands, our platforms, our careers. And so the first thing we got to do is submit that to Him. How big does God want your audience to be? How big should you be when it comes to the purposes that he has put for your creative calling?

 00:02:35
Now, here's the thing. Sometimes you can play small when God hasn't called you to be small. And sometimes you can try to go big when God hasn't called you to be big. Let me explain in two different ways. One is trying to be small when God has called you to expand.

00:02:52
Most of the time when we are trying to be humble and we say, oh, we only just want to reach one person, right? You've heard that? If I can only reach one person, then I've done my job, which is true. But what if God has called you to reach more than one? What if he's actually got people out there that are waiting for you to expand your creative gift.

 00:03:10
Maybe you've never built up a following because you've been scared of what people will think if you try too hard to get people to follow you, to subscribe, to buy your music, and you feel like they'll judge you for being someone that's trying to be famous. And maybe that's something that kind of bothers you, but now you're making it kind of about you. So in a way, it's still ego, because God wants to put your light out there for it to shine, to attract more people, not only to Him through ministry or evangelism, but to Him by seeing what he has made possible in you through your gift, your talent, and you're hiding it under a bushel. Well, my friend, you are actually playing too small because God is asking you to expand. But there is also the opposite issue of people who simply want to grow for growth sake.

 00:04:01
 You just want the numbers. You just want the metrics. You just want to be big like everybody else. And you hear all the clarion calls from everybody about you got to have a thousand, you got to get a million, you got to get bigger and bigger. And you don't feel comfortable maybe because you realize that God has not graced you for an audience like that and that's not your mission field.

 00:04:22
 Maybe you have been called to have a micro community that is extremely engaged, that really understands each other, and that you can call your own and not have to reach everybody. As a matter of fact, most of us, we're not called to everybody. We're not called to be the big, crazy large platform that has millions of subscribers and millions of followers because we really can't connect with those people. And it becomes where you are really just trying to uphold this image that other people have that's really not for you. And maybe you have kind of fallen prey to that comparison where you assume that somebody is bigger, is also doing more important work, that their purpose is bigger because their audience is bigger.

 00:05:11
That's not true. So we have two diametrically opposed things that actually both of them can be wrong. You can be too small because you're protecting yourself, and you can be too big or trying to be big simply because you're comparing yourself to other big creatives and thinking that audience automatically equals authority. I want to make sure that you are reaching the people that you're called to reach and operating in the grace that God has called you to operate in, to reach the people you're called to reach. Not too big and not too small, but the next best group of people that you have been called to reach is waiting for you.

00:05:53
So let's talk about quickly a way to make sure that we kind of conceptualize this. I call it people over platform. We went over this in one of our creative checkups that it really just resonated with me. And so, yes, the platform matters. But what matters more than the platform are the people that make up the platform.

 00:06:11
Because without people, you don't have a platform. And so if you always think first, who are the people I'm trying to reach? Why am I trying to reach them? Then? If the people group grows and the platform grows, it's because you're focusing on the people, on the right people for the right reasons, and then you will have that growth.

 00:06:32
Now, does that mean you may need at some point to invest in your marketing, to invest in the way you present your stuff, the way that you put yourself out there so that the people that you're called to reach can find you? Well, yes, but you're doing it for the right reasons, to reach the people versus simply trying to build a platform. And you're also not protecting yourself because you're not thinking all about you, but you're thinking about them. What's best for the people that you're called to reach, to sing, to, to inspire, to encourage, to motivate. The key of all this is the people go first, then the methods of building the platform follow the fact that you know the people that you are called to reach and you're operating in the grace of that specific mission.

 00:07:20
 And then the platform grows to the level that you basically have faith for. And by the way, you're going to have faith for a huge platform. But if God is also giving you faith to really be focused on a small platform and make you a hugely influential person in a small space, well, it's the same thing, my friends, as a church that may not have a huge urban area to reach. It might be just a small church, but it has an incredibly huge impact. And it's just like the widow's might when Jesus said that the person that cast in that two little mites, that widow that put in the two little pennies have put in more than all the people and the treasury and the pharisees that put in the big amounts.

00:08:05
It's because God is looking at the heart of what you're doing. And that determines the size of your investment. Not whether there's 100 people, but whether you've given 100%. So let's consider that as we decide whether or not God has called us to reach more, just to reach more, or if he's called us to a specific reason. If you start with people over platform and don't think about the numbers first, but think about who and how to reach those people, then the how many will make total sense.

 00:08:37
It will take care of itself because you focused on the right things first. And then if the platform is to grow, if God increases your harvest because you're planting more seed creatively, that's great, that's great. Now, I want to finish this off by reminding you that there's going to be, if you're listening to this at a time of my recording and publishing, we're going to be doing a training on this very topic on how to reach your next 100 customers. Loyal fans, loyal customers, audience members. You want to look for information on that, all you got to do is go to our website guidinggigs.com.

 00:09:10
There'll be a banner up there where you can sign up right away. But I really want you to be prayerful about this. I want you to take away the comparison. I want you to think through what is your purpose, your mission, and the people that you're called to reach. And then because you know the people, then the size of the platform will be based on the grace that you've been given to reach those people.

00:09:35
As you put people over platform, don't worry about the size of your platform, worry about being effective by reaching those people. Your creative gifts, your singing, dancing, drawing, your art, your film, your writing, whatever that creative gift is, it will reach the people that God has called it to reach. If you take the right attitude first, which of course you could really just summarize in Matthew 633, seek ye first the kingdom of God. And all of these things, people, platforms, communities will be added unto you. So take the right perspective.

00:10:09
I hope this helped you to really just kind of take this whole numbers thing and put it in better perspective. Check out the training. There'll be a link in the description as well of this particular episode. But thank you so much for joining us. And remember, until next time, continue to become the creative that you were created to be.

00:10:28
God bless you and hope to see you next episode. Thanks for joining us here at the God and Gigs show. Please leave us a review on itunes like our Facebook page, or visit Godandgigs.com and tell us what you thought of this show. We'll be back soon. In the meantime, go create something amazing.