It’s all in the math. If you want more people to tune in to your show, more people need to know when your show is on.
Did you know that Amp will notify your followers when you’re about to start broadcasting? If you have ten followers, there is a decent chance one or two followers might tune in. If you have 300 followers, you are much more likely to get many listeners to tune in as soon as you start your show. More followers equal more listeners when you start your show. Granted, you need to have a compelling show to keep the listeners, and make them want to follow you and tune-in in the future. But you can benefit from having many listeners tune in at the top of your show.
There are many ways listeners can find your show. But having Amp notify your followers automatically when you start a show, is a surefire way to get people to tune in.
You should put care and thought into your show, so listeners are compelled not only to stick with you for your show – and not go show-hopping – but also to look forward to your next show. That said, having a fantastic show does not magically translate into followers. Here are some pointers I can offer to get more followers. (I’m open to your thoughts on these and if you have additional ideas.)
Listen to more hours of others’ shows than you create yourself. Listening to others’ shows will expose you to formats, pacing, energy, etc, that can inform how you do your own show. (For example, what do you think is working or not working for the creator of the show?) Checking out others’ shows can give you opportunities to find others (in the chat) who are enjoying a show with you. Follow those in the chat; if they ever create a show, you will get notified, and you’ll have more opportunities to engage with the listeners of that show. If you visit a lot of shows and engage in their chats, you are likely to develop a community of listeners and creators, in a very short period of time. The more shows you visit and engage with, the faster you can build your follower pool.
When you do your own show, remind listeners to follow you. In your show, you call the shots. Don’t be shy, and don’t forget to ask listeners to follow you, several times during your show. It’s also valuable to invite listeners to follow others in the chat. You’ll get lots of brownie points with other creators who are listening if you give them shout-outs and ask listeners to follow them. Once you have hundreds of followers, you may decide to stop asking for listeners to follow your show. (But it never hurts to ask listeners to follow others that are in the chat!)
Whatever you do, don’t rely completely on your own show’s listeners as the only way to get followers. Ask any creator and they’ll tell you that unless you create shows constantly (e.g., you do a dozen shows a week), getting followers is a slow process.
Create shows at a pace that works for you, but also dedicate time to listening in on as many different shows as you can.
I always forget to tell people to “follow” me but that is an important comment to add!