I’ve been studying, analysing and testing digital writing strategies for almost a year.
It is currently April 2024, and I’m wholeheartedly convinced that small creators should focus exclusively on threads to grow.
Here’s why:
Smaller creators have a key issue starting out.
They lack an audience.
That’s not unexpected, but the reality of the digital writing game.
Outside a few close friends, it’s rare smaller creators bring an existing audience to follow their writing.
And often that means the first mistake they make when trying to write is to imitate a large creator’s “smaller tweets”.
That means writing the typical motivational, hustle culture, profound philosophy tweets thinking the world will be in awe of their thoughts.
The reality: no one cares. Not enough anyway.
That post will likely get singular digit likes, and that too if you use hashtags for algorithm reach.
Let’s get one thing clear.
You are not Nicolas Cole.
You are not Dickie Bush.
You are not Dan Koe.
You are not Justin Welsh.
…yet.
If Nicolas, Justin, or Dan post something as basic as “Hello, Mondays are beautiful.”, that will get more love than your profound tweet that took you an hour to write.
Why?
They have a large existing audience.
Building an audience takes time and consistency, but also uniqueness, authenticity and strategy.
That’s where threads come in.
Typical motivational tweets? Now even AI can write these.
If you end up firing off forgettable one-liners, you will be drowned out with the rest.
These don’t cut it for building authority, which is the main goal.
By writing threads, you commit wholly to only producing high-quality content.
And that’s the difference.
Through distilling complex ideas into engaging digestible chunks, you’ve added value already.
You’ve saved the reader time.
Strategically, combine your unique experiences related to the thread to make it even more authentic and value-packed.
Finally, here’s why threads are a secret weapon for your writing.
They allow you to borrow credibility from those who’ve already made it.
Example. On X:
Nicolas Cole has 180.3K followers.
Dickie Bush has 385.8K followers.
Dan Koe has 436.2K followers.
Justin Welsh has 483.3K followers.
I’m sure you’ve heard “To become a giant, stand on the shoulder of one initially.”
In the digital world, that means borrowing the social proof of those larger than you to complement your writing.
Your aim is to capture the attention of the creator whose social proof you are borrowing and their audience too.
So, if you write a thread about “Justin Welsh’s {X} method to achieving {X} goal broken down in {X} easy steps: …” that will automatically pique more interest.
Why?
Justin already has credibility in the digital writing space. People are already intrigued by his success, so naturally will gravitate to your piece to gain insights.
This means, that if your thread resonates, it catches the eye of not just any audience, but the right audience.
Imagine one of those big names or their followers stumbling upon your thread and finding it too good not to share.
And what happens next? That’s right—more eyeballs.
And as those eyeballs convert into follows, your platform begins to grow.
Slowly but surely, you start to build an audience.
And with growth in general, especially in the social media world, as more people see and engage with your work, your follower count doesn’t just grow; it multiplies.
Now, let’s wrap this up.
Sure, threads take more effort.
They demand more soul.
But if you’re serious about making a mark, that’s the kind of effort that pays off.
Not overnight, but over time.
And trust me, getting there is just a matter of persistence.
Stick with it, and soon you’ll be the one new creators are looking to emulate.