I’m Posting But No One Is Listening or Watching + How To Make Your Invisible Audience Appear

“I’m posting for an invisible audience!” “I make all these videos, and no one watches!” “Not even my family or friends are engaging in my post!” “I’m not growing!” “I’m posting and no one is listening or watching!”

I’ve been there and I’m still there! I post weekly on my blog and no one watches likes or comments on my post except for the same five people (to who I am tremendously thankful). I have a YouTube channel that is stagnant- not that I’ve been consistent in any way, two Instagram pages that have hardly any growth, and deep down I believe that some of my friends only click on my blog to be nosey- because they’ve never liked a post on Instagram, or ever left a comment. Recently I did a poll on my Instagram, and it was amazing how only 10% of people participated- and you should know most of my followers are people I know in real life, yet only my internet friends participated. At first, I was hurt, but then I remembered:

• My family and friends are not my audience. When you look at the makeup of your family and friends, they are a general combination of all the different parts of you. Your business, blog, YouTube channel, and Instagram page are not representations of all parts of you. It’s a sum of maybe three or four parts of you at most. For example, you are fashionable, sporty, and religious. You have some friends who are religious, another who plays basketball, and a family member you always go shopping with. But your Instagram page is about fashion. Only one person in your circle loves fashion and style. And that’ll likely be the only person out of your friends and family to watch, buy and support your fashion and style content. That is okay! You want people who are impacted by what you do, not pity support. In this case, you are not posting to an invisible audience because these people are not your audience.
• My family and friends, though you’d think they should be, are not a guaranteed booster club. Maybe you are posting and no one is listening or watching because all you have are family and friends as followers and subscribers. Yes, people are busy, that is valid. But the reality is that people who are related to you, went to school with you, or worked with you, have all been afforded the same opportunities as you and they aren’t nearly as ambitious. Perhaps they’ve made their own attempts at starting a business and it has failed, perhaps they had children and their dreams slipped out of their hands, or maybe they fell ill. For many reasons, people are very stingy with their support. It’s easier for them to support strangers than their childhood friends. People are funny! Don’t let this wear you down. You are not the only person feeling this way, do not grow bitter.
• Rome wasn’t built in a day! These things take time! There is no such thing as LONG-LASTING OVERNIGHT SUCCESS. Anything that comes quickly and easily, will not last. Because it is hard to maintain something that you did not work for. Work is not synonymous with struggle. Not everyone who struggles will prevail. And there are many who don’t struggle and do prevail. Work is effort, work is dedicated, work means experience, and work makes us knowledgeable. These are keys that help us maintain whatever it is that obtain. Without these keys, our empire will surely fall.
• Social media is just smoke and mirrors. Views don’t equal sales, particpation on polls don’t amount to views on YouTube or blogs. Followers don’t mean you are famous. They see our post, like it, or don’t, and scroll on. It’s a quick impersonal interaction. It doesn’t mean you are doing extremely well, or extremely bad. I don’t use it to weigh my impact.
• But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33. If my main target is recognition, gaining attention, getting acknowledged, I will wind up destroying myself. The love of money and fame causes people to do and become horrible things. We lose ourselves when our center is not God. There are millions of ways to make money. That is a wide path. So many options, and very few boundaries. There is only one way to God, through Jesus. And God only does business one way- HIS WAY. It’s always best to play with fewer boundaries because the possible outcomes are fewer.  God guarantees a good outcome. In time, he undoes us, revealing our true desires and passions, and leads us to those, rather than things we have convinced ourselves that we want.

Now, what should I do if I have no audience? Should I quit? Should I post less? Should I buy less inventory? If you have not been consistent and excellent for over a year, you should not even consider giving up. People work all day and night on their businesses and craft. It’s entitled of you to think that you deserve the success of someone who has been in business for five years, and you haven’t given the effort they gave in two months, in one year! Don’t slack, be committed, and be all in. All we want is to see some growth. We want an olive branch. Show me something, God, please. Stay encouraged, if this is meant to be your path, you will prevail.

Here are four questions for you to kickstart your results-oriented reflection:

• Is this what God wants me to do or is this something I’ve come up with? You can not be upset with God for not delivering something He never promised you. If you post day and night, you’ve been consistent, you’ve been diligent, and you produce quality, perhaps you must do some reflecting. Sometimes the silence is God telling us to talk to Him. If you talk to your “invisible audience” more than you talk to God, that is a problem. If you are engaging with them more, asking them for more support, asking them what content they want to see, more than you are asking God, that must be addressed. If you have been consistent and your content is solid, maybe you need to take a different approach. Sometimes the silence is God telling us this is not the right industry, the right product, the right platform, the right initiative. You’re saying you’re posting and no one is listeing or watching, or you have an invisible audience, but yet you have all of Heaven watching you. I spent three years working to be in an industry that I’m not sure God ever told me I’d be in. I spent another three years working towards getting a contract through ROTC for the army when God never told me to do that. Now here I am, fighting to be a writer, hoping that I’ve heard Him clearly this time. I’ve had more success, peace, and impact writing for my 15 readers in two months than I did in those six years in the other industries. Sometimes it is for us, and other times it is for someone else. We must figure out why we are alive, ultimately. Your purpose does not always align with the lifestyle you have lusted after or coveted. Open your heart to God, and seek Him, before you seek your audience. He will lead you to your audience, trust me- trust Him.
• Are my audience or target customers on a different app? It’s possible you are focusing your attention on Instagram when your audience is addicted to Tik Tok. It’s possible your audience has a longer attention span and doesn’t make purchases based on 7-second ads, and you need to make a YouTube channel. Maybe your audience are perfectionists and are more inclined to scroll on Instagram than Snapchat. What if your audience is older and they spend their time on Facebook? These are things we must consider. You must make yourself visible. But there is no need to set up a hotdog stand in front of a vegan grocery store.
• Have I truly been diligent? Have you posted on Tik Tok three times daily– which is a guaranteed way to grow quickly? Are you engaging in your comments? It makes a difference when you respond with emojis and exclamation points, don’t be dry- I beg you. Have you paid for ads? Have you paid for promotion? Have you researched social media marketing? Are your aesthetics appealing? There are so many businesses and brands, no one will be knocking down on your door if your websites, products, and pages aren’t appealing, professional, or thoughtful. Are YOU visually appealing and aesthetically pleasing? This seems like a shallow question, but do you get on camera with dirty shirts? Do you wear makeup? Do you have a nice background? DO YOU SMILE? There is a reason that many influencers and business owners are polished, well dressed, and neat- and it is not for their health- all the time. It is because humans are visual creatures. We trust clean, beautiful, neat, smiley people!
• Are you planning and tracking your progress or just randomly shooting in the air? Be organized and focused on your approach. Posting one video every other month on YouTube, and one Tik Tok a week is not dedication. No one in the history of success has gotten anywhere by being a sometime-y participant. You could be growing and don’t even know it. Look at your stats. Maybe you’re reaching every goal, but since you are not aiming high enough, you aren’t obtaining the success you desire. Aim high! Do so without fear. If you must isolate yourself to do it, do it. If you have to unfollow your friends and family, do it. If you must go on a fast and prayer bender, do it. If you have to cancel your Netflix subscription to get it done, do it. Aim high! Run hard.

In writing this I realized I have not been diligent myself! I am making a new commitment to my career and God. Consistency, excellence, and a heart-centered on God are the keys to triumph. Even if I have to say “I’m posting and no one is listening or watching” for another six months, I’m going to continue screaming into the abyss. Eventually someone will hear me.