Why You Don't Need More Followers

Many small businesses are ramping up their social media efforts to catch the Twitter and Facebook waves. As business owners build their online communities, the general focus is on getting more followers and more fans.

The more the merrier, right?

Not exactly.

While generating as many followers and fans as possible can certainly grow your brand, the real focus should be on quality and not quantity.

Your list of followers and fans should represent either a source of income or a source of referrals. Income and referrals build a business, not merely fans and followers.

If your list of followers and fans neither produce income nor referrals, then it might be time to rethink your social media strategy.

Would you rather have 10,000 self-proclaimed MLM Gurus following you or 25 qualified leads? 10,000 sounds like a lot, but the 25 leads are the ones that are interested, engaged and potentially profitable.

The same principle applies for email marketing and direct mail marketing. Unless each and every contact on your list is a potential customer, you waste time, money and energy marketing to massive lists.

If you want a number of followers and fans to shoot for, try 150. The Rule of 150--based on Dunbar’s number and a key component to Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point--states that communities with a high incentive to remain together rarely exceed 150.

So build your community around 150 advocates. Find 150 customers that will support your business and influence others.

But you might be asking, what about scale? If I don’t get thousands of fans and followers, how will I build scale?

Simple: let your community of 150 build scale for you. If you provide consistent and authentic value to your community, scale will come.

So devote yourself to a small community of dedicated listeners and contributors. Don’t worry about generating thousands of fans and followers. Focus on the 150 that can truly move your business to the next level and nurture the heck out of those relationships.