How to Grow Your Audience Online (Without Burning Out or Chasing Algorithms)
If you’ve ever launched an offer and heard crickets, you’re not alone. One of the most common mistakes I see coaches and service providers make, is trying to sell without actually having an audience to sell to.
You don’t need 50,000 Instagram followers. But you do need to nurture the audience you do have and grow your reach intentionally using a mix of short-term visibility and long-term strategy.
Let’s break down how to grow your online audience with purpose and alignment so you can make more impact, serve more people, and create consistent income in your business.
How Many Followers do you Need to Grow Your Online Business?
So many entrepreneurs are building their business on borrowed land - aka social media - and wondering why their offers aren’t converting. The truth is, you can’t sell to people who don’t even know you exist. Your audience is everything.
Here’s what I often see:
You post on Instagram for a few weeks
You launch your offer
A handful of people see it
Nobody buys
You assume your offer is broken
But the problem isn’t your offer. It’s the math.
The Truth About Conversion Rates (And Why They Matter)
The average online conversion rate is 1–3%. That means:
If you have 1,000 Instagram followers
And every single one sees your post (which they won’t)
You could expect 10–30 sales at most
Realistically, only a fraction of your audience sees your posts. This is why social media alone isn’t enough.
Build Your Online Audience in Two Parts: Short-Term and Long-Term
Think of your content strategy as a house:
Social media is the welcome mat.
Your podcast, email list, blog, and YouTube channel are the kitchen table where real conversations happen.
We want to use platforms like Instagram or TikTok to invite people in, but the relationship is built through searchable content and direct connection (like email).
Focus your efforts on the long game, all of the places you are sitting at the table with your potential clients. That’s where the conversion happens.
Here’s what counts in the long run (and why):
1. Email List Building
Your email list is the only platform you truly own where you have direct access to contact information for the people who are most interested in hearing from you. It’s the most powerful tool in your business, and it’s where the majority of your sales will come from. ROI on email marketing is currently sitting at 4200%. That means that for every dollar spent on email marketing, you can expect a return of over $40! Worldwide, email marketing revenue is expected to reach $17.9 billion by 2027 with 99% of users checking their email daily. I recorded a podcast episode about the importance of building out your email list - and how to actually do that. It’s on The Pulse on Human Design.
Listen here.
2. Searchable, Evergreen Content
Create content that works for you long after you hit publish. Think:
Blog posts
Podcasts
YouTube videos
Pinterest pins
If it can be searched, it can work for you 24/7. Consider starting with a podcast episode, blog post, or YouTube video and then create the rest in snippets from the original piece. Pinterest Pins can (and should) be made to every piece of long form content you create because they continue to drive traffic to these assets over time. In fact, some of my best performing pins are 10 years old!
3 Ways to Grow Your Audience Consistently
1. Show Up Intentionally on Social Media
People come to social media to be entertained, inspired, and educated, not sold to.
Make your feed fun to follow. Let your audience into your world. Think of your content as a weekly episode of “The You Show” Give them a reason to come back!
Ask yourself: Would I follow me? Am I offering something useful, inspiring, or relatable here?
Lean heavily into your Human Design Profile when you’re showing up online. It’s the role that you play in the movie of your life and it’s how people relate to you best.
For example, if you’re a 5/1 Human Design Profile, you’re here to tell it like it is. Give people the information they need and don’t be afraid to go deep. Reflect what you’re seeing, even when you fear it won’t land well.
If, on the other hand, you’re a 2/4, the magic is in what’s alive for you right now. What is being drawn out of you? People really need to see you being you!
Here’s a podcast episode that I recorded for you, all about using your Human Design Profile in your content marketing.
2. Make It Easy (and worthwhile) to Join Your Email List
Create a high-value lead magnet that directly relates to what you offer. This is not the time to be generic, nor is it the time to grab a topic out of thin air to focus on. Your lead magnet should connect DIRECTLY to your offer. It should lead people closer to working with you - not just pour random value on them. Value yes. Random value, no.
Then create a welcome sequence that introduces who you are, how you can help, and what your people can expect from you.
Here’s a podcast episode that I recorded on The Pulse on Human Design that walks you through how to set up your first email sequence.
3. Email Your List Regularly
No more “monthly newsletters.”
If someone joins your email list, they want to hear from you. Aim to send at least one email per week. And make it valuable:
Tell a story
Teach a lesson
Invite action
That’s the simple 3-step formula I use every week, whether I’m promoting a free podcast episode, sharing a Human Design tip, or selling my signature offer.
People are busy. They have a lot going on which means that they’re not focused on what it is you offer or how you can help them. If you make them wait an entire month between hearing from you, they’ll soon forget you and hit that unsubscribe button. Stay in their inbox by staying in touch.
You Don’t Need a Huge Following to Make Real Money
One of my clients had only 339 followers on Instagram and was earning over $100K/year.
Meanwhile, someone else had 20,000 followers and was struggling to hit $500/month.
Why? Because it’s not about volume, it’s about connection.
True engagement, trust, and relationship-building beat vanity metrics every time.
Some of my favourite work around this mindset shift for entrepreneurs is Kevin Kelly’s work
“One Thousand True Fans.” If you haven’t read it yet, it will forever change how you think about followers, engagement, and online business building.
Audit Your Audience Strategy Today
Here are a few simple steps you can take right now:
✅ Check your Instagram for fake followers (they’re hurting your visibility)
✅ Look at your last 6 posts. Are they engaging or just “checking a box”?
✅ Do a story-teach-invite email this week.
✅ Review your lead magnet. Does it align with what you actually sell?
✅ Start treating your email list like your kitchen table, not a billboard.
Use Your Human Design to Grow Your Business with Ease
Your Human Design shows you exactly how to show up in business your way. Most of the things you’ve been told are “wrong” with you are actually your superpowers.
Whether it’s your profile lines, defined centres, or strongest channels, you have gifts no one else has. Use them. Trust them. Share them. That’s how you magnetize the right people to you. The ones who stick with you for the long haul.
If you’ve not yet downloaded your free Hidden Money Makers Report, you can do that here.
Focus on the Long Game - Social Media Alone Won’t Build your Business
If Instagram disappeared tomorrow, would you still have a business?
The only platform you own is your email list. Build there. Use social media to invite people in, but focus on deepening the relationship in the kitchen, not the foyer.
Create content on a regular basis that will outlast the algorithm. Focus on the long game because the long game always wins.
Ready to Build an Audience That Buys?
Get started by downloading your Human Design Chart for free [INSERT LINK]
Or listen to the full podcast episode for a deeper dive here.
Follow me on Instagram to see my 2/4 profile in action, helping you grow your biz: @vickie.dickson