Unlock the Secret Strategies Gary Sturgis Used to Skyrocket His Social Media Following—No Paid Ads Required!
Gary Sturgis is BookLocker‘s current best selling author, earning thousands per month in royalties. Learn how he does it! EPISODE 45: How to Earn Thousands Per Month in Book Royalties – PART 1 of 2
People sometimes ask me how I grew such a large social media following, and I think they expect me to have some secret formula involving algorithms, hashtags, posting schedules, or whatever the latest social media experts say we’re supposed to be doing.
I don’t.
When I started writing about grief, I wasn’t trying to build a following. I was trying to connect with people. I experienced the death of my spouse, and I knew how lonely grief could be. I started sharing honestly about what I experienced, what I was learning, and sometimes what I was still struggling to understand. Somewhere along the way, people began showing up.
People can tell when you’re talking to them instead of trying to market to them.
If I’ve learned anything about growing an audience organically, it’s that authenticity matters more than perfection. Some of my most successful posts weren’t the ones I spent hours carefully crafting. They were the ones where I said something people had been feeling but hadn’t been able to put into words themselves. When someone reads something and thinks, “Yes! That’s exactly how I feel,” they comment. They share it. They come back.
And coming back matters.
Consistency has probably been as important to my growth as anything else. I show up regularly. Not every post is going to be a home run, and believe me, I’ve had plenty that landed with a thud. You can’t let that determine what you write next. Social media numbers can tell you what resonated, but they shouldn’t become the reason you’re writing.
I also pay attention to the comments. In fact, some of my best ideas come directly from the people who follow me. If twenty people mention loneliness, I know we need to talk about loneliness. If people keep mentioning guilt, anger, exhaustion, or feeling forgotten, I listen. Your audience will tell you what they need if you stop talking long enough to hear them.
Most importantly, I don’t think of the people following me as a “following.” I think of them as a community. There’s a big difference. A following watches you. A community participates with you.
So, if you’re trying to organically grow your social media presence, my advice is pretty simple:
Stop worrying so much about growing it. Show up consistently. Be useful. Be human. Pay attention. And, write something worth sharing.
Then, give people a reason to want to come back tomorrow.
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