How to Get Evangelists?
Hi There,
My name is Utkarsh Apoorva. I am a serial maker and entrepreneur. In this newsletter, I share my real experiments, successes, failures, and lessons learned.
Why are Evangelists Important?
Evangelists like your work. They tell others and spread the word. They give you feedback and help you succeed. And when you do, they celebrate with you, encourage you to do better, and genuinely feel happy for you.
Question: How do I get evangelists? Should you not be really good at something to make such true fans? Or have lots and lots of very good friends?
Insight: No. We are emotional beings. We connect with people and their stories.
What is my experience on this?
I self-published my book, without an audience purely because some amazing people decided to help me.
I wrote a detailed account here.
This article is a “lessons learned” version of the same, with more insights.
The 3 Methods of Making an Evangelist
Here is how you can get people to evangelize yourself or your product.
Important note: Evangelism is about empathy. You need to be super-genuine, and your evangelists should know this. These are long term relationships, with long term people.
Method #1: Get Help, and Acknowledge The Helpers.
When we play a role in someone else’s success, and they let us know the impact we had on them, we feel good. We become a part of their success. We talk about them and share the joy. We become evangelists.
Method #2: Share a Story of Struggle, Failure, and Hope.
When someone else faces our fears, we connect with their story instantly. If the failures and the struggles of a maker are the ones we are afraid of, we connect with them instantly. We remember the ray of hope they felt. We talk about them.
Method #3: Share a Story of Struggle and Triumph
If the story of a maker seems ambitious - something we want to achieve, we connect with the story. We remember their success. Heck, we try hard to remember what they did. Sometimes we take notes and make bookmarks. We evangelize it.
A Combination: Do X in Public
When you build in public, or write in public, or learn in public, you get an opportunity to do all of the above.
The product itself need not be great (though that surely helps). What matters is the person, the story, the emotion.
It is your story. Make it great. Convert people from viewers to active contributors, and relevant characters. If you can do it, you will convert them to evangelists.
Credits: Photo by Vijay Verma on Blush.design