Hey Reader,
If there’s one thing that’s made the biggest difference in our team's success over the years, it’s this: We listen.
It sounds simple (and it is), but it’s wildly underrated.
Whether you’re running a consulting business, launching a course, starting a podcast, or growing a side hustle, you can’t grow for your audience if you’re not listening to your audience.
In his book Superfans, Pat Flynn calls this “learning the lyrics.” It means listening to how your audience talks about their challenges, you can speak their language, and speak to their needs. Because when you can say what they’re thinking better than they can, they’ll assume you’ve got the solution.
Here are 6 ways you can learn the lyrics of your target audience.
1. Lurk with purpose in online communities
Join groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, follow hashtags and threads on Bluesky (and threads, for that matter), or even explore Reddit threads. Go to the places your ideal audience hangs out.
Don’t pitch your stuff. Just listen. Read posts and comments. Look at the questions people ask, the way they describe their pain points, the language they use. This is golden for creating your copy and messaging.
2. Tap into LinkedIn conversations
LinkedIn is full of educators, leaders, and entrepreneurs sharing what they’re learning and what they’re struggling with. You don’t have to be a thought leader here. Just comment, ask questions, or simply observe. This is especially helpful for B2B-style businesses.
3. Use your email list as a feedback loop
Emails don’t always need to sell. Sometimes the best emails are just, “Hey, what’s something you’re stuck on this week?”
Short and genuine. You’d be surprised how many people respond and give all kinds of "lyrics."
4. Run quick polls on social
Instagram stories, LinkedIn polls, even old-school Twitter (or X or whatever) can be great for asking your audience what they want more of. Keep it simple. Don’t overwhelm them with too many options. And if you want to boost participation, offer a small giveaway. (People love a $10 Starbucks card.)
5. Ask open-ended questions
If you want your audience to hand you their language, open-ended questions are your best friend. Instead of asking, “What kind of content do you want?” ask, “What’s something you’ve been Googling lately?” or “What’s frustrating you about [topic] right now?”
6. Set up “Office Hours” in your DMs
Once a month, post something like: “DMs are open! What are you working on? How can I help?”
It invites casual connection and makes you more approachable. These convos are often more valuable than big surveys or fancy automations.
The Common Theme
Everything above has one thing in common: it’s not about selling. It’s about listening.
And listening is what helps you create content people actually care about. It’s what helps you write better copy, build offers people want, and serve your audience more intentionally.
So what are you going to try this week? Hit reply and let me know. I'd love to hear what you learn.
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I hope this helps
~ Jeff
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I appreciate you.
Jeff Gargas
COO / Co-Founder, Teach Better Team
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P.S. When you're ready, here's how I can help:
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🎧 What I'm listening to:
⚡️Things to Check Out
🤖 How creators are turning to agentic AI to manage fan engagement
- The term “agentic AI” refers to artificial intelligence tools that can autonomously pursue goals, take actions and make decisions without requiring constant human input.
- Unlike prompt-based AI tools like ChatGPT, which rely on direct, step-by-step input from users, agentic AI systems can pursue goals autonomously across multiple steps, often mimicking the behaviors or decision-making patterns of specific individuals.
- Agentic AI is one of the tech industry’s buzzwords du jour, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman writing in January that he anticipated AI agents would join the workforce and “materially change the output of companies” in 2025.
- Now, content creators are getting in on the action by using AI agents to engage with their fans.
- 👉 Read more here.
✅ How to engage every age group on social.
- Demographic data is a key building block in defining your target audiences on social media.
- Incorporating generational marketing insights into your strategies can greatly influence how people connect with your brand, from the awareness stage all the way to advocacy.
- Building relationships across age demographics starts with an up-to-date understanding of how each generation interacts with social media networks and content.
- To help, the team at Sprout Social regularly researches how audiences are responding to emerging social media trends.
- 👉 Check out the Generational Marketing Playbook here.
🤔 The Creator's Edge in AI
- Everything is changing so fast, and these new technologies will compound faster than we can imagine.
- In the next few years we’ll have AI becoming very practical and valuable from self-driving cars and humanoid robots to creating advances in health and recovery with peptides and brain-computer interfaces where people can control prosthetic limbs with their thoughts.
- And in the world we’re walking into, full of noise, bots, and infinite content, what’s real will matter more than ever.
- 👉 Read the article here.
💡CONTENT CREATION IDEA
Stuck? Try this → "What I wish I knew."
This is an easy prompt when you’re unsure what to create next. Just ask yourself, "What do I wish I knew back when I started?"
Your answer(s) is content!
It could be a blog post, social post, shorts or TikTok, podcast episode, email, or whatever format you prefer.
You don’t need a big fancy lesson. Just share the thing you wish someone had told you. Because chances are, someone out there needs to hear it now.
Happy creating!
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