2 thoughts on “5 Ways To Build A Closer Connection To Your Fans

  1. Ryan Budds says:

    When I’m not doing standup, I host trivia at a bar on Monday nights in Covina, CA called The Chatterbox. The night lasts two hours, and I usually try out all my new bits during this chunk of time. I’ve got a mic and their attention, and I usually get more of a response from them than with most LA mics. (Find a way to create your own mic!)

    Anyway, I’ve been asking trivia players to engage with me during these nights by tweeting me ideas for future trivia rounds (ie 90s Movies, One Hit Wonders, etc) and every person that tweets me gets an extra point for their team. Sometimes, the game comes down to a point or two, so this Twitter interaction is beneficial to them. It’s beneficial to me because now I’ve got a direct thread to engaging these people further, and it started with them. I also have people follow me so they can see the next week’s categories and have a heads up on why they should come week after week. Last, every round features 11 questions. After 5 questions, I feature a slide that shows a funny picture or image or video I took from that week, something that I would probably have posted on FB. I do some commentary on it, but it’s usually from my life so it helps them get to know me and what I do when I’m not hosting trivia. After all the questions have been read for a round, I throw up a slide that says FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER! with a quick twitter joke I’ve posted from that week.

    All the people that follow me from this location go on a list and I can tweet out to them directly. The whole thing is called Trivia With Budds, which gets my name out there. After just six weeks, I’ve got tons of people each night getting my attention by going “Hey Budds!” when they have a question about something or want to me to repeat something, all of which helps me build my brand. I wouldn’t consider these people straight fans of my standup, as they’re not exactly seeing me in the proper setting, but they are laughing at things I’m saying and I’ve had a few people cross over from trivia to see me at other live shows.

  2. Josh Spector says:

    Hey Ryan, all of that is great. Thanks for sharing.

    Also, not sure if you realize it or not, but you’re potentially building some intellectual property – something that could develop into a TV show or something down the road.

    You might want to think about other ways you could expand the concept into a YouTube series, podcast or some other format and further develop the concept/brand (which of course benefits you in that you own/host it).

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