Why Subscriber Growth Doesn't Equal Trust

I've never been great at playing the attention game. I know this is coming from a guy who seems to have a lot of followers and subscribers...but hear me out. I can count on one hand the number of things I've published that felt "viral." A YouTube video, a couple of Twitter threads, one random Reel...that's it. Now, those viral moments WERE how many followers found me, but they're few and far between. And while it's nice to see those numbers go up, you wouldn't believe how many MASSIVE accounts have a hard time generating any revenue at all. Our culture is obsessed with reaching new attention. It's obsessed with the flashy vanity metrics of followers, subscribers, and views. I'm telling you – it's the wrong thing to chase. The health and viability of your business aren't based on how much attention you can capture—they're based on how much attention you can retain. To take it a step further, it's not even about attention as much as it's about trust. People buy from those they know, like, and trust. Full stop. Capturing attention helps people know you. It might even help them like you. ...but it doesn't guarantee trust. Trust is a function of time spent with you and how well you've proven that you have MY best interests at heart. It's a tough thing to earn because it's a tough thing to fake – we know when you're in it for YOU and not for us. One of the fastest ways to show us that you're in it for yourself (and not for us) is to chase NEW ATTENTION rather than continue the relationship we've started with you. "What am I? Chopped liver?" Every time you attract new attention, you're starting a new relationship from zero. Building affinity and trust takes time! Meanwhile, you have all these past relationships you've already started...and may be neglecting. So, if you're feeling frustrated by your attention-capturing efforts, consider using this as an opportunity to go deeper instead of wider. Show your people that you're here for THEM.

You don’t need 10,000 followers. You need 10 people who trust you deeply. We’ve been sold the idea that growth = followers. That success means going viral. That your impact is measured by how many people like, comment, and share. But here’s what I’ve learned: in business, depth beats width. The most important clients I’ve ever worked with didn’t come from a viral post. They came from a post (with few likes and comments) that resonated with them. A quiet referral. A conversation that started because someone felt connected to my words. You don’t need to be everywhere. You don’t need fancy reels or trending audios or a huge audience. You need trust. And trust doesn’t scale the way likes or comments do. Trust is built by showing up consistently. By sharing what you believe. By saying something real, not just something catchy. By being the same person online and off. Most people are chasing attention. But attention is cheap. Trust is what turns your content into clients. So if your follower count feels small, don’t panic. You might already have the right people watching; they’re just waiting for you to speak directly to them. Remember, 10 real connections can open more doors than 10,000 strangers ever could. #AskQueJay #BusinessGrowth #BusinessMentor #MarketingStrategy

Everyone wants to grow fast, grow the audience, automate the funnel, hit 100K followers, and get featured on the next big podcast. That’s the game most people are playing right now, speed over strategy, clicks over connection. But somewhere in that sprint, people stopped asking the better question: 🟠 What are you actually building? Because followers don’t equal trust, and automation doesn’t mean anyone cares. You can have all the visibility in the world, but if your audience doesn’t believe you, it won’t move the needle. I’ve seen brands get loud, fast, and fizzle just as quickly. Remember in 2002, when CNN tried to launch CNN+. They spent over $300 million, launched with a media empire behind them, and shut it all down in less than 30 days. That kind of crash doesn’t happen because of bad branding; it happens when trust and connection are an afterthought. They built a product. But they didn’t build a relationship with the people they were trying to serve. Real growth looks different. It’s built through intention. It’s earned by showing up consistently and giving people something real. It’s not the clever one-liner that goes viral. It’s the honest post that makes someone stop, think, and come back next week for more. You don’t need to move faster; you need to move with purpose. Visibility comes and goes. But the people who trust you? They’ll stay. #ContentStrategy #Branding #Marketing #SocialSelling #Leadership

Stop chasing followers. Start building trust. Because followers don’t convert, trust does. In the mad rush to grow numbers, many forget what makes someone actually stay. It’s not aesthetics. Not daily posting. Not hashtags. It’s consistency, clarity, and credibility. I’ve seen creators with 2,000 followers drive more inbound leads than pages with 50K+, because their audience believes them. They show up with real stories. They give before they ask. They build community, not just a content calendar. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Most people can smell “growth-hungry” energy from miles away. But trust? Trust is magnetic. It makes people DM you with opportunities. It makes clients convert without sales calls. It makes your name carry weight. So next time you post, don’t ask: “How do I get more views?” Ask: “Will this make someone trust me a little more?” You’re not a brand. You’re a human being. And humans follow humans they trust. Build that, and the numbers will follow. What’s something someone did on LinkedIn that earned your trust? Let’s flip the feed. > From followers → to believers. > From growth → to connection. > From noise → to trust. . #personalbranding #trustbuilding #linkedinstrategy #contentmarketing #communityovercompetition

You can “growth hack” email subscribers. But you can’t “growth hack” profit. Especially not with bad content. Right now, there are many newsletters that growth-hacked their way to 500k-1M+ subscribers with bad content. They might *look* successful. But they’re not. That’s because: - Audience size ≠ revenue or profit - Audience size ≠ engagement - Audience size ≠ trust These newsletters have to reinvest all of their revenue into paid acquisition to fill a leaky bucket of subscriber churn. I’ve seen the numbers. Newsletters with big audiences AND bad content don’t produce profit. They struggle to retain advertisers because their audience isn’t engaged and the advertisers don’t get results. And they struggle to sell products because their audience doesn’t trust them and their free content isn’t valuable. These newsletters will shut down or sell for pennies. My point is, it’s easy to think people are making money with newsletters “hand over fist” because they’re growing their email lists so fast. But the reality is, only exceptional founders are producing sustainable profits. The bad ones will be filtered out because: - Nearly every newsletter is bootstrapped. - Nearly every advertiser is direct response focused. - Consumers won’t buy from a newsletter that doesn’t provide value. So stop obsessing over the size of your audience and start obsessing over the value of your content.

I’m not a salesperson, but I talk to prospects and customers all the time. And those conversations have changed the way I think about growth. When I first started joining these calls, I worried I wouldn’t sound “salesy” enough. The more I showed up with curiosity and a genuine interest in understanding someone’s world, the more natural it felt. There’s still this reflex to equate growth with volume. More leads, more clicks, more names in the funnel. From a marketing lens, I get it. It looks great on a dashboard, but it doesn’t always translate into real momentum or lifetime value. Some of the most impactful growth moments I’ve witnessed haven’t come from campaigns or lead lists. They’ve come from: 💡 an agency owner walking me through where onboarding broke down 💡 an ops specialist explaining what makes their team buy 💡 someone being candid about where we missed the mark These conversations didn’t always lead to a sale, but they always led to a better customer experience. We talk a lot about filling the funnel, but maybe the real metric we should be tracking is conversation volume. It’s not just about “how many people did we reach,” but about how many did we really hear. Trust doesn’t start with tactics. It starts with a conversation. Want even more insights and tactics? Don’t miss Copper’s monthly newsletter. Subscribe now at: https://lnkd.in/g4HT7PgB

I used to think business was all about the numbers. My background is in Computer Science, so I saw everything as a formula. More posts + more followers = more success. Simple, right? I chased the metrics, optimized for the algorithm, and tried to sound like the smartest person in the room. But it felt hollow. The growth was there, but the real connections weren't. Then, everything changed. A few years ago, I saw a small creator with barely 1,000 followers. He wasn't posting daily. He wasn't using fancy buzzwords. But he was building a six-figure business from his DMs. How? He told stories. He was vulnerable. He treated every interaction like a conversation, not a transaction. That's when I realized the most powerful algorithm isn't on LinkedIn; it's in the human mind. People don't buy from the person with the most followers. They buy from the person they know, like, and trust the most. Today, my focus has shifted from chasing vanity metrics to building genuine relationships. Because respect isn't a growth hack. It's a habit. And trust isn't a tactic. It's the foundation of every successful business. Stop counting your followers and start connecting with them. #contentmarketing #leadgeneration

In marketing, the loudest voice isn’t the leader, the most trusted one is. We often assume growth comes from shouting louder. More ads. More posts. More campaigns. But noise doesn’t equal impact. Think of your favorite brand. Do you love them because they flood your feed? Or because they consistently deliver value, in ways that matter to you? That’s the paradox of modern marketing: Attention is easy. Trust is rare. And trust is built quietly, through reliability, consistency, and empathy. You don’t need to chase virality, if your customers become your storytellers. A single honest review travels further than a thousand polished ads. The brands winning today aren’t those spending the most. They’re the ones who listen better, respond faster, and care deeper. Because marketing isn’t about campaigns anymore. It’s about conversations. Noise captures. TRUST CONVERTS. And TRUST LASTS.

Most fintech founders miss the point. It's not about your app. After 20 years in fintech, I can tell you this. Only two things differentiate fintechs. UI/UX and trust. That is it. Everything else is table stakes. Your competitors can copy features. They can hire engineers. They can reverse-engineer algorithms. But they cannot copy trust. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬. Here is the part most founders get wrong. Trust is built through time, legislation, and regulation. Not technology. I have watched dozens of neobanks launch. Beautiful apps. Sleek interfaces. They get users to download. Maybe even try the product. But when it comes to moving their primary banking relationship? Their payroll, their savings, their real financial life? Users hesitate. Why? A pretty interface does not equal trustworthiness. In financial services, trust is everything. Think from your user's perspective. You ask them to trust you with their money. Their livelihood. Their future. A small mistake could mean they cannot pay rent. Cannot buy groceries. Cannot take care of their family. UI/UX gets users to try your product. Trust gets them to stay. To use it for real financial needs. This dynamic is clear in the graphic shown. UI/UX attracts initial interest. But Trust sustains user engagement. 🧠 Without trust, you are just another fintech app collecting dust. So, how do you build trust? Not the way most founders think. Small, consistent experiences matter more than big launches. Trust is not built through press releases or marketing campaigns. It is built through hundreds of small interactions. Where you do exactly what you would do. Building trust is slow, boring work. ⏳ There are no shortcuts. No growth hacks. No viral marketing tricks. You earn trust one user at a time. One transaction at a time. One day at a time. Your technology can be revolutionary. Your team brilliant. Your market massive. But without trust, none of that matters. Build trust first. Everything else is secondary.

You don’t need a bigger audience... You need a more engaged one. Bigger numbers make for great screenshots. But they don’t build great businesses. I’ve seen accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers that barely convert. Because growth in numbers doesn’t always equal growth in impact. What matters is depth. Connection. Engagement. The brands that drive sales, word of mouth, and long-term loyalty are the ones that invest in community, not just content. If you’re stuck chasing growth, pause and look at the people already in your world. Are you talking to them? Are you serving them? Are you giving them reasons to stay and reasons to share? You don’t need a million followers. You need a few hundred that actually care. Depth will always outperform scale when it comes to trust. #opinion #marketing #socialmedia #ecommerce #business #socialcommerce