Tell them about it

After you create a Twitter account, a Facebook Page, a YouTube channel or whatever, the next question is, inevitably, "How do I get followers?" (Or likes, or subscribers, etc.)

There are quite a few answers, but the first one is easy: Tell them. Or ask, if you want to be polite.

Start with your friends. And when I say friends here, I mean real life friends. The living kind.

Chances are you have friends on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. If nothing else, I'm on those sites, and I could easily be your friend (as long as you don't like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). So there--you already have a built-in audience. Tell them to follow you!

Or ask politely.

Then branch out. Invite co-workers, associates, peers, acquaintances... anyone you associate with face-to-face or otherwise. We all have a network, so start there. If you want more followers, ask more people to follow you.

Try this:

• Send an email to your friends, family, co-workers, or anyone else you think might want to follow you. 
• Send a Facebook message with the same invitation
• Ask people, face to face, to follow you (harder to say no when you do it this way). Do it in small meetings or large gatherings. Like Christmas parties.
• Put your Twitter name on your business card or your email signature, and invite new contacts to follow you.

Don't be embarrassed. We all have to start somewhere. Start building an audience by telling.