The Switch

Everybody is a fan of something already Your goal is to take somebody from being a fan of something else into a fan of your work. One of the most common methods to make this happen is something I call “The Switch”, and it’s remarkably effective if you do it the right way.

The idea is simple.

If somebody likes X and your work is like X, then a person has a very good chance of also liking your work, which we’ll call Y. However, they’ve had years to build up their love for X, and they have no idea who you are or why they should care about you.

The problem is creators often find people who like X, and assume they are ready to like their Y, so they immediately whack them over the head with their Y, without giving people who like X a reason why they should care about Y first.

Giving them a reason why is critical for The Switch to work.

The Switch is all about taking fans from X to Y, but by way of U, or, more accurately by way of liking YOU first. The secret ingredient in The Switch is that potential fans start to like YOU before they like your work. If you can take somebody from liking X, to liking YOU, then they will be highly likely to try your Y.

Why is that?

Because you are giving them a REASON why they should like your work which is deeper than just “you like X, so logically, you will like Y.” Instead, you are saying. “Hey, you like me, and you like X, you should try Y, because I think you will like it.”

When people like you, they are way more likely to try anything you offer them. This is because they’ve built empathy with you, like they would with a friend.  Since you know they like X, once they try your work they will likely love it, too.

The Switch is all about wedging yourself between somebody else’s work and your own work and creating empathy between them and you.

Almost everybody misses that middle point and forgets that the easiest way to get people to like your work is to get them to like you. Once you have refined this process, you can start plugging in new people from different existing fandoms and watch your own fanbase soar.