Your audience is the lifeblood of your business. Without them, you have no one to sell to. However, too many entrepreneurs build a product before they bother to build an audience, let alone consider whether their audience would actually want to buy their product.

Brian Clark built all of his businesses by creating an audience first, and he’s become a true master at growing audiences by delivering outstanding content. After founding Copyblogger in 2006 and turning it into the “content marketing bible” it is today, Clark started Rainmaker Digital to serve as the parent company for all of his related online businesses. He’s even begun branching out into podcasting with his insanely popular shows Rainmaker.fm and Unemployable.

Clark attributes much of his success to the power of listening to his audience’s desires and building products to satisfy those desires. In our interview, he opens up about how he began his content marketing empire, how he continues to evolve it today, and why building an audience should be your number one priority. He even has some insightful things to say about the surprising benefits of being “unemployable.”

I’m so grateful Clark took the time to share his story and his wisdom with the Powderkeg community. For more actionable advice and outstanding content from Clark and his team, I highly recommend tuning into the Rainmaker.fm and Unemployable podcasts. You can also connect with Clark on Twitter @brianclark. Enjoy the show!

In this episode with Jeff Leventhal, you’ll learn:

• The unexpected benefits of being “unemployable” (8:33)
• Why you need to build an audience before doing anything else (14:52))
• How big “level-up” moments can change your career (18:47)
• Tips for building a business with agile development principles (24:05)
• The importance of creating robust processes (32:11)
• Why you can’t let new technology distract you from the fundamentals (36:56)

These show notes were originally posted on Powderkeg

Please enjoy this conversation with Brian Clark!

• Listen to it on iTunes.
• Stream by clicking here.
• Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

This episode of Powderkeg is brought to you by DeveloperTown. If you’re a business leader trying to turn a great idea into a product with traction, this is for you.

DeveloperTown works with clients ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 companies who want to build and launch an app or digital product. They’re able to take the process they use with early stage companies to help big companies move like a startup.

So if you have an idea for a web or mobile app, or need help identifying the great ideas within your company, go to developertown.com/powderkeg.

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast.

Brian Clark Quotes from This Episode of Powderkeg:

[ctt template=”5″ link=”7pfFj” via=”no” ]“You don’t have to be a funded startup to buy into the agile processes the Valley is in love with, because they just make sense.” — Brian Clark[/ctt]

[ctt template=”1″ link=”7hUR4″ via=”no” ]“It can be tempting to make the quick buck, but I was never going to do that, and I think that’s why we’ve never had a product fail. It’s always about the audience first.” — Brian Clark[/ctt]

[ctt template=”5″ link=”9d35D” via=”no” ]“Don’t claim that it’s great. Show that it’s great.” — Brian Clark[/ctt]

[ctt template=”1″ link=”l27ma” via=”no” ]“Email is the transactional channel. You’ve got to build that email list.” — Brian Clark[/ctt]

Links and Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

Companies and Organizations:

Rainmaker Digital

ExactTarget

Salesforce

McKinsey & Company

Software and Apps:

Basecamp

Periscope

Websites:

Copyblogger

WordPress

StudioPress

Podcasts:

Unemployable

Rainmaker.fm

Books and Magazines:

Fast Company

Trust Agents

The Impact Equation

Permission Marketing

Spark

The Lean Entrepreneur

Content Inc.

People:

Chris Brogan

Julien Smith

Tony Clark

Seth Godin

Joe Pulizzi

Did you enjoy this conversation? Thank Brian on Twitter!

If you enjoyed this session and have 3 seconds to spare, let Brian Clark know via Twitter by clicking on the link below:

Click here to say hi and thank Brian on twitter!

COMMENTS?

What stood out most to you about what Brian shares in this podcast?

For me, it’s why you need to build an audience before doing anything else.

You? Leave a comment below.

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These show notes were originally posted on Powderkeg. For more episodes and show notes, check out the Powderkeg Podcast official website.