The Power of Incremental Progress: Building Fall2Flight, One Follower at a Time
Every venture, no matter how grand its vision, begins with a single, small step. When I embarked on the journey of creating Fall2Flight, my goal was not just to establish another digital platform, but to create a community united in understanding and managing PTSD and chronic pain. The inception of our Facebook page was a crucial step in this journey, serving as a beacon to gather an audience for our much-anticipated YouTube channel, planned for release in late December 2023 or January 2024.
The Early Struggle: In the initial phase, our Facebook page was a hub for sharing blog posts, insights, and garnering likes and positive reactions. However, a significant challenge presented itself: our follower count was stagnating. The slow pace of growth, combined with my personal battles with PTSD, brought me to the brink of frustration. There were moments when the entire project seemed futile, and shutting down the page felt like a great option. Maybe I was wrong about the model. Maybe people simply don’t want to talk about his very personal battle.
A Shift in Perspective: Amidst this turmoil, a shift in perspective became my beacon of hope. Celebrating our first 10 followers was not about the number itself, but about the ten unique individuals behind those clicks. Each follower represented a story, a struggle, perhaps a shared journey through the tumultuous seas of PTSD or chronic pain. I imagined myself coming across this page one day when my struggles were frustrating. I thought of myself reading the blog posts on the Fall2Flight website and how maybe I would connect to that post or move on and read another than was more pertinent to my current experience. Then I realized I probably simply would not have gone all the way back to Facebook to go follow the page that lead me there. I was there, and I can continue to read all that the website has to offer. I can see there’s going to be a Fall2Flight YouTube channel, and there’s no real reason to go back to like the Facebook page. This realization transformed the way I viewed our audience. It wasn't just a number; it was a gathering of souls, each with their own narrative and reasons for joining our mission. And the Facebook page is just a helpful link along the way.
Connecting with the Audience: As Fall2Flight continues to evolve, we focused on creating a more direct Facebook outreach strategy to extend our reach and make our content more accessible. I created a more direct advertising goal to get people who are likely looking for our community to actually follow the Facebook page so they an not only be reminded of our activities, but also help others to find us by sharing posts, etc. We aren’t selling anything, we are reaching out to find the people we believe are looking for our community. But starting something like a community is really difficult.
I knew I needed to build it one person at a time. With each new follower, I reminded myself of the human element behind the statistics. These were not just numbers increasing on a page; they were real people, each potentially resonating with our cause, finding solace or understanding in what we were building, and hopefully believing that sharing what they found, will benefit someone like them.
Today, as we celebrate reaching 225 followers (a small number in terms of social networking, the journey feels more personal and impactful. Each new follower adds to the tapestry of our growing community. The small steps we took, the incremental progress, have brought us here. This growth is not just a testament to our new approach to reaching out directly and “asking for the follow,” but a reminder of the power of persistence and the importance of valuing each individual in our community.
The Importance of Incremental Progress: In a world obsessed with rapid success and viral phenomena, the power of incremental progress often goes unnoticed. Yet, it is these small, steady steps that lay the foundation for lasting impact and genuine community building. Every new follower, every shared story, every interaction adds to the collective strength of our community.
The journey of Fall2Flight has barely even started but then I think of that number today, 225 real people who really saw a benefit to following us. I think of it as a room where I am talking to 225 people and when I look at it that way, it’s impactful and actually humbling! With each passing day, we strive to reach more individuals, to share more stories, and to deepen our understanding of PTSD and chronic pain. The growth of our Facebook page, from 0 to 225 followers, serves as a powerful reminder of the impact of incremental progress. Each follower is a victory, each interaction a step forward in our mission. As we continue to grow, we do so with the knowledge that every small step counts, and every individual matters in our quest to explore innovative ways to manage symptoms and achieve a state of 'FLOW.'
As we look towards the future, our focus remains steadfast on nurturing this growing community. The road ahead is filled with possibilities, and with each new member of Fall2Flight, we come one step closer to realizing our vision. Together, we are not just building a platform; we are creating a movement, one follower at a time. And just for fun, I just looked back at our follow number and it grew by 5 individuals just while I was writing this blog post! That feels amazing to me! Thank you all and let’s beat this mofo called PTSD and chronic pain!
