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Hey Reader

You know the typical scene in the movies that marks the beginning of a movement.

Someone stands in the town square, or the battlefield, or the courtroom.

They deliver the speech.

The music swells.

People cheer.

They start marching to do whatever it is they plan to do.

Everyone is fired up and falls into line behind them.

And history is made.

That’s how movies show a movement starting.

One speech. One powerful image. One legendary line.

And boom, in a flash you have an army of believers following you to fight the cause.

There’s only one teeny weeny problem…

… that’s not how it works in real life.

Real movements don’t start in front of the crowd.

They don’t start at the lectern of a theatre.

And they don’t start with a broadcast that stirs the hearts and minds of a willing audience.

Movements start in the corner of the room.

In whispered conversations.

In hushed confessions.

In quiet, one-to-one moments that ripple outward.

Look at historical precedent…

The civil rights movement?

Not one speech.

A web of conversations in kitchens, churches, diners, front porches that led to a groundswell of support and understanding around the methods needed to get the message across and effect change.

The Brexit movement?

The mantra of ‘Take back control’ was not simply workshopped in a political PR agency and delivered by a single politician.

Thousands of conversations in pubs, home and social clubs with ordinary people shaped the narrative and the movement.

Che Guevara's Cuban revolution?

Didn’t go viral (or whatever the equivalent was back then).

He met his pal Fidel Castro in Mexico, talked strategy in back rooms, built trust among his compadres before leading the battle and eventually the revolution.

None of these movements started with a stage.

They may have ended up on a stage to broaden their message wider.

But the work was already being done.

They started with small rooms and deep conversations.

And the same is true for you.

If you’re sitting obsessing over your posts, wringing your hands that you need to get your Broadcast just right or holding off on podcast interviews or speaking because you’ve not got your message nailed yet…

Let me be really clear.

Movements don’t begin with reach.

They begin with connection and with emotionally resonating with a position or outcome.

You can do a lot through broadcasting.

Sharing your message.

Building connection.

Signposting your ideal followers to your business or brand.

But you can’t create the deep level of emotional resonance you need solely by broadcasting and hoping people line up behind you.

You create it by getting personal and intimate.

Talking, listening and articulating what people feel but haven’t said.

Like your shared enemies.

Build a connection between you and them, before you build a connection between them and other followers.

And then invite them closer.

Because when they feel connection and close, they are more likely to go recruit for you and advocate your cause.

If you already have followers, and you’re not doing this you’re slowing yourself down.

This is why I always say:

Do the things that don’t scale.

Because unscalable intimacy leads to a different level of connection and builds momentum.

Here’s what to do right now:

• Pick three people who’ve messaged you, subscribed to your email or have reached out recently
• Start a real conversation. Ask them why your message landed
• Invite them to go deeper. Join your email list, join your group, connect with others.

That is how you start building your movement, right there.

One person at a time.

The key is to building this into a repeatable system to turn followers into believers and quiet fans into vocal evangelists…

Inside CultBrand Academy, I break this down with my full Indoctrination Path process plus the Cult Broadcast System that helps you structure your weekly output around indoctrination and connection.

When you understand that going small and intimate - even 1-2-1 - is an essential part of building your movement or cult following, you’ll end up building something that no one else can.

A brand, business or organisation that engenders devotion and develops followers willing to go out and fight your cause.

Remember, devotion doesn’t come from a post or a speech.

It comes from a sense of belonging that you create.

Laters!

Jody

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