We have famous and broke people in this country.

You have seen them. Wealthy in celebrity, with a name everybody knows, and no money. Only the fame.

If you are building a following, or thinking about it, this is the lesson I would most like you to learn early. Social media followers are not money, and they are not status. They are something more useful than both, if you treat them properly.

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I am not a celebrity

One thing I will never agree to is being called famous. I am not a celebrity, and there is nothing I am too important to do.

That is a misconception we have in Kenya. Somebody gets 24,000 followers on Instagram, 20,000 on Facebook and 10,000 on TikTok, and suddenly he is a celebrity. Suddenly there are things he cannot do, and his pride has reached the heavens.

Followers do not make you a celebrity.

The special treatment we have normalised

Here is what we have come to accept. Once you are known on social media, you become a delicate human being who must be handled a certain way. You can speak to people badly and skip the queue at the supermarket, and there are supposed to be no consequences.

No.

Do your normal things. I go out and eat my eggs like everybody else. What exactly will people do to you because you have followers?

And I stay reachable. Send me a clear message on WhatsApp and I will reply.

If there is one thing I dislike, it is being treated in a special way because of my numbers. It is not right, and it is dangerous. It makes you feel like a demigod. The moment it gets into your head, you start disrespecting people. Eventually even your own mother starts to look foolish to you.

Followers and fame should never make you an unkind person.

How famous people fall

You have watched this story many times.

Somebody gets known. They decide they are above everybody else. The contempt starts, the rude words, the bullying, making people feel small. Then one day there is a headline about how they insulted somebody online or mistreated a waiter, and the fall begins.

People dislike those who think they are gods. They respect those who do not care about their own follower count.

Because those are virtual numbers. Some of those accounts have not been opened in years. So when you beat your chest about your 1 million followers, the honest answer is, and then what?

Your goal is to be stable, not famous

Let me give you my own example.

Social media can bring me around 500,000 shillings in a month. Not because I am famous, but because I am good at it. A company can contract me at 250,000 shillings a month to handle their social media, content and digital marketing.

But I do not walk into that client’s office with pride and announce that I have 1 million followers. I walk in as somebody who can do the work.

Your goal is not to be famous and broke. Your goal is to be stable.

Fame and an audience are not the same thing

This is the difference most creators in Kenya, and in Africa, are never taught.

Fame is people knowing your name.

An audience is people who watch you, trust you and listen to what you say.

When you start creating content, do not think about being famous. Think about the people. I always say create content for people, not for companies.

Those followers are people, and what do people have? Capital. That is why a following is called social capital. These are people who can buy your products, buy your services and recommend you to others.

So stop seeing them as followers, as though you are a shepherd and they are your flock. See them as customers. And we all know the saying, the customer is king.

The moment somebody follows you, comments on your posts and talks about you when you are not there, that person holds you in high regard. Not many people have that. Treat them right.

Stop waiting for brands to pay you

Getting known does not mean the only plan is waiting for a brand to pay you to promote something to your audience.

If 40,000 people watch you every day, why are you waiting for a big company to come and give you a script?

There is nothing wrong with working with a brand you actually believe in. But if brand deals are your whole income, you are a famous person with no business.

Look at some of the big names from 10 or 15 years ago. Many of them now have a dead audience. They wake up, post “good morning guys”, and that is it. What does that do for anybody? They have been in the limelight for years and they still depend on brands to get paid.

What to sell to your audience

Sell something of your own. Here are the options, starting with what I do.

Your services. I sell web design and digital marketing, and I get that work because I have an audience.

Here is how it happens. Say a man called Kimenjo owns a hardware shop. He follows me on Facebook and has been watching my content for months. One day he needs a website. He has seen that I charge 90,000 shillings, so he messages me and says, Elvis, I have 86,000, will you take it? Yes, I will.

Will I stay broke? No.

What you know. I sell courses. If you are a photographer or a video editor with a following, people are already asking you to teach them. Put together a package and charge for it.

A product. Take something simple, like a hot water flask that shows the temperature. Source it, put your brand on it, and tell your audience: if you would like to support me, I have these, and they are useful if you work from home or carry tea to the office.

You are now selling your own product to people who already trust you.

A business built on what you are known for. If you are known for doing hair, are you telling me that your own salon would not work?

The audience you have been given is an audience that can buy from you. They are not there to build your ego.

Do not live a famous person’s life on debt

One more trap.

Some people believe that because they are known, they must live a certain way. So they move to an expensive neighbourhood they cannot afford and drown in debt, because a famous person is supposed to enjoy certain privileges and be seen with certain people.

No. I live in an ordinary place and it has done me no harm.

Fame is not the same as money, and it is not the same as status. Some of the people with the biggest followings are the ones with no money at all, because the numbers stopped them from thinking.

The short version

Do not let numbers get into your head. They will stop you from thinking.

Your numbers are just your numbers. Treat the people behind them as customers, be kind to them, and sell them something worth buying.

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— Elvis W.