Build social capital first so attention becomes revenue on demand

Attention is not the goal. Trusted attention is. Think of a bank. You cannot withdraw what you never deposited. Online, deposits are valuable lessons, clear perspectives, and small wins you hand out freely. Withdrawals are offers. If you try to withdraw first, people feel sold. If you deposit first and often, people feel helped and lean in.

Choose one painful problem and teach it well. Short videos that solve a slice of the pain. A checklist that prevents a common mistake. Run a small budget to show this to people who match your ideal audience. Your phone buzzes with early comments, and a familiar name appears twice in a week. That repetition matters. It primes memory and trust.

Then ask for a specific commitment. A webinar seat, a simple opt‑in, a consult. If some don’t convert, they still told you something by what they watched. Retarget those people with messages that address their likely questions. A micro‑anecdote: a coach put out five short clips on pricing. The viewers who watched at least two were invited to a live session. The cost per lead dropped from $5 to $0.40 because the audience was warmed.

This is the Social Capital Multiplier in practice. Accumulation builds trust through helpful content. Conversion invites a clear step. Retargeting recovers missed chances by staying relevant. Underneath are psychological truths: mere exposure increases liking, reciprocity makes people want to return value after receiving it, and specificity reduces choice overload. You’re not chasing virality, you’re building an asset.

Choose one painful problem and produce short, practical content that solves a slice of it, sharing consistently so your audience can spend roughly an hour learning for every $1,000 you may later sell. Use a small budget to warm people on that content and track who engages most, then invite those warmed viewers to a clear next step such as an opt‑in, webinar, or consultation. Finally, retarget non‑converters with messages that address the actual objections their behavior suggests. Keep depositing value so withdrawals feel natural. Sketch your first three deposits tonight.