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The last thing you want to do

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is to accidentally limit

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how many subscribers

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or followers

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you can have.

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But many creators are doing this without even realising it!

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This episode

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covers 9 ways you can stop limiting your own channel size.

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Now for those unaware,

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The Minecraft Creator Podcast

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has been rebranded

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as Follower Forge.

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The focus is on gaming channels and streamers

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and not limited to just Minecraft.

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The goal is to help you forge your following online.

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It's a different name,

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but the same great content

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and you can join the Forge in Discord, too!

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I have a link in the notes for you.

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So, how do many creators

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make the mistake

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of limiting their channel size?

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And how can you avoid making the same mistakes?

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A major component of this

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is not properly appealing to a

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worldwide, international audience.

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Let's go through 9 ways you might be doing that 
without even realising it.

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First of all,

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acknowledge the timezone difference.

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Release at a good time for your viewers,

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or go live at a good time for your viewers.

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Look at your statistics

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and work out where most of your viewers are located.

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Or, if you want to target a particular region,

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keep that in mind and target that even if it's not

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where your viewers are currently located.

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Then release videos when those people are likely to be awake

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and on the platform that you're making content on.

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Alternatively,

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if you want a worldwide audience,

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post your content around midday UTC.

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This is approximately 8 a.m.
New York time, in the US,

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around 1 p.m. 
London time, UK,

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or around 10 p.m.
Sydney, Australia time.

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It's one of the only times 
in the world

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that you can match up with almost every time zone simultaneously.

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It's a good time to post content

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and you'll notice a lot of other creators

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posting at that time as well.

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Ideally, post slightly before that,

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so that you get in first!

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As the Australians 
are going to sleep,

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New York is waking up

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and the West Coast USA 
isn't far behind them.

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If those times are 
inconvenient for you,

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consider uploading your content and scheduling it

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from the day before.

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Next,

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make sure that you're 
aware of timezones

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when communicating 
with others.

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Don't say:

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“I'm going live at 8 p.m. EDT”

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For one thing,

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there's multiple timezones 
in the world

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that are called Eastern Time.

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So if you're doing that,

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at least mention 
the country as well.

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But even better,

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mention how many hours and days away the event is.

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That's better for an international audience.

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For example, you could say:

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“I'm going live at 8 p.m. 
United States EDT, 
which is 9 hours from now.”

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Or just simply:

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“I'm going live in 9 hours.”

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The platform that you're posting to

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has timestamps in the viewer's local timezone

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and you're giving them the missing puzzle piece.

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The time difference they need

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to work out when you're going live in their time zone

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or when you're posting your content in their time zone.

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As a bonus tip,

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if you have a Discord community,

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make use of Discord events!

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Discord events are automatically converted to
the viewer's local timezone,

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they automatically alert people when the event is starting,

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and they give plenty 
of advance notice

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that you've got an 
event coming up

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in an easy to access list.

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The events list!

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Events won't get lost

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just because you've posted new messages on social media

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after your video or 
livestream announcement.

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Another thing to consider

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is watching how you talk.

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First of all,

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make sure you're culturally aware of what you're saying.

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Use common words that mean the same thing worldwide,

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not slang.

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The actor Will Smith

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once referred to the launch weekend

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for one of his movies

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as Big Willy Weekend.

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He didn't realise that a “willie”

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refers to the male appendage

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in the UK, Australia and elsewhere.

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You can learn more about this

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by listening to the previous episode of this podcast.

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If you're on YouTube,

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let me know:

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What other words do you know that can be confusing when used online?

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Secondly, in regards to watching how you talk:

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If you’re referring to units of measurement

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use both metric and imperial.

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Most of the world uses the metric system,

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but we want to look after our American friends 😉

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If you're talking about units of measurement,

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it's a good idea to quickly look up the other value

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and provide that too.

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Or if you’re livestreaming,

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ask your chat to 
look it up for you.

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If you want some engagement,

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you could refer to the 
imperial system as

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“Freedom Units” 😉

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and see the Americans 
reply in droves! 🙂

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Thirdly,

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watch how you talk.

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Literally.

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Speak slower, and more 
clearly than normal.

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An international audience

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needs to firstly 
process your accent

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before they can understand what you're saying.

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Just because the people around you in daily life understand you,

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it doesn't mean that a stranger on the Internet will as well.

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You can also talk the talk.

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Make an effort to speak the same language

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as a viewer does,

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at least in written comments.

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If you receive a comment in a language that you don't speak,

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use Google Translate to firstly,

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understand what they said,

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and secondly,

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to reply in their language.

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They will appreciate the extra effort that you went to,

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even if Google Translate

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isn't as accurate as a native speaker would be.

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Next,

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you can take advantage

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of your own location

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and culture.

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Cultural awareness 
goes both ways.

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Not only is it good for you

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to be aware of 
the viewer’s culture

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and how they speak,

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but it's also a good idea

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for you to share a little about your own country and language

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with the viewers.

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Remember,

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many in your audience may not live where you do.

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Therefore,

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even common sense 
things to you

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might be new and 
interesting to them.

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Let's sidetrack briefly on that point about language,

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and I'll teach you a few things.

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In Australia,

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rather than saying “Hello”

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we usually say “G’day”

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and that's short for “Good Day”.

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In Vanuatu

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where they speak Bislama,

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a common greeting is

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“Olsem wanem”

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Which means “How are you?”

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And in China

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you say hello using “Ni hao”,

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and if you convert that 
to a question using

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“Ni hao ma?”

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it changes from “Hello”
to “How are you?”

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If you're listening on YouTube,

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let me know a few words in your language, or

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something else that's unique about your country.

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Now another thing 
that you can do

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is acknowledge your own accent and nationality.

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This is particularly important

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if your accent differs from others in the same country

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or if you have a different appearance

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to what people might assume 
is “normal” for that region 
of the world.

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One writer that I used as a reference for this episode

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named Christina Canters

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had this to say:

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You can also address anything ‘weird’ about you.

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For example,

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my black hair and semi-Asian looks can be confusing

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for cultures who think of Australians

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as blond or brunette.

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So, I always mention I have Malaysian heritage.

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Own up to who you are
and what you look like.

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They’re your culture, your history and your language.

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These are the things 
that make you unique

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and they're also the things

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that appeal to an 
international audience.

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Next,

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post content using an on demand platform.

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If you only livestream,

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your viewers are forced to be available when you are live,

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or when you are online.

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If you want to appeal to a worldwide audience,

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make content that people 
in a different timezone 
can also consume.

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This could mean:

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Hosting your stream replays
as a VOD (Video on Demand)

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on another platform 
like YouTube.

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Use a social media platform

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for text or image posts

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like Twitter or Instagram

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that can be viewed at any time of the day.

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And if you're on YouTube,

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make use of the community tab.

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Or if you have a 
Discord community,

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Encourage people to chat with each other

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when you're not there

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by asking questions that lead to an ongoing discussion.

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By doing these things,

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you allow your viewers

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or listeners

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to access your content on demand

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when it's convenient for them.

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You also build up a sense of community

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by getting your viewers to interact with each other

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and feel like they belong 
in your community.

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As you can see,

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there's a lot more to an international audience

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than just thinking 
about timezones.

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And by focusing on an international community,

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you aren't going to artificially limit your growth.

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You're going to give your channel

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the greatest potential

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to grow.

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If you want to help 
your fellow creators,

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share this episode 
with a few of them

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and bookmark it for your own future reference.

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This is Follower Forge,

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helping you to forge your following online.

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Join us in the Discord.