Building a passionate community

Hi folks. Welcome to the show, my name is Toba. Today on Artwork, we’ll be discussing how to build a community of people devoted to your content, and how collaboration done right, is a means of community building. And to help us with that is Joseph Nti.

Joseph is the creator and producer of Off The Top Ghana, an online trivia show with an ensemble cast hosted on YouTube. And he's also the host of the Sincerely Accra podcast, a Vox-pop-driven podcast set in Accra, which is quite frankly, one of the funniest pieces of entertainment out there.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to build a dedicated community, collaborate effectively with other creatives and build lasting relationships. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Joseph.

All right. Let's kick it off by chatting about the early days, right? What was it like starting and having no subscribers or even anyone doing what you were doing?

I must say that the Off The Top trivia show was inspired mostly by YouTube. I was watching BkChat London at the time and there was this American channel called CUT that I used to watch and they just talked to people and had different variations of that. For me, I always just wanted to create something that people like me and at my age could also enjoy. Because I realized that a lot of Ghanaians were consuming YouTube content, but it wasn't really from Ghana.

Honestly, when I started, I was not thinking about views, Honestly, when I started, I was not thinking about subscribers. I did it because I thought it would be something entertaining that people could enjoy.

What insights can you share after so much time building your community?

When I released the first episode of Off The Top, that night, we got a thousand views, and I was surprised! And what happened then - which has now become the norm - is that there was a lot of Twitter conversation around it. So people were debating, “…no, that's not the answer”, “…oh I thought it was this answer”, “…no, this is wrong.”

Immediately I saw all of that, the first thing that came to mind was, oh my God, I need a hashtag. If people know that they are supposed to use a hashtag, then it helps you organize the conversation. Another thing that I also did was I would reply to every single comment even the bad comments, to provide more visibility.

Early on, before we even started rolling out, because I knew consistency was key, I decided that if I'm going to create a community around this show, I need to be consistent.  I do not want to give them an episode this week, and then next week it won't come. So I had at least eight episodes that were planned.

There was a time when as soon as it was Wednesday at 8 pm, people will start tweeting at Off The Top. They’ll be putting memes — “where is it?”

Another thing is duration. When I began, we were keeping the episodes at about ten minutes or less, because I realized that the longer your videos, the less likely people are to finish watching them.

In building a community, one of the things that you're going to have to deal with is trolls. I realized something about social media, when something hits the internet, for a great 24 to 48 hours, people are going to love it and adore you. But by the third day, somebody will be like, “Ahan, this thing is not funny. Why are we still watching this thing? Are you people still talking about it?” It always happens.

For me I retweet trolls. I give them the time that they need. There are people who’ll come and say “…this show is fake, it’s scripted, these people knew the answers and they’re just acting like they don't know…” I’ll retweet it because I want people to come and have a conversation about that.

You are also the host of the podcast, which also has its own devoted following. How have you been able to build that out as well?

Building community for that was a little bit easy, because, first of all, when I go out and I record people and I say, “Oh, you're going to be on my podcast,” that's about fifteen to twenty people who are already expecting to hear themselves on a podcast. And then there are the friends who were around when I was recording them, who also know that their friend is going to be on the podcast. That was how we built the community in the first place. And then once the first episode went out, and people listened, some people were like, “you know what? I can actually end up on the podcast if I run into Joseph out and about.”

Somewhere along the line, I felt we needed to, keep it a bit fresh and refreshing. So I suggested to my producer, that we add listener letters. Where show listeners send in comments, even if it's just to express how much they love the show. At the end of the day, you are interacting with the fans because if you're watching something that you enjoy, and they recognize you or read something that you wrote, It makes you feel special.

After the vox-pop part of the show, we would add one letter that I would read and offer advice. And for some reason, apparently, I give good advice or my advice is humorous or whatever. Another thing that we did to build community was shout-outs. There were people who were promoting the podcast on their own, some would tweet and say “…if you're not listening to Sincerely Accra, you’re missing out...” So we started adding shout-outs as well.

The more intentional you are about adding your fans or the people that enjoy the content to it, the more you build the community. People would tweet, ”Oh, my God, I just got a shout-out on Sincerely Accra.” Somebody else will be like, “What is Sincerely Accra?” “Oh, listen, it’s this podcast...” So it just goes grows. We also engage people with our official Twitter handle.

I’ve realized that beyond building a fan base of people who love and admire your work, you have also built a community of like-minded creatives that work with you on projects. Let's explore that a little bit.

Fortunately for me, I've been starting creative stuff since I was in college. I started a school magazine, I had done a documentary, so I'd had the chance to work with some of these people. And we had already established friendships.

When I wanted to start the show, I spoke to them and said, “This is what I want to do, I feel like it's going to be really, really great, but I don't have money. Do you guys think it's going to be great?” They said yes. I asked if they wanted to join me and they said yes. So that was how the team was formed, and it’s the same team I've been working with since.

I think that I let my friendships be very organic. In that, if I enjoy something, I'm probably going to levitate toward somebody that enjoys it too. If I'm always talking about music and someone else is always talking about music, we're going to connect. For example with the podcast, the producer and I had been friends for about two or three years before we started. But the funny thing about our friendship was that most of the things that we did was just share our work. He was a writer and I used to have the magazine. Then it got to a point where I think he was working on a documentary and I assisted him, I was also working on something and he assisted me. So when it was time to create together, it was easy because we had created on our own with the help of each other. Most of the people that I collaborate with are people that — because of shared interests or similar interests — we had already connected.

You've had a great working relationship with a bunch of these people for a fair bit of time, how do you keep the relationship warm?

I realize that if your conversations with these guys are always work-related, there will be a time when they'll be running away from you because it's like, “Oh I'm coming for the logo, I'm coming for the lower thirds, ahh, you’ve not finished, you’ve not sent me the designs!” If that's your conversation everywhere, it's going to be tough.

And outside of the stuff that we do, I support them. If they have like a show, if they are doing a personal project and they need help, I help them how I can. Social events - I invite them out, just do stuff with them outside of work.

Still, on the subject of collaborations, you and I have had a conversation and you've spoken about “lateral collaboration.” Would you mind expatiating on that a little?

In the great words of the legendary Issa Rae — because I think she's a legend at this point — it's important for you to network laterally. I think what happens is a lot of us, always want to meet the biggest person in our space. We say “Oh wow, I can't wait to work with this person,” you know, big, big, people. The problem with these people is accessibility. It’s hard for you to get to them. And you yourself, you are considered a nobody to them. This is not rude, they just don't know you because you are not a big shot. So sometimes getting access to them is challenging, and even when you do, it's hard for them to look at you as anything else but a fan.

So the important thing you can do is to find people in your community who are on the same level. If you're trying to start a podcast, and you know someone else that is trying to start a vlog, you need to link up with them. You know someone else is trying to start a cooking channel, link up with them and share ideas, collaborate. Be on their thing, let them be on your thing and eventually, you guys will be building a community. So what happens is that when they are exposed to certain opportunities, they will call your name.

What is something you know now about running your YouTube page or running your show - the audio and video show - that you wish you had just known when you started?

We went on a very long break before we came back to this podcast and even YouTube, because of the Coronavirus, and I realized that it's okay to take a break. They will wait for you and they will understand.

It's really, really how you come back and capture them, because you can go on your break and come back stronger, with content that they're going to like. And they will come back because they remember what the experience was like.

Imagine someone who is just starting out is sat right in front of you right now, what is the one piece of advice that you want them to leave with?

I think you need to be very aware of why you're doing what you're doing. For me, it's always been about creating content that people will love and enjoy. Giving people something to forget about their worries and troubles. So when I am hustling, moving up and down to create these things, I have that at the back of my mind.

So on days when I do not feel like recording my podcast, I record it because I think about those people. I get messages that say, “You get me through the traffic, you get me through my Monday mornings!” I think about those people and it makes me want to do it.

Know why it is you're going into it because that's what’ll fuel you, even when you don't want to do it.

Well, thank you very much. All right. Where can people find you?

OK, on Instagram, I’m @jumanjoe, and on Twitter I’m @joseph_nti.

And yeah, Off The Top is on my channel called Joseph Nti on YouTube.

The podcast that I host, Sincerely Accra is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. On Twitter, we are @sincerely_accra, we only have a Twitter account. So find us on Twitter and click the link in our bio which takes you to all the platforms that we are active on.

Absolutely beautiful. Thank you very much, sir. It was absolutely fun talking to you and getting so much insight from you.

Same here, Toba. I enjoyed every bit of it.

All righty. Thank you very much guys for joining us today.

We had a great time on the show. Until I come your way next time, take care and bye bye.