A million passive views is worth less than a thousand people who open your stories on purpose. The metric that predicts income is not follower count, it is the share of your audience that would notice if you disappeared.
Reply to everything in your first year. It is unscalable, which is exactly why it works: early supporters become the ones who defend you, quote you and bring their friends.
Give people a reason to return on a schedule. A recurring series, a weekly breakdown, a standing question. Habit beats virality for anything you eventually want to sell.
Then ask for something small before you ask for something big. A save, a reply, a newsletter signup. Audiences that have already said yes once say yes again.
Reply to everything in your first year. It is unscalable, which is exactly why it works: early supporters become the ones who defend you, quote you and bring their friends.
