Be Your Audience's Best Friend

lessons from katiexsocials

Author

Grace Lemire
May 13, 2025

Hey.

The world doesn’t need another robotic creator following the “niche down” playbook.

It needs you — your full, authentic self. With all the seemingly disconnected interests. Because that’s what makes you interesting to the right audience.

In today’s newsletter:

  • How to become the niche

  • Tips for a more natural camera presence

  • Building recognition on social media

  • Quick link highlight: Pitch template for 80% success rate

Becoming Your Audience’s Best Friend (ft. Katie Xu)

We recently sat down with Katie Xu, a creator who helps entrepreneurs, musicians, and fellow creators build authentic personal brands. Her approach flips the traditional script for growth on its head.

Here’s her playbook in 6 simple steps:

1️⃣ Being the Niche > Niching Down

Traditional advice says: pick a niche and stick to it.

Katie says the actual nuance of what’s making you different as a creator can’t be represented in a simple content niche or pillar.

@katiexsocials

Replying to @cybergirl.online becoming the niche is a mindset that prioritizes YOU. that’s all #katiexsocials #becometheniche #nichedown #... See more

Instead, she suggests using this:

2️⃣ Multi-Identity Approach:

  • Identify the various aspects of who you are (e.g., student, fitness enthusiast, entrepreneur, etc.).

  • Find the common thread that connects these seemingly separate interests.

  • Share content through the lens of your unique perspective on these topics.

For example, rather than creating separate accounts for college life, fitness, and creative hobbies, Katie explained how she threads these together:

Do they not make a bigger picture of a person trying to navigate college and care about their body and express themselves without getting lost in the sea of hustle work culture? Is that not the core thread?

Katie Xu

3️⃣ The FaceTime Mindset

Feeling awkward on camera? Katie says to stop thinking about “the camera” and start thinking about who’s on the other end:

When you FaceTime your friend or you’re on a Zoom meeting, you’re talking to the camera and you’re completely acting normal. You’re not thinking about the fact that you’re talking to a camera.

Katie Xu

Katie shared these practical tips for a more authentic camera presence:

Talk to ONE Person

  • Create content right after having a conversation with someone who needs your advice.

  • Direct your words toward that specific person in your mind.

  • Remember: if one person needs this information, thousands more do too.

Capture Your Natural Energy

  • Record when you’re genuinely excited about a topic.

  • Use hooks that convey authentic enthusiasm (e.g., “I’ve been thinking about this all night”).

  • Skip filming when your energy isn’t there—viewers can tell the difference.

Share Relatable Struggles

  • Start with a statement people in your audience would respond to with “Same!” (e.g., “I have a fear of being in front of the camera” or “I’m so busy that I just don’t want to do anything after my 9-to-5”)

  • Use these relatable moments as bridges to your advice or story.

4️⃣ Build Recognition Through Repetition

Instead of constantly chasing new topics, Katie found success by creating recognizable series with consistent branding:

I realized that [a specific] phrasing was hitting really well. People liked thinking about it that way…so naturally, with every next video, I just framed it all under that same title.

Katie Xu

Her “How to Become Your Audience’s Best Friend” series wasn’t pre-planned as a 7-part series. She recognized that the concept resonated and continued to repeat it.

Another example of this is Raegan Lynch’s Starting Over My Whole Entire Life (post-breakup) series. Katie broke down her approach in this video.

5️⃣ Mundane Moments Are Compelling Content

Ever felt like your life just wasn’t all that interesting? Katie disagrees:

There’s a lot of things, small things within your experience day to day, that only you can translate into words.

Katie Xu

Even something as simple as grocery shopping can become compelling content when framed through your unique perspective:

For example:

  • A single mom shopping for a family of four on a tight schedule

  • A finance-focused recent graduate learning to budget for themselves

  • Someone planning a surprise birthday celebration

  • A meal prepper organizing their entire week of nutrition

The value doesn’t come from the activity itself but from your unique perspective on it (!!!).

Use the clips of whatever mundane thing you’re doing, and make the voiceover where you explain what your unique perspective is.

6️⃣ Katie’s 15 Minute Production Process

Katie has streamlined her content production to an impressive degree. She’s able to publish consistently without the typical creator burnout.

Her streamlined workflow:

  1. Use TikTok to record initial thoughts (allows for starts/stops/thinking).

  2. Film one continuous take on camera (7-8 minutes).

  3. Edit down the best parts using keyboard shortcuts.

  4. Use pre-made templates with consistent fonts, colors, and music.

  5. Auto-generate captions in her established style.

  6. Export and publish.

This process allows her to edit a complete video in just 10-15 minutes (🤯).

🎥 Case study on creators who’ve grown the most in the last year.

📈 Summary of the recent IG algorithm updates.

📧 Pitch template for an 80% response rate.

This Week in Creator Studio

This Thursday at 1 PM PT (4PM ET) in Creator Studio (our free Discord community) we’re interviewing Zach Blank.

He’s the Head of Content for Nick DiGiovanni—a celebrity chef and content creator building the largest food media company in the world.

Zach has helped Nick scale to 50M followers across platforms and manages the day-to-day operations of the company. Join the call live to hear Zach’s insights in growth, content, and more.

See ya next week,

Karat