How do I build a following when I'm starting from zero?

Starting from zero feels impossible because zero is loud in your head and quiet everywhere else. But every single person with a following started exactly where you are, talking to almost no one. The difference between them and you is not luck or timing. It is that they kept going while it was still small. The trap at the start is thinking you need a crowd to matter. You do not. You need to be genuinely useful or interesting to one real person, and then do that again. Small numbers are not a sign of failure this early. They are just the truth of the beginning, and they are the only way to learn what actually connects before anyone is watching. So forget the follower count for now and set a rule you can keep: publish one thing regularly, on a schedule you can sustain, for long enough to get good. Talk to whoever shows up. Zero does not stay zero for someone who keeps showing up. It just takes longer at the start than anyone tells you.