> I don't really like this focus on the size of audiences that has come with social media.
Neither do I. As a freelancer, I don't care about traffic at all. That's almost the opposite. If you want to choose your clients, that means you need just a select few people to visit your site and then hire you (and not all at the same time, please). In that use case, you optimize for a few people, and what would be of interest to them. If someone else enjoys the site, it's a bonus, but that's not the goal, no matter what the tribe building marketers want you to believe.
Quality over quantity.