Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
In this episode of the Community Strategy Podcast, Deb Schell, Author of Creator to Community Builder, will read an excerpt from chapter seven of the book. Creator to Community Builder: Find Calm While Building Your Online Community is anticipated to be published in September 2023. In this episode, Deb shares when she started becoming an online creator by launching a WordPress blog in 2011.
Takeaways:
An ecosystem is built to serve the community’s needs by sharing wisdom.
You don’t have to be on social media. You can still build relationships through your network by focusing on the core problems you will solve.
Create a leadership team, and it will grow from there.
You want your members to come in and feel safe. Have them come into your membership feeling ready to dive in!
Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
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Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
Boldly blogging leads to an unlikely meeting
I started blogging in 2010 on WordPress to build my photography business. At the time, few digital tools existed to help writers market their work. I learned about building a website from CreativeLive, a course platform for creatives.
My first blog story that resonated with a fellow creator was about my trip to Atlanta, Georgia, to visit my cousin. On the journey, several things happened that I ended up blogging about, including when I was almost kicked out of CNN when my cousin had a boot put on his car because we didn’t feed the meter and several other adventures.
WordPress has a Reader feature that allows fellow bloggers to follow each other to offer encouragement. One fellow blogger, David Banks, said he admired my story about Atlanta and wanted to connect. I found out that Dave was a documentary filmmaker. We stayed in touch, and a few years later, he was writing a book called Cue the Camels and wanted my input, feedback, and review.
Although Dave and I have lost touch as of this writing, I will always have a sweet spot in my heart for the kind stranger willing to reach out, give me positive feedback, and ask for help. Over the years on Facebook, I’ve posted about job losses, breakups, and weight struggles. I’ve also shared my goals, challenges, and how I’ve overcome my fears. I started blogging after I lost my journalism job, and it helped me process the journey.
When I started blogging, I realized I was sharing my journey so my friends could see the real me! I’ve had dozens of people come up to me at festivals, bars, or community events to tell me they like reading my posts and seeing my photos. Since I began traveling more in 2018, some have even said they live vicariously through me. I’ve had more than a few people come up to me and say, “I enjoy following you on Facebook,” or, “I enjoy your stories.”
I now use WordPress to host my content and publish on Medium, making it easier for people to subscribe and read my work. In addition to these publishing platforms, I participate in small groups where I can occasionally share my experiences, content, and resources and offer my expertise during in-person networking sessions.
In 2020, when I started launching a community, I didn’t realize those people would be the first to show up to support my workshops designed to create calm in daily life.
The challenge started when I asked them to pay but needed clarification on my offer.
When I evaluated the people who aligned with my message and saw they had everyday needs and struggles, I found a way to build a business. Still, it ended up being much different than I thought. So many clients I’ve worked with or people I’ve talked to speak about community building as a passive income.
Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week, introduced a generation who didn’t fit the corporate life mold to an alternative path. Since then, millions have fallen prey to this passive income trap that doesn’t serve anyone. The truth is that passive income isn’t passive.
It takes work. If you don’t want to do the work, work for someone else, but in no way is there anything passive about entrepreneurship; before you can tackle the passive part, you have to create the products, build the systems, manage the employees, and scale the business to run itself without you, all of which takes time, energy, and, of course, money.
Reflections on my personal experience guided my decision-making process. Without money, nothing is possible. That is the reality today, but will it be that way in 100 years? None of us will ever know. However, there’s good news. You are the answer to the problem because your experiences can help others. You’ve been through challenging times and have come out on the other side!
That’s the structure of an ecosystem; we serve the community’s needs together by sharing wisdom. It might not sound flashy or fancy, but offering a space for someone to feel seen, valued, and heard without any expected outcome is a magical experience.
What can you do now if you don’t want to build a following on Facebook? You can still build relationships through your network by focusing on the core problems you will solve. Then, find where those people are and meet them there instead of making them come to you.
Robin Fuller, a client who hired me to organize her courses and content, had built an audience mostly away from social media. She said, “Over the past five years, I have been gradually and slowly building my email list, growing it from twenty-five to 155 people. I know my niche and where to find them, often through speaking at conferences or direct referrals.” Robin is a certified coach who helps pregnancy center directors and leaders through challenges with her programs, courses, and community of peers.
Robin wants to provide an “oasis” of resources for her members. For Robin, every person matters, and she considers relationship building a way to help others, but she doesn’t take it personally if they aren’t interested.
“Each nonprofit leader has asked to be added to my list, and I never’ auto-add anyone. The goal is to grow more relationships with the leaders on my list who know me, like me. I offer occasional free events and keep a mindset of generosity.” Robin doesn’t push products, services, or offers on potential clients.
Instead, she focuses on building relationships and providing value so they know she cares. “The most important thing I have realized? There is often no’ quick and fast’ way to make money. It takes time and long-term consistency.”
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Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
There’s a Difference Between a Lifestyle and an Idea
Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
If you want to become location-independent, starting your business and gaining enough income to travel while working will take more than an idea. Vanessa Codorniu, founder of The Biz Bruja, has worked as a professional psychic, hypnotherapist, teacher, and shamanic practitioner for over twenty-seven years.
She has cultivated transformative experiences that yield practical tools to help individuals find their true selves. An Argentine American from New York City, Vanessa started building her business with small, in-person circles that stemmed from her lifestyle and the desire to continue growing and learning with others.
“I’ve learned to lead in a way that is not controlling; it’s not hierarchical. It started for free, but when I lost three jobs in four years, I needed to find additional revenue and decided that I wanted to go full-time with this business,” Vanessa said.
In 2012, Vanessa started researching online business and marketing. After years of leading small workshops and sharing her journey with others, she wanted to reach more people online. She describes herself as a “human generator.”
Like the term “multipotentiality,” Vanessa’s term means, “I have a lot of interests and am good at a lot of things, not only one or two.” Vanessa is the same; she is a master at finding something she loves and going after it with admirable strength and grit.
Back then, there were very few digital tools or systems for the kind of work Vanessa wanted to do, but she found she could use Skype and emails to connect with her new audience and share upcoming courses, programs, and workshops with them.
Since she began podcasting, writing, blogging, and leading in-person circles—virtually since the pandemic—she has successfully grown her audience and, in 2020, had her best revenue year ever.
Vanessa credits her success during the pandemic to trying new things and having a loyal following that was in place before the pandemic. Instead of resting, like some of her peers, she rose to the occasion and built her online presence.
“People tell me things they haven’t told their therapist, so they need to be able to trust me, and that doesn’t just happen; it takes time. I gave my time every week, offering gathering circles for men and women, many who were unemployed creatives who didn’t have a job to go to, so they showed up,” she said.
In 2014, Vanessa dedicated time to learning about passive income and built a self-study course to see if she could engage learners without being active.
She discovered that the learner would often quit three weeks into the course. However, when she showed up on a live call, more learners would stay and complete the lesson. Therefore, she knows her content is valuable, but she is still trying to find an offer that balances her time
Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
Pre-Launch Tips From Leaders in the Community Industry
Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
I’ve met some of the best people through Meetup! If you’re unfamiliar with this platform, it’s a fantastic resource for meeting people with targeted interests.
If you are considering starting a Meetup, check out which groups are available in your area and when they meet. You can validate if there’s a need that the existing groups in your community don’t serve.
On The Community Strategy Podcast, I interviewed David Siegel, the CEO of Meetup. During that conversation, he recommended finding two or three people you can build a community with so you don’t have to do it alone.
“Too often, new community builders take on too much initially. Create a leadership team, and it will grow from there.”
Let’s look at a couple of founders who built communities from the ground up.
Joanne Flynn Black, Founder of LaunchB4, helps new business owners “feel ready” to launch. In 2020, she opened her community after working in program management for companies including WeWork and Deloitte.
When I met Joanne, I enjoyed her community’s Vision to Action Board group. The group stemmed from the idea that photos and words can help us positively change our lives.
However, there’s a disconnect. While it’s nice to have a poster representing the changes you want, it can take a lot of work to make them happen. Joanne’s group met weekly to share their visions and action items, which they plotted on an online project management tool, Trello Board. Some of the best advice Joanne shares is about knowing you already have everything you need.
Just be confident in what you already have and do it! When launching a new membership, keep it as simple as possible. Have them come into your membership feeling ready to dive in!
On the other side of the community-building spectrum is Matthew Grande, cofounder of Careerage. He tried launching a community but closed it after learning some hard lessons. “I screwed up trying to coach people, create content, and form a community.
As one person, it was too much, so I closed the community and focused solely on one-on-one coaching. Focusing has been beneficial, but I want to have a community again someday.”
Send questions or comments to Deb@FindCalmHere.com.
Email: Deb@FindCalmHere.com
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Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
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