Community Consulting: What you need to know

Consulting is typically a solo adventure; let’s change that. 

With the massive growth in the online community space in 2020, there’s no doubt that online communities are here to stay. Companies, organizations, and entrepreneurs are finding ways to leverage their audience in new and exciting ways. 

Building relationships became challenging during the pandemic, and the need to connect virtually wasn’t just for the Silicon Valley tech companies; now, everyone was using that technology to communicate. The challenge in the community industry has always been around how to fund and adequately support the efforts of the community profession. I see a new opportunity for community consultants to collaborate and encourage each other. 

My name is Deb Schell, and I’m a community consultant. I didn’t set out to become a community professional. I didn’t work at a big tech company, nor do I have enterprise clients. 

The buzz about online communities, marketing sales funnels, and passive income combined for me in 2020 when I learned about Mighty Networks. After being a member of an online community and knowing how it changed my life, I knew I wanted to launch a community. 

After launching and failing, I learned a lot of hard lessons, but it was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had. The members of my community that kept showing up were fellow community builders who would lean in when I answered questions. 

That’s when I learned that I had skills and strengths that could help community builders. Since then, I’ve helped over 50 entrepreneurs find calm in their community-building journey. 

As I was getting started, I realized there was so much to learn, and it felt very lonely to be building a community alone. I went to see if there were others doing this, and behold … there are! 

That was the inception of the Community Consultants Collective, a watering hole for community professionals transitioning to freelance and consulting work to get support, training, and the tools to grow their expertise. 

We meet monthly to discuss challenges, celebrate successes, and offer support. I’ll share some resources below to help you if you’ve found yourself here – considering becoming a community consultant or if you are already a consultant looking for helpful resources.