Pivoting A Community Strategy
I’ve struggled to build an online community since I had the “brilliant” idea in 2020. My journey was worth the work, but some clients and fellow community leaders want a simple, streamlined way to build, launch, and grow an online community.
Recently, I listened to Gina Bianchini’s LIVE Stream on the Power of Workshopping, aka Pivoting, a community strategy.
This session on April 19th reminded me of my journey and how much the Find Calm Here Community has evolved over the past two years since I’m almost near celebrating our 2nd anniversary.
Here is a quick snapshot:
Launched in 2020, the Find Calm Here Community was a wellness initiative to help my local community find calm daily. I learned that I could use a better business model connected to this offering and spent six months evaluating the best way to relaunch the network, but I needed a plan for gaining paid members.
Therefore, I spent six months building a consulting business, clarifying the problem I solved and my services, and gaining the trust of clients.
Then, I shifted my focus to helping entrepreneurs build their Mighty Networks. I started my new network with the Mighty Mastermind, intensive small 90-day cohorts, in 2021, but I had varied success.
Therefore, in mid-2021, I opened the Find Calm Here Community to community builders and offered group coaching sessions, feedback, and tech support answers.
In late 2021, I learned that step-by-step guides were what my members wanted, and I began creating guides to support members in various community-building tasks, including launching onboarding and member growth. However, I discovered that members still needed to be more engaged.
Therefore, at the beginning of 2022, I asked our members what they’d like to do, and they told me they would like to lead a book club with great success. Therefore, this took the focus off of me (the host) and shifted to empowering the community members to lead, connect, and collaborate.
This example shows that I had an idea, and I ran with it. I then listened to my ideal members and learned what worked best for them and me as the host. I relaunched the community with this new structure, understanding that it’s a strategy that will change as I continue to ask members questions.
Discovery is the first step
Some people think that “Ideal Member Interviews” aren’t that important for a community leader to complete; getting the tech (website and community design) done first is more important.
This is false; member interviews are the MOST critical step in building an authentic and valuable community strategy.
Pro-Tip: If you don’t have time for interviews, put together a survey and send it via email. Share it with your current members and put a date on it so you can collect data and put together a launch or relaunch plan.
Discovery in each phase of your “year-in-the-life” will allow you to continue “workshopping” your community strategy. Here are a few questions to ask yourself and your community after your first “launch” during the evaluation phase: (After you’ve tried something and just aren’t seeing the results you expected or anticipated.)
What have you learned?
What have you experienced?
What did you enjoy the most about it?
What did you least enjoy about it?
What did the members tell you about it?
Combine the onboarding process
with a LIVE Challenge
If a course is too much to consider, consider combining your onboarding process with a challenge.
Ambassador Challenge – Effective, this worked for a client I worked with early in 2022 —>
REAL CLIENT EXAMPLE 30-DAY Challenge
Each Sunday, we will publish a “weekly drop” that includes the week’s mindful moments menu, journal prompts, resource videos and articles, access to online classes, and more!
Be sure to “join” this Show Up for YOU in the 2022 content section to be notified when weekly drops are published!
We will reward “challenge superstars” each week for their contributions to the online community.
Ways to be a Challenge Superstar:
Courageous Sharing: Courageous sharing offers the gift of belonging to both the sharer and the witness. We realize we’re not alone when we resonate with another’s experience. And just like that – as if by magic – a connection is made, shame lifts, and healing begins.
Be sure to share in this specified challenge Activity Feed so we can keep all the Show Up for YOU magic in one place!
Being a Community Contributor: Some of us show up by sharing information, knowledge, and resources!
Consume Content: Dive into the locally sourced content in the On-demand Content section. Be sure to click the “complete” button at the bottom of each resource, as this allows us to track your progress.
Live Participation: Participating in free online classes and gatherings, group wellness classes, or utilizing the rec center in person.
Support, Encourage, and Uplift Others: In this time of isolation, polarization, judgment, and social media trolling, it’s more important than ever to search out and celebrate the light inside ourselves and others.
The Community Strategy Podcast Epiosdes
NEW: The 2024 Online Community Onboarding Playbook
This comprehensive playbook for online community managers, hosts, and guides offers best practices, checklists, and templates for creating an onboarding plan for your members.
Bonsai is an all-in-one business organization tool to help you organize proposals, contracts, leads, expenses, keep track of client projects, and more! Run your entire business in one place with the help of this business management tool that combines CRM, invoicing, accounting, and banking. Deliver an outstanding client experience and win more work!
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