The number one thing you can do to succeed in your business is to build your community. The world is changing so fast and technology gets outdated in an instant. The thing that will separate the winners and the losers is the ability to build a community that matters.
According to Peter Diamandis, in his book Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World, we now live in a world where communities can grow exponentially. Don't believe me? Think about Airbnb and Uber. Uber is one of the largest personal transportation companies in the world, and they don't even own cars!
Take a minute, and think about what is possible for YOUR business. What would your business, life, and the world be like if you could grow your business exponentially.
The key is community.
The trick is to build your community right from the start. I know it can feel frustrating. I remember my first year in business. I worked and worked and made only $12,000 in sales. But, then a funny thing started to happen. My community started to grow. People were sharing, engaging, and most important – they were buying. Yay!
How do you build your community?
Here are my 6 favorite ways for businesses in the Start-up and Implementation phases.
- Blogging – Blogging is one of my favorite ways to build community. People are always looking for useful and relevant information. It is also a way for prospective community members to get to know you better. A tactic that I highly recommend for beginners is to write guest posts on other people's blogs. That way you can be exposed to their audiences.
- Social Media – Actually, I am hesitant to recommend this because people tend to get stuck here. It is important to look at your social media efforts as a business tool rather than as a social tool. Pick one place where your audience hangs out and then spend your time there. Master that channel before moving on to anything else.
- Video Marketing – Not only do the search engines LOVE video, having video allows your audience to get to know, like and trust you. You Tube is an amazing way to add traffic to your site. The videos don't have to be long.
- Networking – You need to be networking both online and offline. I know that some of you live in small towns. I get it. So do I. I had to start traveling over 2 hours to get to a bigger town. You might need to go to live events. If you want it bad enough – there is no substitute for getting out from behind your computer and making contacts.
- List Building – Contrary to popular belief, e-mail marketing is NOT dead. The thing is, you own your e-mail list. Anything you've built up on Facebook, or any other platform, can be taken away on a moment's notice. It has happened to me.
- Newsletter – There are two schools of thought on this. Some people don't think newsletters are relevant – I think they are important community builders. My newsletter, which comes out every Sunday, is one of my most opened e-mails each week.
So, there you have it, 6 ways to start building your community. Share your favorite community building tips in the comments below.
