Are you building your community?
January 10, 2017
Finding Your Community
The community you create will be unique to you.
Maybe it is a Facebook Group, maybe it is a few biz besties, maybe you hang out with some other entrepreneurs at networking events, or maybe it is your newsletter subscribers.
The point is it really doesn’t matter how big or small your community is what matters is that it is a safe place you can rely on while on this journey. I used to think that a community meant that I had a large Facebook Group that I was leading, I didn’t think about all the other pieces of community I had been building. Places like my Instagram, Facebook Groups that I felt supported in and loved hanging out in, my newsletter, or the biz bestie I had in my corner.
Just because people are spread out across different platforms or locations does not mean you can’t have a community. And you probably already have a growing community if you stop and take a look at it.
Where do you spend the most time online?
Where can you ask for feedback and feel safe and supported?
Who do you first think of to call and brainstorm with about your new offer?
Who are your raving fans? Where do they hang out?
Once you’ve identified your community you can maximize the time you are spending in these places getting the support you need while cutting down on the time spent elsewhere. Giving you back some of your time.
Start Collaborating
Feel like you are spending a lot of time trying to compete with others online? Feel like you aren’t gaining any momentum? Then you need to start collaborating.
Collaborating with others in your industry or niche will help you boost your business productivity. When you stop competing and start seeing opportunities to work together using your unique strengths to bring greater value to the community everyone wins.
Not only will you be able to focus on your OWN strengths and how you can bring value but you also will be more productive because you will be in your zone of genius not struggling to compete with others in their zone. And the last obvious benefit of collaborating is that two minds are better than one and by creating together you can promo to both sets of audiences and get more eyes on your products & services.
Motivation
Everyone struggles from times of low motivation now and then. Know you aren’t alone many solopreneurs struggle with feeling alone. Having a community to lean on during theses times will help bring you back around and get your productivity flowing again.
They’ve got your back and are cheering you on. They will want to see you succeed so they will be there to check in on you, hold you accountable, and provide insights that will help you move forward. They will be able to give you a little nudge in the right direction to get you moving again.
Be Yourself & be heard
Your community is a group of people you can always go to when you need to be seen and herd. You will also have a group of people primed to buy from you when you launch your products and services. And you will know where all your raving fans are when the time comes to gather your social proof!
As a solopreneur it sometimes feels really isolating to work at home alone all day. I love it and still some days it is really lonely, but I love that I’ve identified my community online. These are the places I can go and share, be real with, and build relationships and connect with others and just be myself.
Start exploring where your community may live online, here are some places to start looking
✨Facebook Groups of people with shared interests, people on a similar journey, or groups that inspire you
✨Growing your email list, these people are 100% your community they are there because they resonate with you
✨Your social media channels, maybe not all of them but one of them that you really resonate with and enjoy spending time on
Get Feedback
Do you put ideas out there and hope that something sticks? Are you creating offers and services without any kind of feedback if it is viable or what people really want?
Having a community in place where you feel comfortable asking for feedback is indispensable to your productivity. If you aren’t reaching out to your community to get feedback for your ideas and offers then you are hurting your productivity by putting in work and not having the research to back it up.
Trust me research goes a LONG way in helping you feel like you are on the right path with your offers & products. I struggled for a long time making and making without any research then I wondered if what I was doing was actually what the people wanted.
Reach out to your newsletter, your biz bestie, your network and ask for feedback on your ideas. Keep track of what results you get and use the results to help create freebies, new offers, or content targeted to your target audience.
