8 Ways to Create A Community In Your Coaching or Consulting Business
Never under estimate the value of building a strong community. A strong community of people will do great things for your business, but also great things for each other. At the end of the day people need people, and if you as a coach can facilitate those relationships through your products and programs- clients will stay longer, be happier, and see more success.
Which means better reviews, programs clients love, and relationships that your customers can take with them through their lifetime. That’s a gift. Those same people will tell other how they made fabulous connections and friendships while in your program. Which also seeds your program in the minds of others, who when they see your marketing- will go- I have heard great things, and sign up, if your offering suit their needs.
Never under estimate the value of building a strong community. A strong community of people will do great things for your business, but also great things for each other. At the end of the day people need people, and if you as a coach can facilitate those relationships through your products and programs- clients will stay longer, be happier, and see more success.
Which means better reviews, programs clients love, and relationships that your customers can take with them through their lifetime. That’s a gift. Those same people will tell other how they made fabulous connections and friendships while in your program. Which also seeds your program in the minds of others, who when they see your marketing- will go- I have heard great things, and sign up, if your offering suit their needs.
When I owned my gym we focused hard on building community, because a gym without a community, is just a place to workout, which most people can do for free at home. Much like a course without a community, a real community is just another course, not a life changing experience.
How do you build a community? Friends, I hate to tell you, it’s work- like a lot of work.
You have to get people together. In the time of COVID I know that seems like a laughable suggestion. (Please insert your eye roll here.)
Figuring out how to build community is a process in and of itself, but when you succeed, clients will stay clients just so they can remain with their tribe. I look at my life in group programs like intensives, masterminds, collectives and time after time, I stayed apart of these programs a full year past when I wanted to stop, simply to remain close to those whose relationships, input and advice I appreciated.
That’s the power of community, which in this spread out, digital world is harder to come by- because we are all separated by a screen, a mask, or fear.
So how do you build community?
Building community is a layering process, because it means you need to pave the way for all the different ways people like to interact. In person, Online, Through Experiences and shared memories.
Where most coaches and consultants miss the mark, is they don’t layer their communities, they toss up a facebook group and call it community- then wonder why no one is engaging or connecting.
Here is the layering process for building community with your clients, whether your business is online or offline.
Facebook group-
Facebook groups are not all bad, it’s the way we approach them. They should be a place where people are introduced, cheered on, celebrated, inspired and motivated. Where they can feel free to ask questions and get answers. In your facebook group, take time to comment on posts, post a live video, and connect with your people.
Zoom/ Video Calls-
There is something so cool that happens when people can get live coaching from you, in front of others in group. They become vulnernable, create connections, have side conversations, and open the doors friendships. It’s also a great place where you clients can connect with you, be in your space, your energy, and get inspired and motivated. My favorite way to do these calls is on a regular cadence- like daily coaching for general questions, and bi-weekly or monthly for new content. What this does, is it lets your clients know what to expect, get excited, and actually want to show up for the call.
In person working events
In person working events like mastermind meetings, round tables, weekend aways, etc. These are opportunities where you provide the opportunity for your clients to come together, to teach, to work, to discuss new ideas. Typically you provide the meals, snacks, and the content. Some in person events have a theme, while others are business as usual. A chance to unplug from the daily grind, and connect to their tribe in meaningful ways. If you have heard my story for how The Momma Boss came to be, it happened at one of these events.
In person fun events
In person fun events can be built into a working event or be held as a stand alone event. Fun events you bring your clients together for are retreats, dinners, parties with dancings, game nights, laser tag, hiking, workouts, etc. You name it, you can bring people together for it. When people make memories together, they grow a deeper connection to each other, your tribe, and your community.
Online Working Events
These have been super popular the last 9 months as coaches and consultants and worked hard to maintain their business operations in the face of travel bans and closed boarders. 2-3 Day Events where people can learn and connect are great, but also I think the blue screen fatigue is real with all of us. There are several platforms that are great for hosting these online events at scale. Hopin seems to be the smoothest running platform, zoom has some capabilities, and I am sure there are others. When running an online working event that is days… some things to consider… break times, ease of networking and connecting, breakout rooms, chat features, etc.
Accountability Coaching
Separating clients into pods, for coaching and accountability. Each week they come together, learn something, ask and answer questions, and are given their marching orders as a group. Tell them to connect with each other through out the week, checkin with you if they need to, and come back the following week. This works great for intensive coaching programs where each week has a purpose.
Be a Connector
Introduce people, become a connector and facilitate friendships. Tell people who they should know, make introductions, and help people start conversations. This helps people feel less awkward when meeting new people, which can often be very intimidating.
Be a cheerleader
Be a cheerleader for your clients, give them status. When they are crushing it, let your tribe know who is crushing it, how they are crushing it, and why they should get to know this person. It builds the one person up who is doing well, but it also makes them an authority figure to other clients, who will reach out to them and a relationship has a chance to start. Everyone wants to be seen, and everyone wants to know they matter. Being a cheerleader for your clients, serves that purpose.
There can be a dark side of building community as well, when a rotten egg enters the batch, starts gossiping and causing chaos and discontent. I’ve seen it happen where people out stay their welcome, and end up spoiling the whole batch. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens often enough to mention.
As you are building your community, it is just as important to cull the herd every now than, to remove people who no longer fit the values of the community or your company. These conversations are never easy, but you have to value your business- more than they value the drama they are bringing to it. After all it’s your livelihood, and you must protect it.
What are ways you like to create community in your business? Let me know in the comments.
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Ready to take your coaching and consulting business to the next level and start bringing in income to your business everyday. I have a new program you will want to know about. It’s my Get Paid Everyday Case Study Intensive that I will be launching soon.
If you want to know know more about this program that will help you dial in your sales and marketing so that your business isn’t just an expensive hobby shoot me a message with the words “Get Paid Everyday” on Instagram or Facebook.
Is Your Business an Expensive Hobby?
I tell my clients all the time that if you don’t have sales you don’t have a business.
If you don’t have income coming in, your business is either going out of business, never was a business, or is a very expensive hobby.
If you aren’t selling, you aren’t serving.
If you aren’t serving, you are wasting your god given gifts. I am firm believer that God does not give you a vision, without giving your the tools and the capability to see that vision come to life. I also believe that if you have a call that has been placed on your heart, and you do not follow the persistent tug, you will lose the vision, and God will gift it to someone else.
Have you ever, had an idea, done nothing with it and a year later, you see your idea in an as seen on tv ad or a facebook ad. You had the chance friend.
Many new, and first time business owners get it all messed up when they start their business. They create a logo, a fancy website, a fancy funnel, they wander down the technology rabbit hole, and come out 3 months later tired, bleary eyed and broke. With nothing to sell, and no one to sell it to.
There is a coaching program out there, that teaches you how to create your program, all the tech behind it, but fails to teach to grow your audience, while you are building your program.
If you don’t have an audience friends, you don’t have anyone to sell to. Without anyone to sell to, you don’t have sales, and the panic sets in.
I tell my clients all the time that if you don’t have sales you don’t have a business.
If you don’t have income coming in, your business is either going out of business, never was a business, or is a very expensive hobby.
If you aren’t selling, you aren’t serving.
If you aren’t serving, you are wasting your god given gifts. I am firm believer that God does not give you a vision, without giving your the tools and the capability to see that vision come to life. I also believe that if you have a call that has been placed on your heart, and you do not follow the persistent tug, you will lose the vision, and God will gift it to someone else.
Have you ever, had an idea, done nothing with it and a year later, you see your idea in an as seen on tv ad or a facebook ad. You had the chance friend.
Many new, and first time business owners get it all messed up when they start their business. They create a logo, a fancy website, a fancy funnel, they wander down the technology rabbit hole, and come out 3 months later tired, bleary eyed and broke. With nothing to sell, and no one to sell it to.
There is a coaching program out there, that teaches you how to create your program, all the tech behind it, but fails to teach to grow your audience, while you are building your program.
If you don’t have an audience friends, you don’t have anyone to sell to. Without anyone to sell to, you don’t have sales, and the panic sets in.
Hello Debt
Hello course, program, website that is completely useless and has recurring monthly expense.
Hello Frustration, tears, self doubt, and annoyance
Where do you go from there? When you have all this work you’ve put in, to something you cannot sell, because you missed a simple step, an important step- growing your audience, while asking them what they want to see from you.
For many coaches, consultants and creators- we love to create. We love to solve problems that exist, but we often get easily swayed by our own creativity- we build ourselves into our own prison of creation without looking for people who we can create solutions for.
Sure you have in mind, who you are creating your products and programs and websites for- but you aren’t actually talking to them,
You see the point of starting a business is to make money. To be profitable and to make the owner money. You can’t make money without selling.
Are you struggling to get your business off the ground? To create consistent income? To increase your audience daily, so that you can have more people to sell to?
If so, you are not alone. It’s easy to go down the creating rabbit hole, to stay in the hole, to stay frustrated and wonder why nothing is working the way you think it should.
There is hope, it’s as simple as:
Lead Gen (Talk About Your Thing)
Lead Nurture (Take time to talk to people who are actually interested in your thing)
Sales (Sell your thing, deposit money)
Delivery (Delivery the program, product or service)
Rinse & Repeat
If you are struggling to get your business off the ground, I invite you to join my next Get Paid Everyday Case Study Program- where we will work together to get your business off the ground, without high tech or high stress, just simple results.
Are you ready? Want to know more?
Let me know in the comments or send me a message on Facebook or Instagram
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