There is no doubt about it - there is serious money to be made from large communities. Online communities that are loyal and supportive to influencers, bloggers, and streamers offer a type of advertising that is hard to buy.
An online community isn’t easy to start, and it is even harder to grow it. But once you have it - how should you be getting the maximum value from it?
It's all about the interaction of building an online community. As a small company owner, influencer, or other, you want people to join your forum conversations, write comments on your blog entries, and suggest your goods and/or services to others. But how do you accomplish this?
Photo by William White on Unsplash
Here are some simple things you can do to get your community to be your champions.
Classifieds
Perhaps you are a successful makeup blogger or a gaming steamer - create a classified board where people can swap lipsticks or game keys. Offer them an area that allows them to make their connections and snag some great gear too.
Depending on what your community is based around, you might have job boards available, a marketplace, or even guides and hacks.
It is up to you, but configure yourself as a supportive hub, and you’ll see an increase in the number of followers you have pretty quickly.
Private space
Offer an exclusive space where you and your community can communicate. You might opt for a WhatsApp chat group - if the community isn’t too big. A common option is to set up a discord channel separated into different categories - allowing people to chat and share where appropriate.
Something incredibly popular in the gaming community is creating a private server where members can play privately. Remember that private spaces should be secured, so only opt for services like Ark server hosting that offers DoS protection.
Reviews
No matter what you produce, let your community join in with reviews and conversations about the products or services. If you create courses, it can be a worthwhile idea to give away some of the best ones to your community in exchange for feedback.
Reviews work both ways, you can gain reviews, but you can also create them. Spend some time creating review content for the websites, services, and products that your audience might also be interested in.
Start
If you have a thriving community already, it can feel intimidating for new people to join. Create a ‘start here’ post and add in all of the essential links. Showcase products, where the most people communicate, how they can join in and contribute and let others share what they know.
Depending on the style of community, it can be worthwhile to have several of the long-standing members of the community help the new members find their way and navigate to the content that matters the most to them.
A community can be a force to be reckoned with. They will be your loyal supporters for new ideas, a great source of feedback, and of course, make the work that you do worth much more.