How to Grow Your Community Tips from 24 Solo Business Owners onewomanshop.com

How to Grow Your Community
Tips from 24 Solo Business Owners
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
We asked members of One
Woman Shop (a resource hub +
community for female
solopreneurs + freelancers) to tell
us their #1 secret for growing their
community. Here’s what they said.
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Treat each member as a
VIP :)
-Laura Yamin
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
My #1 secret for growing
community is speaking (and
delivering useful, accessible and
entertaining content).
-Rebecca Prien, Counsel to Creativity
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Be honest and open about what happens behindthe-scenes. I think that the best way people learn is
through experience and experiments, which is also
why it's something that followers absolutely eat up.
If you can make your follower's life and journey
easier by sharing personal experiences that have
happened in your biz, they're bound to stick around
for a long time.
-Amanda Genther
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
My #1 favorite way of building my community
is by being super helpful and active in
Facebook groups! There's something super
personal about being on Facebook that helps
to build relationships faster with new people.
-Courtney Johnston, The Rule Breakers
Club
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
I have no idea how I’ve built my community! In some ways, it feels like a
fluke. Looking back, I think most of my engagement with other entrepreneurs
has started on their blogs, and I took things to the next level by sharing their
best work on Twitter.
Sometimes your comment on someone’s blog can get lost in the shuffle of
so many other people responding. But if you take the time to share their
ideas and posts on Twitter (making sure to @ mention them!), they’ll usually
take notice. Even if you don’t have a huge following, people appreciate you
sharing their work more than you can possibly know. If they recognize your
name popping up again and again, most people will genuinely want to get to
know you since you’re such an evangelist for them and their brand.
-Ashley Brooks, Brooks Editorial
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
One way I build my community is by
participating on message board/forums in my
niche. Over time, you can make great
connections and most message boards allow
you to put a link to your site in your signature
or profile.
-Erika Bullard, VA Creatively
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Join Facebook groups full of awesome
entrepreneurs. Just by naturally helping
others out and asking for help in return, you
are spreading the word about what you do,
growing trust and expanding your network.
That's my kind of marketing.
-Rebecca Merrifield, The Marketing
Movement
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Share what you know. There's always
someone out there who knows less than
you, and if they know they can come to
you or your blog ( or social media ) and find
answers to their questions, they're going to
come to you when they're in need.
-Kory Woodard
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Reach out and tweet, instagram or meet somebody! When I look at
the online community I have built, at least 60% of the members are
people I met online! But we didn't just let our interactions stay online.
If we were in the same city, we met up face to face. If we weren't, we
connected via phone and Skype. Taking that extra step to get to
know someone is critical in establishing trust and the ability to LEARN
how you can serve your community...because at the end of the day,
that's what it's all about. Creating a two way relationship where you
provide a service and benefit from being compensated and your
community members turned clients get your expertise to help them
solve a problem and move forward.
-Jaclyn Mullen, Jaclyn Mullen Media
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
The biggest growth in Your Super Awesome
Life's community happened when I launched my
first free monthly email series, 30 Days of Magic.
Every morning for a month, I sent out a little
nugget of inspiration to each person who signed
up. It was such a fun way grow my community
while also spreading joy and positivity.
-Ashley Wilhite, Your Super Awesome
Life
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
I think my number one secret to growing my
community is "taking chances." Fear has for
too long prevented me from moving forward
in life, and sometimes it still creeps up on me.
But without a little courage and taking
chances I don' t think I would be where I am
now.
-Andi Ploehs, AP Loves Design
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
I think one thing that I've been doing
lately to grow my community is to
participate in Twitter chats! It's an
instant friend-maker and gives you
the means to discover and be
discovered.
-Emma Bauso
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Always give little bits of advice and help in your
arena. Even if you're an artist or other not-servicebased business, if you're helpful, people will pay
attention and if you're not obnoxious and don't
adopt a know-it-all attitude, people will fall for you.
And that's the very start of a community - a bunch
of people falling for you or your mission.
-Laura C George
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
My #1 secret to growing my
community is to be genuinely kind and
helpful! It's really simple, but it makes a
big impact. People will remember your
kindness, which goes a long way when
it comes to forming connections.
-Allyssa Barnes
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Reach out to other solopreneurs
directly! Tweet them, shoot them an
email, or even send them a nice card!
Reach out and start genuine friendships
of love and support.
-Bethany Grow, Love Grows Design
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Making a top 10 list. It’s a list of brands, personalities or
businesses that you want to model yourself after. They can be
a competitor or in your niche. You can love the look and feel of
their brand, the way they express themselves or just because
you share an target customer with them.
After creating this list you will be amazed at what a point of
reference it will serve as. Refer back to it whenever you need
inspiration, have to make a decision or want to see how others
have done it.
-Ruthie Abraham
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
My #1 secret for growing a community is to let your readers
help shape the direction of your business/brand. Listen
carefully to what they say in comments, emails and on social
media. Get your community to tell you what they want…and
then deliver it to them in a better way than they ever thought
possible.
I recently wrote a post about how the #GetGutsy community
actually named my blog. I think that's a pretty good example of
allowing your community to help shape and tell your story.
-Jessica Lawlor, Get Gutsy
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Build relationships so that numbers
will naturally follow. Always choose
quality over quantity in all aspects of
your business.
-Jennifer Lopez, Live Simply, Live Thrifty,
Live Savvy
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Value your vulnerabilities. Yes, you can be an "expert"
and still have weaknesses. By expressing your
vulnerabilities, your followers will identify with you on a
personal level, and in many cases, your soft spots will
resonate with them. In sharing what you're doing to
either embrace or overcome your vulnerabilities, you'll
build a loyal following of people who will make that
journey with you.
-Sara Frandina of Sara Frandina
Strategies
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Start building your email list. Now. You can
interact with these people on a more intimate
level, share extra slices of your business with
them, and get to know them one on one.
Since I started building my list, it's been my
top source of business and project inquiries. I
just wish I started sooner!
-Amy Chick
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Collaborating with fellow
bloggers!
-Conni Jespersen, Art in the Find
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Find a way to help people by
creating valuable content. Is this
earth-shattering? Hardly.Everyone
says this. But that's because it's
true.
-Jess Lively, Jess Lively Creative
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
Promote content created by people you know,
like, and trust - particularly those who are just
starting out or are about the same 'size' as you.
It's good karma and a great, non-sleazy way to
network. Assemble link roundup posts or just
tweet links to their stuff with comments about
what, in particular, you like. Be sure to @mention
them so they know you're talking about them!
-Sarah Von Bargen, Yes and Yes
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
My # 1 secret to growing my community is to
be helpful, genuine and understanding of
what others are going through. I used to be in
the exact same spot so I know what it's like
when somebody believes in you and gives
you the break you've been working so hard
for!
-Meredith Underell
onewomanshop.com | @onewomanshop
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