Community

Transcript

Welcome And Why Community Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, I'm Serena. This is Business Strategy, and I'm a consultant and coach at Base Builder Labs here to help you work through your strategy in your business.

Defining Community Beyond Clients

SPEAKER_00 0:10

The Merriam-Webster definition of community is a unified body of individuals, such as people living with common interests living in a particular area, a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society, or a body of persons with common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society. There are several definitions of community, but we're talking about this today because as an entrepreneur or business owner, when you think about community, you think generically about your clients. And many of those clients might be part of your community. But as you start to dig into the word community and what it means, the shared interest, things in common, these are the pieces that you want to dial into.

Personas Miss The Shared Element

SPEAKER_00 0:57

You talk about like customer personas and the significance on what the personas can mean in your business. And these personas can tell you about what the buyer's journey can be. But when you look at the transactional portion of the buyer's journey, it leaves out the intentionality on creating that shared element of your client and customer base.

Designing Connection That Lasts

SPEAKER_00 1:22

So as you're thinking about building out your business, you want to think how you how you can build community because the shared interest will carry on when you aren't directly marketing towards your community. You create natural points where people can communicate with one another. And that's why you see the success of platforms like TikTok and other fan clubs for music groups. You see people who are bonding over a shared item. So it breaks down the barriers of separation. And then that is community. So as you're thinking about your business and thinking about like how can I think outside the box with marketing, but also build something that goes beyond me marketing, you want to think about how you can leverage community.

Community Platforms And The Transaction Trap

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Now there's been some transactional software that has come up with community management. You have Circle, you have School, and they are great platforms, but they have created transactions from communities that were developed from the shared social networking aspect of like having a similar interest. And so I'm not saying you can't ever have a community page, but sometimes leveraging and thinking about community starts with you acknowledging the shared interest and then creating points of connection.

Power Hour And Building A Local Network

SPEAKER_00 2:44

So, for example, I'm currently building a library for entrepreneurs. This started because I coach many entrepreneurs in the Lansing area, and my focus has been on working with them individually. I started to plan these sessions called Power Hour, where I brought entrepreneurs together to co-work and I found the connections that came from them being around each other really powerful. And I didn't have to do as much coaching. Now, I'm not stumbling upon the concept of group coaching. I recognize that this is group coaching, but I recognize the community element and the work that I had to do to build that. It was intentional group messages, it was sharing over a project, talking about a book or a concept. And I recognize that that took intention. And I think that the community softwares that are out there don't acknowledge the intentionality of bringing together that group because they they do eliminate the friction.

Friction And Healthy Conflict Build Trust

SPEAKER_00 3:46

And the friction is what builds the community because you have to you have to go through hard things. I mean, community itself is like you have these shared interests, but the shared interests don't take away the conflicts that can come from community and healthy conflicts that come. And working through those healthy conflicts is also part of community. And so that does get missed, I think, in that initial definition from Miriam-Webster. But I think it's notable as you think about incorporating community into your business, because incorporating community also opens you up to conflict and challenges. But with the conflict and challenges comes the shared interests, comes the shared points of connection, comes with people connecting without you in the room. And still you've facilitated

Bigger Impact And How To Work Together

SPEAKER_00 4:27

that. So it's important in entrepreneurship and business ownership to understand community and the role that it can play within your business so you can be better and make a bigger impact on your community. Thank you for listening to Business Strategy. I'm Serena at Base Builder Labs. You can find more information about how to work with me at www.basebuilderlabs.com.