Category: Blog

  • Show them what you’re about

    Show them what you’re about

    Share with your audience what you value and what you’re working on. Show them what matters to you.

    When people are curious about your organisation, they want to know what you stand for – and where you’re going.

    So, the more you show your audience what you’re about, the more readily people can know if you’re for them.

    You can engage your future audience by bringing them into what you’re focused on.

    Invite people into the process as you work towards your goals. Those could be new projects, or the same quality services you’ve always offered that you want people to know about.

    Saying what you care about is nice, but people want to know you really mean it. So, show them what you are interested in, what services you’re offering, and where you’re going.

    To both your in-person and online audience, communicating what you’re doing is a way for them to get to know you.

    It can be a way for them to realise that you value what they value. That you offer what they want, or what they want to be a part of. How and what you communicate can let others know that you’re moving in the same direction they are.

    Some will want to join you in the process, and they’ll revel in the journey, in being able to be part of it. Others won’t.

    Some people would rather you were going in a different direction, or they’d rather you weren’t interested in change. You won’t appeal to everyone.

    As long as people know what you stand for, they will know if you’re for them.

    But you don’t want to leave people to guess what your priorities are and what you’re committed to – so show them.

    Then be consistent with it. Both your communication with them and your commitment to what you value.

  • Not what you want

    Not what you want

    If you want to grow a community, then your content can’t just be what you want to share with others. Or what you think they need or should be interested in.

    If you only offer services that you want to offer, you likely won’t see much interest.

    Rather, in order to grow community, you need to offer services that your audience is looking for, that they want and value.  

    But before you can know what people are looking for, you have to know who it is you are seeking to serve. So, as you develop your marketing strategy, discover who your ideal audience is. And where you find them.

    Once you figure out who your audience is, then you can learn how to serve them better. You can learn what they value and what they’re interested in getting involved in. You can learn how to help them in the way they need.

    When you really cater to your audience, the people you are looking to connect with and help, that’s when you’ll notice change. That’s when people will become more interested in what you’re doing and in finding out how they can get involved.

    If you continue to prioritise their values, then you’ll earn loyal supporters. And it’s those loyal supporters who will help you grow the community.

    So, focus less on what you want to offer or what you think people should be interested in. Instead, if you want to truly connect with your audience, learn what they seek. Put yourself in their shoes. Learn how to reach and communicate with them.

    Sometimes it’s as simple as saying what you’re already saying, just a little differently. Speaking their language, speaking in a way the resonates with them.

    So, what is your audience looking for? What is it they value? Where are they going? Meet them there. Journey with them.

    If you serve the people you’re seeking to help in the way they need, if you show them what you value, you’ll build their trust. They’ll realise that what matters to them is also what you want and what you value.

    In exchange, they’ll commit to being part of your mission. Because it will become their mission too.

    And that kind of reciprocal relationship will lead to stronger, lasting connections with your community.

    Prioritise your audience, what matters to them, and your community will grow.

  • Marketing strategy to grow your community

    Marketing Strategy to Grow Your Community

    For your community to grow, you need a marketing strategy.

    Your organisation may be brand new, or maybe it isn’t.

    If your organisation has been around a while, maybe things have changed. Old approaches to attract new members or customers may no longer work.

    The audience you used to appeal to may have moved on. Maybe their interests have changed, or maybe yours have. Maybe what you’re motivated by has moved you in a different direction.

    Either way, a new approach is needed.

    Your marketing strategy will help you determine the audience you are seeking to serve. It’ll show you who you need to get to know.

    And knowing your audience better will inform you how to serve them better.

    A strategy provides you with the philosophy that will guide your organisation. It influences how you make decisions. It determines your brand. Strategy also directs how you connect with and serve your audience.

    So, what is your strategy? Who is your organisation seeking to serve? And how will you reach them?

    Start by answering those questions.

    If you don’t know who you’re seeking to connect with, you won’t know how to act. At least not in anyway that will lead to noticeable, consistent growth.

    Your marketing strategy influences the systems you put in place to reach your goals. To reach your audience.

    Those systems will also ensure you retain your future, loyal supporters. The ones who walk through the door one day, then go on to become your dedicated customers or dependable and enthusiastic volunteers.

    They become your core audience. The supporters you really value, and want to keep around.

    Know your strategy, and you’ll know where you’re going – and who wants to go with you.

    Your community will grow out from there.

  • How to Strengthen Your Community Through an Online Presence

    Strengthen Your Community

    Developing an online presence can strengthen your community, giving you new and more efficient means of communication.

    But many communities that rely on in-person participation are concerned that an online presence will deter in-person connection. That it will reduce how many people physically walk through the doors each week. Maybe you feel the same way.

    You may be a community that values and thrives with interpersonal connection through volunteering or conversation. But, extending your audience into the online realm doesn’t need to detract from that.

    An online community can actually deepen the quality of experiences through the presence of diverse perspectives. In turn, this can strengthen your community and make it more resilient.

    Virtual community provides another option

    It’s true there are benefits to meeting in-person that virtual meeting rooms and online videos cannot replace. And you don’t want to get rid of those in-person gatherings. Not all of your events need to have an online component.

    But providing another option, at least some of the time, allows access for those who cannot attend in person. And there are many reasons people may not be able to make it to an in-person event.

    It’s possible people are away or travel often or maybe they just wouldn’t be able to make it on time because the commute will take too long.  

    Many individuals also have physical needs that make it difficult to visit in person, at least on a regular basis.

    Having that wider range of people, who would otherwise not be able to be part of your organisation, will add to the variety of perspectives within your community.

    And having different perspectives always helps when trying to problem solving or come up with new or effective ways to reach people.

    A supportive and connected community

    An online presence gives people an option to participate that they otherwise would not have. It can also provide them with an option where they feel their needs are being taken into consideration.

    Community is about connecting with and supporting each other and an online space can help you do just that.

    It lets people know they are valued, and if online is the only way they can connect at this point in time, then that’s okay.

    Virtual community allows you to stay in touch when you may otherwise lose people who don’t feel seen.

    And building your community on a foundation of caring for another and respecting diversity lets people know that’s what you value.

    If you’re a small business, online meetings can also be an important way to extend flexibility to employees you value. If you accommodate their needs, it can help foster a relationship of loyalty and trust.

    A starting point

    For your organisation, online is also a great place to reach people and for them be able to test you out. To find out what you value, what you’re up to, and what they’re looking for.

    Then, once they do step in the door, they’re probably more certain this is a place for them.

    When people are sure of themselves and you, sure that this is where they want to be, that provides a stronger platform upon which to build meaningful connections.

    And that is what will grow and strengthen your community: meaningful connection.

  • Why an Online Presence is Important to Reach People

    Online Presence is Important

    Having an online presence is important because it’s often how your future audience will find you.

    So, it’s a great way to communicate with potential customers or new members.

    Online is where many customers are. That’s where they’re looking for you.

    As a result, an online presence is important to increase overall awareness of your organisation and your brand. At the very least having a website is essential, as it presents your image as professional.

    Your website is what people will search for to find you, to learn more about you.

    Building trust with your audience

    The more visible you are online, the more people will trust you. And building trust is how you foster loyal supporters.

    It shows you care enough to make the effort to communicate with a wider audience. That’s one way your organisation can grow.

    Further, engaging with your audience through social media keeps you relevant. It lets them know you are looking to connect with them. That it’s a priority for you.

    An online presence helps you find those who are interested in what you do. It’s a great place to grow your audience by interacting with them. The more you learn about the people who like what you do, the more you’ll learn how to better serve them.

    Communicate easily and effectively

    An online presence also allows you to engage more easily and efficiently with your audience. It’s a good place where people will reach out to ask questions. Being prompt with your responses, especially to email inquiries from new individuals, can make all the difference.

    An organisation that is growing, is an organisation that engages efficiently and effectively with new interest. They also follow up later.

    For quality communication, it’s about consistency, not perfection. Your response doesn’t need to be perfect, but there does need to be one. People need to feel heard. Especially if they’re new, they need to feel that responding to them is a priority for you.

    The communication systems you have in place, or don’t, will determine whether you retain that new customer and have them grow into a loyal supporter. Or whether you lose them.

    Don’t let them fall through the cracks

    When interested parties ask about your organisation, but they don’t get a response, that potential support ends up slipping through the cracks. You lose a possible new member and the people they could have shared your message with.

    Online responses can be so much more efficient than waiting and trying to catch up with them at your next event. Plus, if they don’t hear back, they may not be there next time.

    You certainly don’t need to focus all of your day on answering questions. But you never know when that one email or that one message could have led to a dedicated supporter, or a regular and reliable volunteer.

    Reach more people in less time

    Having an online presence is also a cost-effective way to reach more people in less time.

    Plus, online is where you can bring people along with you as you build up to your next big event or sale. Invite them in, and show them what they’ll be missing if they don’t take part!

    Social media, in particular, can help you create intrigue and increase the interest in the event you’re planning or service you’re offering. Or it can be where you let people know you’re looking for volunteers. You can even show them what they’d be doing or where to sign up.

    An online presence can be one of the most significant, and affordable, investments your organisation makes to grow your community.

    Online is where you can communicate your message to an audience that may not otherwise find out about you.  

  • Struggling for New Members? You’re Not Alone

    Struggling for New Members

    Religious communities, small businesses, charities, and non-profits are all struggling for new members.

    People have wandered away is larger numbers over the past few years and haven’t returned.

    How do you bring them back? Or how do you attract the interest of others who may be looking for you and looking to be a part of what you do?

    What are you doing to let the outside world know what you’re doing?

    How are you communicating with more than just those who know all about you?

    Energy and Sharing the Message

    Maybe you rely on members of your community to spread the word. Is that working? Or is that working enough?

    Word of mouth is, for sure, the best way to share the message. It’s the best way to stop feeling like you’re struggling for new members.

    But even once people have learned about you, how do they learn more? Where do they start? How do they join in, donate, or support you?

    Ideally your marketing strategy will ensure the systems within your organisation are supporting your goals, your mission.

    If your community has an energy about it, and you’re letting the world know about it, there will be interest. People will want to know what to do next.

    Maybe they’ll visit your website or social media account. Maybe they’ll wander through the door. They may take a second look at the sale flyer you sent out and put it on their calendar.

    Now What?

    Most importantly, once people find out about you, they’ll have questions.

    Who do they speak with, how do they learn more about you, where should they go?

    Are you ready for that?

    Maybe they have visited your website or social media accounts. By doing so, are they going to be learning what you most want them to know?

    If they attend your sale, will they be motivated to return for the next one? Why?

    If you’d like people to come back, you’ll need to earn their repeat business and loyalty.

    What are you doing to support people who are interested? Does your organisation have systems in place to ensure new people stick around? If not, figure out how you can do to change that.

    Have people been showing interest? Ask them what brought them your way.

    You don’t want to expend too much energy on people who aren’t going to stick around. But, if they seem keen, follow up with them. Don’t let those newbies fall through the cracks.

    Find out what they’re looking for. What they want, feel they need, and if they’re finding it.

    Then apply what you’ve learned. If you show them you care, you never know how many more people they may help you share the message with as a result.

  • Together Not Separate: How to Grow Sustainably

    Together Not Separate

    To grow, you want to work with your community. Especially if you have a volunteer-based community, you want to work together, not separate.

    You may want to lead your community in a new direction, offer a new service, or share a new idea. But to shift their trajectory, you’re going to have to work with them.

    Merge in and subtly influence where they’re going, working with their momentum – and support.  

    Grow with your community

    Spend time getting to know what the interests of your audience are. What they’re motivated by. Get to know them and where they want to go. What they are looking for. Then join them.

    Maybe that will lead you to focus on developing a more efficient way of communicating with them. Maybe it’ll mean you offer a new service to accommodate their needs.

    If you plan to grow with your community, you’ll grow a lot larger and a lot more sustainably if you work together, not separate.

    You can’t do everything yourself, so you’re going to need your community on-board with you. You’ll need a shared vision and trajectory.

    If you’re not on the same page, you may end up moving in all sorts of directions, but not really going very far in any one. And that can be exhausting.

    Work together to avoid burn out

    In volunteer-based communities, in particular, the same people tend to donate their time routinely. They become your regulars.

    They want to help, and they enjoy it. But burn out is a thing. For you and them.

    Not feeling your motivations match the work you’re doing as well as a lack of support are two of the main causes of burn out.

    So, make sure your organisation has systems in place to work with your volunteers. To value their interests and support their effort.

    Make sure you feel supported to.

    If you feel like you’re moving faster than your community can keep up, it’s often for one of two reasons.

    Either you’re simply moving too fast. Or you’re moving in a direction they’re not interested in.

    In both cases, to avoid burn out, you’ll need to reassess. Re-evaluate where you’re going, how you’re getting there, and if that matches your community’s needs. Is it something they want? How will it benefit them? Is it something they can handle right now?

    Growing community works best when it’s together, not separate. So, get to know your community and where their energy is. Then work with them.

  • It’s about energy: Growing Community

    It's about energy

    People like being a part of something. They like to be where things are happening, growing, and looking to the future. It’s about energy.

    How quickly a community grows is about its energy. The momentum it has, the direction it’s heading in.

    What is happening in your community? What’s changing? How are you looking to the future?

    Knowing where the energy of your community is shows you what they’re interested in. It also shows you who your community is interested in connecting with. And who they’re looking to serve. It shows you who your target market. It also shows others outside the community where you’re going.

    It’s about energy because what your community puts out into the universe determines who will be attracted to it. Who will be drawn in and interested in joining with you.

    What’s your community’s energy?

    If you would like to change who you appeal to, then you’ll have to change the energy within your community. You’ll need to change the things you focus on.

    But one community can only do so much at one time. So, where is the energy in yours? What are their interests? And where do they enjoy spending their time?

    When new people do start walking through the door, who do you have the capacity to serve, to support? For now, focus there. You can grow wider later.

    For now, though, start small. Concentrate where you have the resources. Work on building resiliency and support systems for people already a part of your community. Then grow out from there.

    Focus on today and make sure you’re moving in the direction your community is on board with. Then, take it one step at a time.

    When growing your community, it’s about energy. So, let your community’s energy determine your direction. Let them fuel your momentum. Work with them. So much more is possible when a community is working together.

  • How to Make SMART Goals

    Making SMART Goals

    Not just any goal will do. To make your goals count, make SMART goals.

    SMART goals are objective, rather than vague ideas. So they’re more likely to get you where you’d like to go.

    SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

    Are you crafting goals that cover all these categories?

    With a general goal, like increasing new members, you won’t know when you reach it. It isn’t objective or measurable.

    Often goals start with a general idea, but you can refine them to make them “smart”. If you make SMART goals, they will lead you to a plan to attract those new members.

    Let’s set a sample SMART goal

    If you’re interested in increasing new members, how might you do that?

    Specific: You would like 10 new members in six months.

    Measurable: You plan to offer a new service to increase interest in your community, explicitly advertising to those you seek to attract.

    Attainable: You set aside two hours each week to ensure you have enough time to plan and advertise your new service.  

    Realistic: You find your schedule allows you to commit to two hours on Monday afternoons.

    Timely: You commit to planning, then advertising, your new service for three months, before officially launching it. Then, you’ll re-evaluate. If all has gone well and you see results, you’ll listen to and seek advice from those who participated. Then, you’ll offer a similar, but improved service three months later.  

    You may not end up with 10 new members after six months. But intentionally seeking your target market and getting their advice for how to improve your service will certainly put you on the road towards 10 new members sooner than you imagine.

    What’s behind the numbers matters

    It’s important to note, that aiming for a goal like 500 social media followers in three months may be measurable. It may even be attainable, realistic, and timely. But it isn’t all that specific.

    Who will those followers be? Will they be part of the market you seek to serve? Will they become your loyal supporters? Or will they just be a number that rarely engages with your content?

    If you make SMART goals like the sample goal above, it’s the focus on people in your specific market, those seeking your specific service that will make all the difference. Designing and planning a service specifically for them. Advertising it to them. That’s what will bring people in the door.

    Following up with them to seek their input and advice for how to make the service better, that’s how you’ll keep them.

    To build a resilient community, your focus should be on attracting quality followers. The people you are most aiming for.  

    Your marketing strategy should determine who your market is, and who you are seeking to serve. Those are the people who will actively engage with and support your organisation.

    If you’re consistent with achieving your goals and making sure they align with your marketing strategy, you may surpass 500 followers and 10 new members anyway.

    Or, maybe you won’t even need that many. That’ll depend how many dedicated supporters your organisation needs.

  • Consistency Not Perfection is What You Need to Aim For

    Consistency Not Perfection

    If you would like to grow your community, you probably have a list of goals. Or you should have. Like any goal, achieving them is about consistency, not perfection.

    Every interaction doesn’t need to be perfect.

    To avoid falling into the myth of perfection, it’s okay to strive for good enough.

    Creating the perfect advertisement, flawless website, or glamourous posts across all the social media platforms isn’t necessary.

    Rather, what you do consistently each day and week, the details, are more likely to lead to growth.

    When it comes to creating community or reaching new customers, it’s all about people.

    So, how does your product or service help them? What can you do to let them know about it? And how are you building relationships with your potential audience?

    You don’t need the perfect product. Nor do you need to have the perfect sale or advertisement.

    The relationships you build with your customers and community each day, that’s where your greatest value is.

    Consistency, Not Perfection

    How you regularly interact with new and established community members, that’s where loyalty is created.

    Do you respond to their requests or inquiries? Are you responding as quickly as you can? Do you ask them questions, seek their advice, listen to their responses, and act on what you’ve learned?

    How are you finding out if they liked your new service and what their thoughts are? Do you make time to follow up and check in with them?

    Every little act that shows you care counts. The more often those acts occur, the stronger your bond with your audience becomes.

    It’s the little things – each and every day that you do.

    Not the occasional big sale, event, or grand gesture.  

    Whether your goals are to grow your audience or strengthen your community, make it a daily thing. It’s about consistency, not perfection.

  • Focus on Today, But Embrace the Process

    focus on today

    When your community is growing, it can be exciting. But there’s also a lot to do. A long way to go. To avoid being overwhelmed, all you can really do is focus on today.

    Don’t worry about yesterday and what could have been done. And especially not about tomorrow and all there is yet to do.

    You don’t want to be like a deer in the head lights when looking at your to-do list.

    Where to start

    Making sure you’re on the path to where you would like your organisation to go is the first step. Then don’t get too distracted worrying about how much you have to do to get there.

    When you think of growth as a journey rather than about reaching a destination, you embrace the process.

    Narrowing your focus can help you too. You can’t do everything, but you can focus on today.

    Ideally your marketing strategy will help you determine what you need to prioritise each week and each day.

    It’s that daily consistency that will lead you to your goals.

    Trying to come up with exciting new ideas, projects, or events is great. But what you are doing each day is what will lead to growing your audience.

    Communication is the foundation

    When you keep people up to date on what you’re doing and where you’re going, you’re involving them. This kind of communication is as important within your community as it is with those not yet part of it.

    Quality communication is the foundation of vibrant and resilient communities. And that’s something you can prioritise daily.

    So spend time thinking about what you can do each day to reach out to a wider audience. Or how you can develop better connections with those who have already shown an interest in or are part of your community?

    When you are on the path to where you want to go, then focus on what you can do daily that will lead your organisation forward and grow your community.

    It’s the process that counts.

    You need to be consistent, not perfect when working towards your goals. So, just focus on today, and embrace the process.

  • Overwhelmed by the Need for Growth

    overwhelmed by the need for growth

    It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the need for growth. Especially when growing your organization is a priority for you. There’s lots to do and not enough time to do it.

    So, make things easier on yourself.

    Prioritise what you most need to do to grow your community. Then make a list of what you need to do to sustain the community you have.

    Even when maintenance of day-to-day activities takes over much of your time, keep growth always in your view.

    Although it can be difficult to manage regular activities along with marketing to a larger community. It’s about balance.

    To reach that balance, sustainability becomes essential. So, create ways to incorporate a growth mindset into regular maintenance activities. Integrate the two.

    Being overwhelmed by the need for growth can lead to inaction. People don’t know where to start. And you can’t grow your organisation all by yourself.  

    So, start by getting others on board. Get your audience on board. Make it part of their vision too.

    A growing community has an active energy about it. People enjoy being part of something that is looking, planning, and moving to the future. It’s engaging.

    The more you share the excitement of growth with others the more they can be a part of it. And the less it all rides on your shoulders.

    If growth isn’t in the cards for you right now, that’s fine. If maintenance needs all your time, then focus there. You can revisit things again later.

    Strengthening the core of your organisation needs to happen first. Then it can grow out from there.

    So, try not to be overwhelmed by the need for growth. Change doesn’t have to happen all at once, it rarely does. You want sustainable growth anyway. And that happens little by little, day by day.

    So, what can you do to move your organisation forward? What can you do today? Start there.

  • How to Listen and Ask the Right Questions

    asking the right questions

    Growing a healthy community is about asking the right questions.

    Because knowing what your audience needs is what will lead to new growth.

    As you reflect on the various ways you are attempting to engage your audience, online and in-person, remember that both are important.

    Asking for their advice, and listening to their response, is also important.

    You don’t need a continual influx of suggestions for how you could be doing things differently. That can make you feel overwhelmed. However, you do want to regularly check in with your audience to see how things are going. You want to know how you could better serve them. What they are looking for.

    Maybe your social media posts haven’t been engaging people as much as you’d like. Or you haven’t had as many people showing up to events.

    That’s why it’s important to spend the time to make sure what you’re doing to engage others is working effectively. If it isn’t, that could be a missed opportunity. Or a bunch of missed opportunities.

    Engaging with your audience and asking for their advice isn’t just about knowing what you should do – it’s about letting them know you care. Then, when you take their response and do something with it, it shows you are truly listening.

    Having that on-going conversation with your audience where you regularly reach out and seek input helps to develop a relationship based on mutual respect.

    If you’re consistent with it, your audience can learn to trust in the on-going dialogue. New additions to your community will also pick up on that – which can help to further grow an engaged community.

    To ensure you’re asking the right questions, know your audience and who you are appealing to. But, mostly listen to what they share.

    Even if you only make slight changes in response to their comments, that can still have a significant impact.

    When you ask questions that follow up with past responses, you help to further the conversation, showing your audience that you’re open to their input.

    Community is always a team game, so make sure to invite your growing audience in and make them part of the process. That’s what asking the right questions is for – to grow community, together.

  • Discovering Your Unique Audience

    your unique audience

    Knowing why you want to grow your community is essential. It will help you determine who your unique audience is.

    Since before you can reach and engage your future community, it’s important to identify who they are first.

    Once you know who your audience is, then you can develop an action plan.

    A clear direction (to your unique audience) means the path to your goals becomes more attainable, rather than a vague idea.

    When you know who your audience is, your communication can also become specific and intentional.

    Trying to appeal to everyone often leads you to no one, or at least no one in particular. And a generalist approach isn’t a great long-term strategy.

    Instead, being able to picture the audience, or audiences you are aiming for, allows you to create nuanced conversations with your community.

    And when you’re growing a vibrant community, it’s all about the details.

    The care and attention you take in making your audience feel seen, heard, and genuinely cared for will have a lasting effect.

    By curating your communication to your unique audience, you can develop more meaningful connections. In turn, these connections can lead to longer-term relationships and a more loyal, resilient community.

    The more you understand who your audience is, the easier it will be to connect with them.

    So, as you begin, identify why you want to grow a community. Then, let that lead you to who you are seeking to be in community with.

  • What is Your Powerful Why?

    Like with any goal you want to accomplish, it’s important to first know your why that motivates you.

    Why do you want to grow your community? What are the main reasons you want to reach and engage more people?

    Understanding the need for a why and what yours is will help keep you on track and moving towards your goals.

    When you know your why it can provide you with the encouragement you need to keep going, even in difficult times.

    And there will be difficult times.

    Growth is a process that doesn’t happen overnight.

    Creating community requires testing something out. Then seeing how people respond, learning from the experience, adjusting, and trying something a bit different. Then repeating the whole process.

    When things aren’t growing as quickly as you’d hoped for, that’s when you’ll most need to know your why and remind yourself of it.

    From everything you try out, though, there is always something to be learned.

    So be sure to reflect, seek feedback, always be open to new ideas, and remind yourself of the powerful why that got you started in the first place. Then try something a little different and keep going.

  • Vibrant Community: How to Grow One

    If you would like to grow your audience and maintain that growth, a vibrant community is key.

    A community is more than just an audience.

    A vibrant community is engaged, connected, and interactive; it’s dynamic and fueled through participation.

    There are different types of community, so you’ll need to experiment and determine what your community will be like.

    A community, is a living entity; it requires care and attention. It’s about building relationship. That’s why being consistent with the ways in which you interact with your community is important.

    Social media, newsletters, emails, flyers, all require consistency, so find what you are able to commit to at this time and be consistent with it.

    What consistency looks like for you and how frequently you interact with your community may change over time.

    Whether daily social media posts or weekly shared content, your audience will value the routine and your continued interaction with them.

    So find a routine of communication you can handle at this time, then make it a priority. Your future, vibrant community will appreciate it.

  • Make It Into a Conversation

    Building a community requires communication and conversation.

    Whether in person or online – communication is all the ways you connect with your audience.

    But communication isn’t a one-sided thing, it’s reciprocal.

    For marketing, it’s the on-going interactions you have with your viewers or customers.

    The first step to a quality conversation, is to let the other party know there is one! And that they are invited into it.

    You can do this by letting your audience feel seen and heard.

    For example, making social media posts more personal, and less formal, really helps. It’s not so much about what you share, but how you share it.

    Social media can feel impersonal, like you’re addressing the ether, but you can avoid this by remembering there is someone else on the other end.

    Make the experience more personal by imagining that you’re speaking directly to one individual. This helps to draw your audience into the conversation.

    That person should be someone from your audience, and someone you’d like to get to know better. Once you can picture that person in your mind, imagine they are standing in front of you.

    Then, the next time you go to post on social media, speak to them.

    Try it out.

    Share updates with your audience as if you’re carrying on a conversation with them. Let them know they are seen, cared for, and invited into conversation with you.

    See how posting on social media with a familiar tone could work for you.

    A relaxed approach can lead to a more engaged audience, which is always a good thing.

    Growing a healthy online audience is all about quality connection. So, start that conversation!

  • Communicate to Connect: How To Grow Community

    Communicate to Connect

    Welcome to Communicate to Connect.

    Here you’ll find marketing and communication tips for growing vibrant and resilient communities.

    If you’re looking to expand or better connect with your audience or customers, you’re in the right place!

    Growing communities online and in-person can seem complicated and overwhelming, especially in this fast-paced and ever-changing world.

    But whatever your goals are, however big or small, whether you feel confident or completely unsure, it’s important to pause. Then, take a step back.

    What is the big picture view or direction you or your organisation want to head in? Are you moving in that direction, or do you need to make changes?

    Once you have a clear idea of where you want to go, all you need is a starting place and to go forward from there.

    No matter how lofty your aspirations are, they all begin with one step. Then another.

    Communicate to Connect is here to simplify things for you, and journey with you, as you take those steps and grow your organisation and community.

    Marketing and communications are all about relationship, about being in relationship. And they’re also about sharing purpose.

    At Communicate to Connect, that’s what we explore: practical tips and integrated strategies to help you grow, connect to, and strengthen your relationships with your audience and team members. Then, through social marketing, we help you to share your purpose, so you can positively contribute to society in meaningful ways.

    We also spend time helping you figure out what your needs are, as an individual or your team, and where you’re currently at.

    Because the better you know yourself, the healthier your relationships with others can be, and the more realistic and attainable your goals can become.

    Follow along with the blog or reach out for customised help when you’re ready!