HOW TO KNOW WHEN IT’S TIME TO CREATE YOUR OWN FACEBOOK GROUP?

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Welcome to Episode #20 of The Pursuit of Online Entrepreneurship

Hey there, welcome back… In episodes 16-19 I covered many reasons and ways to participate in other people’s facebook groups. In this episode, we’re going to focus on when it’s the right time for YOU to create your own facebook group and WHY it can be an incredibly valuable marketing tool for your business.

As we’ve discussed, Facebook Groups can be a Fantastic way to reach your clients, get new customers and more importantly build long lasting relationships that will be important to you and your business.

Today we’ll discuss when it’s the right time for you to create your own FB Group community, but before you hit that ‘create’ button, I want to give some food for thought, I’m sharing with you 10 reasons to consider creating your own FB group and also share with you a realistic picture of what it would take to not only create but to run and grow an engaged community, ok? Ok.

Let’s do it!

OVERVIEW

I want to go over 10 reasons to consider when deciding if it’s time for YOU to create YOUR own Facebook Group Community.

Up to this point, you may have been very active in other people’s FB Groups and you have a pretty good idea of what you like, what works, and what you know you can do better.

I know first hand how easy it can be to to waste a ton of time in groups that aren’t giving you what you REALLY need.

I can tell you that for me personally, I knew it was time for me to create my own community when I found myself getting frustrated with how little the FB Group owner showed up, or when she did show up, it was only to promote and sell her stuff…every single time.

I saw how the group members would ask questions and get reprimanded for doing things that didn’t follow the rules to the T.

I personally got kicked out of more than one group in the beginning when I was so new to the ONLINE space, that I honestly didn’t know what they meant by ‘branded graphics’, it took so much effort to actually create a graphic, write a caption for it, do my best to engage, only to have my post be deleted by the admin/fb group owner. When I asked why, I received no answer and when I asked again, I was removed from the group. That is NOT the kind of community I wanted to be a part of anyway and started thinking of all the things I’d do better, and the type of community I’d want to build.

Pay attention to what your experience is like because you’ll start to think…hmmm, I’d love to be able to show up for my people and share with them xyz or build a supportive, collaborative community where I lead by example.

I truly believe creating a Facebook Group is the key to building an engaged community of raving fans. (but there’s definitely a time and place for this business strategy).

By the time you listen to this episode, I’ll have announced to my own FB Group ‘Entrepreneurial Freedom’ which I created in April of 2016, and with thousands of group members, I’ll be archiving the group as of Feb 15th.

Now, the archiving of my own group doesn’t mean I don’t believe in the groups, but I’ll dedicate a future episode to going over what went behind that business decision.

Today’s episode is all about YOU and reasons (as well as signs) that it’s time for you to create your very own Facebook Group community:

By the way, stay till the end of the episode where I’ll walk you through the tactical steps of how to create your own Facebook Group

LET’S GET STARTED

Here are 10 Reasons you should Create a Facebook Group Today and how it can help you grow your online business

1. YOUR FB COMMUNITY IS WHERE YOU GET TO ENGAGE & MENTOR YOUR COMMUNITY

Show up like the expert and actually engage with your community members. Provide valuable content and engage in meaningful conversations. Show up, help others with their questions, struggles, discouraging moments, help they celebrate, highlight the wins and be a resource.

In the beginning you won’t have a large community so start showing up for those early members right from the start and get to know them. This is what I did in the beginning of start my own FREE FB Group community. I knew it would not always be that small and so I saw those early months as a great way to connect and build relationships. The kind of business relationships that turn into friendships where we support, encourage and learn from each other. Don’t discount the early stages of starting a FB Group, it’s the start of your growing a community full of super fans.

2. SHARING YOUR CONTENT, HELPS YOU, THE EXPERT, STAY TOP OF MIND

Facebook has changed over the years and more and more we have to fight to have our followers see our content, at least that’s how it feels for me anyway.

Here’s the thing with your Group…is that anything and everything you post in your Group WILL appear in your member’s feeds, it will still feel like not everyone sees it and that’s got to do with the ‘notifications’ button your members have to hit once they join your group.

The more you post, the more you show up in your ideal clients’ feeds. This goes back to the consistency factor. Show up, Get Seen, Get Known.

I want to say this before we keep going…growing an engaged community takes strategy, time and effort. Today I’m sharing with you reasons to help you decide if you are ready and should create a FB Group community if you don’t already have one, OR if you do have one, are you using it in the best way or with a strategy to grow your online business?

Today’s episode is not a step by step of how to grow your engaged community.

Let’s keep going

3. BEST PLACE TO GATHER YOUR POTENTIAL IDEAL CLIENTS INTO ONE PLACE WHERE YOU CAN SHOW UP FOR THEM.

It’s kind of crazy if you really stop to think about it. Where else in business do you have an opportunity where you can create a space to invite and gather your ideal clients to engage, support, mentor and build long term online relationships…FOR FREE!

Ok, if we really think about it, it’s not really free because you’re investing your time, resources, attention, your knowledge, expertise, and valuable content…but think of it this way, all of these ways you show up are opportunities for you to show up like an expert, and give your community the chance to watch how you show up and communicate, how you engage, how you teach, how you lead, , THIS is invaluable. It’s the way you attract and connect with your ideal clients as well as create a community full of raving fans.
Thanks Facebook!

We’re on a roll, so let’s keep going

4. THE WAY WE SHOW UP IN OUR FB GROUPS BUILDS TRUST (this goes along with the topic of growing your Know Like and Trust Factors in any community, and YOURS is no exception to this rule).

As I mentioned in a previous episode, you’ll want to create a Closed Group because you’ll want to create a way to review and approve those members who want to join your community. You are protecting and being very careful of the type of community you build right from the very start, starting with who you let in, what you allow, and what you absolutely will NOT tolerate.

Your Facebook Group will be a community where your members need to feel safe and having a closed group will give your members that peace of mind. Your ‘Closed’ community will host those private conversations, content, resources, a place where your members can ask questions, get support, share wins and losses and feel safe doing so.

In my own experience, how I protected my community and took care of them earned me their trust and it was up to me to keep it. Closed FB Groups make the members feel like they can have the kind of honest conversation that could not happen if they knew everyone and their mother could see what they’re sharing.

This is all an opportunity for you to nurture the members of your community to accelerate the know, like, and trust of you.

Our focus is building and scaling an ONLINE business right?

After all, that’s what I focus on in this Podcast…The Pursuit of Online Entrepreneurship. When you’re building a business online, trust is necessary before anyone will ever buy anything from you.

5. BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST

What the heck did I just say? If you’re new to the ONLINE space, get use to hearing that you HAVE to start building your email list or that your profits are in your list…if you’re not a newbie, then you know building our email list is a daily business strategy that represents growth and profits.

So what the heck am I talking about when I say build your email list with your own FB Groups? Well, you CAN build your list with your Group.

Let me explain If you have a free opt-in or free give-away that you give in exchange for a person’s email (usually this on your website), why not offer this to your Group? Create a welcome post and pin to the top with the offer (or post the opt-in as a frequent regular post).

6. SHARING YOUR OTHER CONTENT YOU’VE CREATED

• There may be limitations in other people’s groups to what you can share

• It’s your community, you can share other types of content you created

• Blogs, YT Videos, Podcast episodes, articles you wrote and are featured in etc.

• By Sharing blog posts, or links to various social media platforms, everyone is able to support one another in a community that shares that common interest to grow via giving likes, shares, retweets, endorsements, etc.. We all love those opportunities, right? So create a space where you and your members can do just that.

• By sharing more content, it’s yet another opportunity for your audience to see you showing up in different ways

7. COMMUNITY OF LOYAL FANS

Facebook Groups are home to ambassadors and raving fans of your business. They are the ones that respond to every post you publish. When you have a new blog post, they share it, retweet it and shout from the rooftops (well, not literally..but you know what I mean).

This atmosphere helps spreads positive vibes about your business. Here is also where you can thank these members for helping you grow your business, answer their questions and cultivate their loyalty to your business.

8. VALIDATE YOUR BUSINESS IDEAS

Ever had an idea for a service offer, a freebie, content, course, product, workshop, keynote speech, article, challenge, masterclass, but you weren’t sure if people would like it or want it?

Your FB Group becomes the ULTIMATE testing ground.

I’ve done this periodically over the past 3 years and the feedback allowed me to create something my community wanted and not waste time making someone noone needed. Last year, I took a poll inside my community to determine which day and time would be best for me to host my weekly FB Live Show on my Business Page…they voted and I rolled the weekly show out with their input.

Heck, I was just conducting a Market Research survey and where did I start? With my FB group community of course. The input is valuable and priceless and always readily available.

Let me give you another example:
Let’s say you announce tell your Group that you’re thinking of creating a beginner’s training on how to Set the perfect dinner table when hosting a dinner party, ask away and watch what happens? Is your idea something your audience are responding to? In a positive way? Are you getting a ton of likes and yeses and when will it be ready? Which is a GREAT indicator that you’re on to something. Maybe you take that feedback and go to the next level of inviting them to hop on a call with you to perform more in depth market research.

However, on the other hand, if there’s no reaction, if there are zero comments and all you’re hearing are crickets, well then, YOU’VE got yoru answer right? Move on to your next idea and start validating it again.

Be glad you didn’t waste your time or money creating something no one wants or needs and worse yet, something no one would buy.

9. PROMOTE & SELL YOUR OFFERS/PRODUCTS, PROGRAMS

If you do your job as a FB Host and leader well, you’ve shown up as an expert, you’ve provided value, encouraged, supported, celebrated and been a resourceful group leader, you’ve built a community where your loyal fans trust you.

When it comes time to promote something you’ve been working on and are excited to share and offer to your community, well, your community will pay attention and be excited to see what you’ve got for them. Often this will lead to a purchase.

Not everyone in your community will be a customer or client but that’s ok. We’re in it for the long term and we’re building a true community.

10. HOW TO ACTUALLY CREATE YOUR FACEBOOK GROUP

> Log into your FB account

> Find “Add Group” From your “home page” on Facebook > Go to the Explore – Groups section on the left side menu and click on, “Groups.”
> Click “Create Group”
> Name Your Group
> Add ONE Members TO CREATE GROUP
> Choose Privacy Setting
> Click Create
> Add Your Cover Image
> Complete “About” Section

LET’S WRAP IT UP

My favorite reason for having my own Facebook Group has been the connecting and building meaningful relationships. The kind that have resulted in meeting in person, collaborating, forming mini masterminds, hosting other events or becoming very good friends beyond the facebook platform. For that, I’ll always be grateful I started my own FREE FB Community.

Of course I’ve just given you 10 very good and positive reasons to think about and consider, when thinking about creating your own FB Group community as a marketing strategy to grow your online business. However, I want to make sure I give you some reality checks as well.

The time and energy it takes for a Facebook Group to be done well isn’t easy, make no mistake about that. You must show up, be consistent and put forth effort to grow and build the relationships.

It’s a long game, it requires you to have stamina, resilience and a discipline to not get discouraged when in the beginning it’s just you talking to yourself. But that’s ok.

Creating Your Own FB Group is easy it just takes a few clicks as I’ll go over in a few minutes…but setting up a valuable community with intention, running the group, growing an engaged community, takes a lot of effort, strategy, thought and time.

It does takes up your time and energy, But in the long run, Facebook Groups can do great things to scale your business growth.

So now that we’ve covered all the reasons you should create a FB Group and when you determine that it’s the right time.

Let me walk you through how to actually create it: Here’s where we’ll get technical & tactical .

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode, I’d love to hear from you.

Let me know in the comments below, what are YOUR best reasons to create a Facebook Group?!which one of these reasons resonated with you the most?

Before we go, have you subscribed to my podcast yet? It takes less than a minute and future episodes will be automatically downloaded so you won’t miss any future episodes.

Imperfect action is always better than waiting until it’s perfect and never starting at all.

I thank you for showing up for me, for yourself, and for your business.

Until next time, I’m Veronica

Bye for now

FOLLOW VERONICA HERE:

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