Through hosting weekly Twitter chats, creating podcast episodes, and teaming up for 100+ collaborations, I’ve seen the true power of community firsthand. I want to share some of the things I’ve learned while building this thriving online tribe of creatives.

To be a good community leader, you must be a good community member

I wouldn’t be the community leader I am today if I didn’t start out as a member of other communities. Through being a participant in various Twitter chats, Facebook groups, Slack channels, and beyond, I was able to connect with like-minded people while discovering what I liked and areas of opportunity. These opportunities led me to explore how I might create a space that includes what’s missing from some of the other communities.

In order to be great at what you do, you have to study it. If you’re a writer, you read voraciously. If you’re a designer, you flip through magazines and photographs for inspiration. The same is true for leading communities.

You may utilize different platforms but they all feed into one true community

I may interact with some community members on Instagram while others hang out on Twitter,  but the heart of each platform is the same because my core message and values stay the same. It doesn’t matter if I’m replying to a newsletter or sharing a resource in a Facebook group; I want each conversation to speak to my brand and help my audience experience the same community on all channels.

Making room at the table is good for everyone

I’m a big believer in dropping the “cool kids table” mentality. We had enough of that in high school, right? It’s important to make room for everyone to have a seat at the table. There’s nothing more fulfilling than creating a space where everyone is welcomed, seen, heard, and above all, valued.

When we share our creative work, we’re all showing up in a big way. That’s something to be celebrated! Opening a seat at the table for your neighbor is what builds a community rather than a clique.

You have to be willing to experiment and try new things

If you told me a year ago that #createlounge would expand into a podcast, I would have looked at you terrified. Yet here I am a year later doing just that. If there’s a new medium your community is dying to connect with you on, by all means, try it out. What have you got to lose?

There will come a time when you’ll see ‘I’ transform into ‘we’

This is something I realized about four months into hosting my #createlounge Twitter chat. The more the chat became a collective of regular creative attendees, the more I started to use the word ‘we’ because I wasn’t just speaking for myself anymore. I was speaking on behalf of the collective. This mental shift was a big game changer for me in the early days of growing #createlounge.

The best kind of growth is slow and intentional

One-on-one, personal connections are the strongest relationships you can have when building your brand but they take time. This is where the real growth happens but some lack the patience to see their community flourish alongside their business.

Sometimes it can seem like you’re running the same race as your neighbor but at a much slower pace. Try not to compare your “start” to someone else’s middle.

What I mean is that everything is relative. I’ve had business owners look at me and say, “Wow, she was able to leap from her job the first month she launched her business!” but that’s only a small part of the story. What they don’t see are the years I spent blogging and building my community base while juggling college, jobs, and internships and started daily writing practices way before that. Overnight successes are a myth.

The post 6 Things I Learned from Building a Thriving Online Tribe appeared first on Sindie.

In this post, you’ll find unique ways to spice up a Facebook group from some of my favorite Facebook group organizers.

My hope is that these ideas will spark some of your own in your brainstorming process.

Video Challenges in The Roar Tribe

Holly Meyer, the host of The Roar Tribe, and I worked together earlier this year to solidify a community strategy for her Facebook group in the early stages of its growth. When brainstorming, Holly talked about hosting a video challenge that would help her step out of her comfort zone by trying a new medium while encouraging other women in the group to do the same.

From day one of the Roar Challenge, group participation was extremely high. Everyone in the group wanted to share their story and finally had a safe, private space to do so. I even shared my story about how I was bullied in high school and how that’s affected how I use social media for good today which felt SO therapeutic. If you’re looking for a way to encourage intimacy and belonging, video challenges are worth considering.

With these video challenges and our coaching work together, her Facebook group has almost tripled in size in just three months. She’s also gained branding and web design clients from the group after hosting her video challenge. I’m so proud of how she is helping women find their roar and unleash their passion with courage and strength.

Click to join Holly’s The Roar Tribe!

Icebreaker Questions in The Badass Solopreneur Society

If there’s one person who reminds you to just have fun while building your online business, it’s definitely Dre, the host of The Badass Solopreneur Society. I love her no-BS attitude and how she will never dull her edge for anyone. Members of her group become quick evangelists because everyone keeps it real.

It’s common to see Facebook groups have daily to weekly prompts. What’s unique about her Facebook group is that she posts regular get-to-know-you questions that act as fun prompts for members to answer.

Questions range from would-you-rathers, this-or-thats, and open-ended questions. Dre also makes sure to answer each question herself which really helps to get the conversation going and helps you get to know her more as a member.

Click to join Dre’s Badass Solopreneur Society!

Member Reposts in Capture Your Audience

Claire, the host of Capture Your Audience, and I have been working together for about nine months now (woo!) and it’s been so fun watching her Facebook group grow from 0 to almost 500 members now while her Instagram following went from 900 to 20k while working together… wowza!

One of the ways she engages with her Facebook group members is by allowing them to submit photos they’ve taken for a fun weekly contest. If a member’s submission is chosen, Claire reposts it on her Instagram account, which again has over 20k followers and is climbing higher each day! This is such a great way to give back to your members while also helping you fill in your content calendar. So smart!

Click to join Claire’s Capture Your Audience!

Instagram Prompts in The Gram Gang

I’ve been following along with Stephanie, the host of The Gram Gang, for a while and the way she has blended her Facebook group with her daily Instagram prompt community is incredible. In her Facebook group, she shares the upcoming month’s daily prompts so members can get a head start on creating content for Instagram.

The prompts almost act as an ongoing Instagram challenge. It’s great for bloggers and business owners who sometimes forget to plan content for a specific day or don’t know what to post that day. We’ve all been there! The hashtag #thegramgang also gives you a chance to connect with other people on Instagram.

Click to join Stephanie’s Gram Gang!

Guest Host Takeovers in Badass Bosspreneurs

I only recently heard about this Badass Bosspreneurs Facebook group, run by Meghan, but I’ve been incredibly impressed not only with the genuine interaction but also with how unique the group prompts are.

I originally heard about this group from Holly, who I mentioned above, because she said she would be hosting a 4-day challenge of branding as a sort of guest host takeover Meghan calls “Resident Badass”. How brilliant is that?! Not only does it help you grow your Facebook group engagement, but it also allows your members to share their expertise while everyone learns something new from one another. Let’s call that a win-win-WIN!

Click to join Meghan’s Badass Bosspreneurs!

Member Spotlights in The Rising Tide Society

The Rising Tide Society has completely blown up this year, especially with its monthly meetups called Tuesdays Together which are held in local cities all across the US. Kristen, the host of the Minneapolis Tuesdays Together group, creates a monthly Member Spotlight, which I believe is a regular practice for all of the Tuesday Together local chapters.

In the Member Spotlight, the local host picks one creative business owner to highlight, telling other members who they are, what they do, and why their work is uber important. It’s a great way for members to meet one another between the monthly meetups and learn more about what everyone does for a living.

Click to join The Rising Tide Society!

Facebook Live streams in The Swarm Society

Christina, the host of The Swarm Society, and I worked together earlier this summer to create a paid mentorship group that shared her heart for teaching and supporting other women in the digital space. She’s done an incredible job regularly interacting and giving advice to her members, especially through Facebook Live videos.

I’ve seen quite a few business owners and bloggers do Facebook Live streams but no one does them quite like Christina! She has so much energy and is quick to share anything she knows about any topic. She also gives shout-outs to other members in the group for their “wins” of the week and answers questions directly in each live stream.

After working together on The Swarm Society, Christina has not only been able to satisfy her purpose in life, which is encouraging young women in the digital space but also creates a solid, sustainable stream of income. Talk about dreamy!

Click to join Christina’s Swarm Society!

The post 7 Ways to Raise Engagement in Your Facebook Group with Tips from Experts appeared first on Sindie.

I’ve seen many business owners confuse the words ‘audience’ and ‘community’, which I wrote about in depth here, but there are even more intimate layers inside your community that are worth mentioning.

The better you know how to classify your community, the more you can appeal to your ideal clients, cultivate deep relationships and friendships, listen to kind-worded constructive feedback from people who care and lean into real support.

Audience

As I explain in my blog post on audience vs. community, your audience is comprised of people who consume your content and may even buy your products on occasion but with little to no interaction with you. We often see “lurkers” fit into the audience category. Building your audience is an essential part of your business, no doubt, but it’s not where you’ll find deep connections.

Although your audience members support your work by becoming silent readers and subscribers, they aren’t as likely to build a connection with you through one-on-one work, community events, or the like.

Because of this, you have to know what you can expect from your audience. Here’s a quick guide to help.

• DO survey your audience regularly
• DON’T let the opinion of one blog lurker change your brand direction. (see community below)
• DO try to be available to connect with your audience through platforms of your choice. (social media, email, office hours, you catch my drift)
• DON’T expect every blog reader to transition from lurkers to full-blown, dedicated community members. #LurkersGonnaLurk

Community

Now, this is where the connection comes in! Your community is comprised of people who not only regularly consume your content but also take action by sharing it and regularly interacting with you. This is the sweet spot in business growth. If you can cultivate a bigger community and transition more of your audience members into community members, you’ll see a significant rise in (dreamier!) buyers and clients over time.

Most of your day-to-day engagement on social media, newsletters, and blog posts will come from your community. It’s best to learn their names early and start making one-on-one connections either through emails, phone calls, video calls, or even in-person meetings over hot chocolate (which are my personal favorite. Buy me a hot cocoa and I’m your friend forever.)

I have more tips on cultivating your community here, here, oh and here too. Okay, you got me. Most of my blog is dedicated to this subject so just have at it with the archives.

Tribe

I’ll let you in on a little secret. No, it’s not juicy but you should keep reading anyway. I kind of hate the word ‘tribe’ in online marketing. It’s probably because it’s thrown around too often (and incorrectly) but for the sake of this blog post, I’ll be giving myself a pass to use it.

Okay, so now that we have the difference between your audience and community ironed out, let’s chat about your tribe. Your tribe takes the deeper connections you’ve made with your community members and others in your field of work and makes those interactions more regular. This often leads to scheduling weekly, monthly, or quarterly check-ins to see how each other is doing.

A great representation of an online business tribe is a mastermind group in which each member can give one another constructive feedback, real encouragement, and true accountability. They know how to give you a swift kick-in-the-pants but do it in a kiss-on-the-cheek way. Your tribe is essential to your professional development.

Many of us, myself included, have made the mistake of confusing your tribe with your support system. It’s gotten my sensitive heart into a bit of trouble but I’ll talk more about this below.

Support System

Your support system is the most intimate subgroup of a community because it’s comprised of people in your everyday life who you rely on for a constant level of support in business and beyond. These are people that show their support through their words and actions.

It’s quite possible that the majority of your support system is made of people outside of your business circle. This is generally because you’ve known them for a greater amount of time and have cultivated a more personal relationship with them. My own support system at the moment includes my parents, my brother, my small group at church, my cousin, and a childhood best friend.

Too often we let people into our support system who haven’t earned their way in or who we don’t know well enough. This either happens when we let go of someone who was an integral part of our support system or our support system relationship(s) have taken a recent hit. Because our support system is the most important level of community in our day-to-day personal development, we quickly fumble to recover the pieces and often put the wrong people in the wrong place. We just need to be better gatekeepers of our support system.

So who goes where?

In recap, here is a quick guide to help you in cultivating all four levels of your community.

Audience:
What: people who consume your content but do not reach out to make a deeper connection.
Who: those who read your blog posts but don’t comment, silently follow your social media accounts for inspiration, etc.

Community: 
What: people who consume your content AND reach out to make a deeper connection.
Who: members you connect with regularly in Facebook groups, participate in Twitter chats, and who reply to your newsletters, comments, and blog posts

Tribe:
What: trusted business advisors or mentors and often the people you reach out to when making a shift in your brand vision.
Who: your closest blog and business friends who you’ve cultivated an extended relationship with either through emails, phone calls, video calls, or even in-person meetings.

Support System:
What: your most tight-knit group of healthy relationships and people you can always on for unconditional support and encouragement.
Who: family members and family-like friends who you instinctively reach out to in times of need.

The post 4 Levels of Community for Creative Entrepreneurs appeared first on Sindie.

I didn’t know much about it at the time but it seemed like a great way to grow my community and I’m always down for an experiment. I hosted the #30daysofcreating challenge leading up to the launch of createlounge.com last May.

I learned a lot about what worked (and consequently, what didn’t) so I wanted to share my experience with you today along with a few tips for hosting your own. This is the resource I wish I would’ve had when I started!

Determine your purpose, goals, timeline, and objectives

Before you dive straight into the actual prep work of an Instagram challenge, let’s make sure it has a strong foundation. First, you must know why you actually want to host your own challenge. Here are a few common reasons:

• You’re launching a new product or service and want to create a conversation around it
• You’re interested in featuring more UGC in your brand (short for user-generated content which basically means relevant content that you use for your brand that has been created by someone else)
• You’ve been wanting to tackle your own personal challenge and think taking it public will help keep you accountable

Whether it’s one of these reasons or something entirely different, be sure to write the purpose of your Instagram challenge down so you can refer back to it as needed.

Your purpose will lead into setting your goals and objectives. We have to know what a successful Instagram challenge looks like in your eyes before we can get started. Here are a few common metrics:

• X number of participant posts
• X number of participants
• X number of likes and comments (aka engagement)
• X number of client inquiries or sales (aka conversions)
• X number of pageviews (please note that Instagram is better with generating in-platform actions than driving traffic but if this is still a goal, go for it)

Lastly, let’s cover the timeline. What is the best length for your Instagram challenge? The most common lengths are 5-7 days, 2 weeks, or a month long. If you are launching a new product or service, it should probably be for the same length.

One thing I did learn about hosting a month-long challenge is that it is a bit more difficult to sustain the excitement and buzz over time. For that reason, I think shorter Instagram challenges perform better, but do what is right for your schedule. You can also survey your audience if you want to see what they’d prefer too.

Create a name and hashtag for the challenge

Now comes the fun part! When you’re naming your Instagram challenge, it’s important to check to see if (1) it’s already being used by a competitor, (2) it’s a well-established hashtag with lots of activity, or (3) it’s been used for completely irrelevant content.

If you still want to use the name, you can add a word like “challenge” to the end of it or the number of days the challenge goes for. Instagram doesn’t care about character count like Twitter does for hashtags so this is a relatively simple way to keep your name.

If there’s one thing to keep in mind when naming your Instagram challenge, or anything for that matter, it is this:

Clear > Clever

Start brainstorming quick prompts for what people will share

An Instagram challenge is only as good as its prompts. Give yourself some space in your timeline to create really engaging prompts. Keep a small notebook around you or use the Notepad app in your phone to jot down spur-of-the-moment ideas. Sitting down to have a one-time brainstorming session can help too. Here’s a few more brainstorming techniques if you want to try something out-of-the-box.

Take your photos ahead of time

Nothing will stress you out quite like not having all of your photos captured before hosting your Instagram challenge. Trust me, just put in the work beforehand. When I hosted mine, I had all of the challenge graphics made for the #createlounge account but only had about half of my personal account entries done. It was not a great move on my part as I got overwhelmed toward the end of the challenge.

This goes for editing too. If you use a specific filter or mix of settings, edit all of your photos in one sitting ahead of time. It will save you a lot of time down the road and help you feel better when launching.

Write the prompt captions for each photo

Just like with taking the photos, write these captions ahead of time. Your captions should be clear and concise so participants can quickly interpret the challenge prompts and share their own photos and visuals. If you need some more tips on writing captions, I’ve got your back.

Another thing on the list of “What Kayla Did Wrong” was that I didn’t share the full list of Instagram challenge prompts before I launched the challenge. I did this intentionally because I wanted to really inspire everyone participating to create something totally new every day rather than reaching into their archive of photos but I got some negative feedback about it early on.

The truth is many people like to plan out their feed days or even weeks ahead of time so publishing the prompts will help them add your challenge into their content calendar. It’s a best practice now for hosting Instagram challenges and your homegirl had to learn the hard way, but that’s okay! I’ve learned for next time.

Schedule the photos and captions

Now that you’ve got all of the photos with their matching captions, it can save a lot of time up front to schedule them before you launch. I like using the Later app which allows you to schedule photos and captions on your desktop (which I totally love!) or app and sends you reminders to make sure you post it at your desired time.

Without this app, my overwhelm would have been through the roof! It’s easily the best “time hack” in my whole Instagram challenge planning process.

(Note: I am not affiliated with this app, but I really love their team and what they do!) 

Announce the challenge

Phew! Now that the prep work is done, it’s time to let people know about it. Here are a few great ways to announce that you’ll be hosting an Instagram challenge:

• Create a landing page for the challenge with an opt-in form to get updates
• Write a blog post that explains the details of your challenge and gives some sneak peeks as to what people can expect
• Send a newsletter to your subscribers to let them know and give them an exclusive look at the prompts first
• Email your closest business and blogging besties to ask if they’d be willing to participate
• Host a Twitter chat and announce the challenge while everyone is gathered

Engage with participants during the challenge

Once you kick off your challenge, you’ll want to make sure you are regularly interacting with participants. You don’t want to go silent just because you’ve already scheduled your photos and captions. The success in your challenge is ALL in the conversations. Be active in the hashtag feed and briefly check in at least 2-3 times a day.

Now it’s your turn to try!

The post How to Host Your Own Instagram Challenge appeared first on Sindie.

I have been waiting months to not only write but share this post with you all. The time has come to tell you all about where #createlounge is growing in our new, exciting season.

Before I unveil the details, let’s back up a bit. For over a year, #createlounge has been an inviting space for intimate conversations with fierce creatives. We’ve done this primarily through hosting regular Twitter chats on Wednesdays at 7 PM CT. We’ve covered everything from Cultivating Your Voice to Redefining Success to Photography Styling to Conquering Self Doubt and beyond.

Once we hit #createlounge’s first birthday last January, I knew it was time for our community to have its own space, its own home. This community is so much bigger than me so I decided a new website was in order. Enter createlounge.com (official launch on May 12!)

Truth is, I never set out for #createlounge to be its own brand, per se. At the time I first hosted these chats, I had already rebranded my blog name two times and happily decided to build my personal brand because my name was future proof. Little did I know that the minute I stopped trying to find my “next big thing”, it found me.

I started the Twitter chat right after I graduated college as an excuse to consistently connect with inspiring creatives and encourage them in their own creative work. I remember being worried five minutes before the chat that no one would come, but I did it anyway. We had a great turn out for the first chat, but what I didn’t expect was how many of those people would come back every single week.

We’ve seen our community members launch their words into the world through new blogs, bravely share and sell their artwork, and launch fulfilling businesses, all while making true friends along the way.

We are keeping our weekly Twitter chats at the center of our community, but we have some new extensions to help continue the motivating conversations and grow our community in an intentional direction.

#createlounge podcast

To all of those who asked for a podcast after I launched The Power of We audio series, thank you for encouraging me to continue pursuing audio content. I finally made the decision to create a podcast with an extra nudge from one of my dreamiest client, Katie of Designer Guidebook. Then it was time to plan.

This podcast is an extra special passion project for me as I have taken on my brother, Zach (but you’ll hear me refer to him as Z from here on out), as our audio producer! He’s been hard at work composing intro and outro music and editing all the episodes.

We will be launching new podcast episodes with special guests from our very own community every Thursday starting on May 12. Then the following Wednesday we will discuss the topic through our Twitter chat with our podcast guests joining in. This is meant to keep the intimacy of these transparent conversations while creating an open discussion in the process.

#createlounge monthly book club

Because our community seems to trade book recommendations in every chat, I’ll be co-hosting a monthly book club with #createlounge regular, Douglas Humphries. We will be announcing more details when the website goes live but as a teaser, our first book in June will be Big Magic, one of our community’s favorites.

#createlounge Instagram challenges

So many of our community members document their creative process on Instagram so we thought this platform would be a great place to grow. We will be starting our first Instagram challenge, #30daysofcreating, TODAY through our new community account, @createloungehq. It will include daily prompts to help us create something new every day, but of course, you can share anything you’re working on. This will lead up to our website launch!

#createlounge dedicated website

I know I teased this throughout the post, but I want to talk more about the people who are helping to bring this to life. Everything about my own website has been done in a DIY-fashion, but I knew I wanted to collaborate with creatives from the community for our new online space.

I’ve been working with Christina Conrad on the visual storytelling aspect of the site through swoon-worthy brand photography. Allison from Painted Summers has been working hard on the beautifully hand-crafted logo for #createlounge since I naturally wanted something handmade for the site. While Alyssa Mopia was in town recently, she shot some photos of me that really capture the essence of my passion for this community. It’s been incredible collaborating with each of these ladies to bring the website to life.

It’s been incredible to see multiple hands on this project, proving that we can create bigger and better things together than we can apart. While I have many dreams for where this community can continue to grow beyond these new extensions, I am rooted in my gratitude for where we are now and where we will grow in this new season.

The post #createlounge: State of the Union appeared first on Sindie.

The start of the new year often signals the chance to revisit your content strategy. In doing so, you’ll naturally want to know what’s been working and what hasn’t.

We may think we know what our audience wants, but without asking first, it’s possible to miss the mark completely. I have gained SO much humility from my audience’s feedback.

Story-time!

Not quite a year ago, I was contemplating taking my first step into monetization with an ebook. Writing is my first love so it just made sense, right?

As I was planning on topics for the ebook, I was dead-set on writing about the step-by-step process of a personal rebrand. I had done three rebrands in my first year of blogging (that’s a whole other story for another day) so I figured that’s what everyone knew me for.

Just to make sure, I asked my audience on Twitter with an open-ended tweet to vote for the topic of my first ebook by replying to my tweet. I gave them the option of (a) a Step-by-Step Rebranding Guide or (b) a Content Strategy Outline.

The results were laughable. I had a total of 75 people answer my question. Out of those 75, only three (I repeat, ONLY THREE) said they’d rather have the rebranding guide. Gulp. I didn’t know my audience’s needs as much as I thought I did. I took this as a huge learning experience.

Even when we are highly connected to our audience, it’s still important to regularly ASK what they need. Otherwise, you’ll end up making assumptions like I almost did which could have cost time and energy in products and services your audience doesn’t really need.

Regularly asking your audience what they like (and aren’t such a fan of) can help you create better content with their needs in mind. It’s as simple as knowing how and where to ask.

Ask a question in your blog post

This may be one of the most simple ways to survey your audience. Your reader is already on your website reading through your blog post. It makes sense then to introduce a CTA (aka “call to action”) to invite your readers to give their opinions in the comment section. You’ll be able to get real, transparent answers from people who actually read and adore your content. Neato.

Ask a question in your newsletter

If you asked a question on your blog post, kick it up a notch by asking your subscribers too. People who are on your mailing list are even more invested in you because they’ve given you permission to show up regularly in their inbox. They also will most likely fit your target audience so you’ll receive more relevant feedback.

You don’t need to have a certain number of subscribers to send a survey. I remember sending a short survey on my newsletter structure back when I had around 200 subscribers and still got a few dozen replies. Send it out and see what happens!

Reader survey

Chances are most of us have answered a few blog reader surveys from other bloggers. It’s fairly common to give a reader survey to your audience on your blog anniversary or at the start of a new year (hello, 2016!), but that’s not the only time you can utilize them.

You can quickly whip up a survey and send it out to your subscribers or post it on your blog. I highly recommend Typeform for creating clean and streamlined surveys, but SurveyMonkey and Gravity Forms do the trick too.

Try to keep your survey questions brief and to-the-point. I’ve found the ideal length of a survey is around 4-6 questions, some open-ended and others with multiple-choice options. Test different formats and find your sweet spot.

Create a Twitter poll

Twitter polls are great if you want to anonymously poll your audience on one question. You can give your Twitter followers anywhere between two to four options to choose from. They simply click their answer and they’re done! It also shows you instant results and how many people have voted so far. Caution: they are highly addictive!

Ask a question on Instagram

Are you a highly visual brand with a large portion of your audience on Instagram? Meet them where they are and ask your question on the platform. Pair it with a striking photo and be sure to reply back to everyone who answers. You can even take a step further and host an Instagram Q+A.

Ask a question in Facebook group

Facebook groups are arguably one of the best places to ask a question if you want a general consensus from like-minded people. If you’re looking for some creativepreneur Facebook groups to join, here are some of my favorites.

Your question can either be open-ended, which you see most often, or you can create your own poll if it’s more of a quick multiple-choice question. To do so, you can locate the Facebook group and click the ‘Create Poll’ tab. Then write your question, input your options, and post it. Easy!

Before posting your question, do read the group’s rules to be sure it fits within the community guidelines. Also, don’t ask your question in *every* Facebook group in your industry. Pick one or two for intentionality.

Ask a question on Periscope

With the recent rise of Periscope, it has become the perfect place to survey your audience for real-time answers. While on a live broadcast, you’re able to not only read but also respond to your audience’s comments. Viewers come into live broadcasts ready to participate so it’s a great place for interaction. If you’re interested in building your Periscope audience, an informal survey may be the trick.

Don’t forget the follow-up!

When your audience members take the time to answer your survey question(s), say thank you with a personalized message. It could be as short as a quick tweet or if it’s a longer survey, an email or even a handwritten note goes a long way. If the survey is anonymous, a simple, blanket “thank you to those who contributed” post on whatever platform you asked your question(s) on will do the trick.

The post 7 Ways to Survey Your Audience appeared first on Sindie.

Note: I wanted to name this post “How to Kick Your Fears to the Curb, Punch Doubt in the Face, and Do Your First Scope” but it seemed a tad long.

It’s no secret that video has become an insanely effective platform for growing your business. While true, getting in front of a camera can be downright terrifying for many of us.

The scariest of all: live video.

While the thought of creating unedited video content may make you shift uncomfortably in your seat, I’m a firm believer that if you’re scared while doing something, it probably means you’re onto something big.

I’ve been scoping since last August but I remember my first scope like it was yesterday. It felt like my nerves were having a go-kart race with how quickly I was talking myself in and out of broadcasting.

Imagine my surprise when two months later, my first community coaching client came from Periscope. I know Periscope can be a game changer for your brand too.

The great thing about Periscope is that it:

• allows your audience to connect with the (literal) face of your brand
• helps you rapidly build your thought leadership in your niche
• builds community rather quickly and in an authentic way
• takes less time than planning and editing a YouTube video/webinar/workshop (Can I get an amen?!)

Eminem said it best: Guts > Fear.

Here are a few tips to get you more comfortable:

Write a few talking points on a note card

Are you nervous about freezing up on camera and not knowing what to say? Outlining a few of your thoughts on a note card may help. Jotting down some quick bullet points to reference during your scope can give you that extra dose of security before starting your broadcast. Heck, I used a note card for my first month of broadcasts. Do what makes you feel most comfortable.

Even though you have some talking points, give yourself some wiggle room to explore your topic. Periscope is about interacting with your audience, not just being a talking head. It’s much more casual than a webinar presentation so let your hair down and be yourself. You can do it!

Cover something you know inside and out

I cannot stress this enough. You’ll already have a few nerves when scoping (hey, it’s normal!) so choosing a topic you know like the back of your hand will help you feel more at ease.

Ask yourself: What is my expertise? What is my edge? What could I talk to someone else about and never run out of new things to say? That’s what you should scope about for your first time.

Try a private scope with a few blogging besties (BBFFs)

If you’re worried about the smaller things like how to flip the camera or end a broadcast, a private scope can help you work out the tech issues and kinks so you are focused solely on creating engaging content when you do your first scope. Your besties can also comment during your private scope so you can get a feel for answering comments at the same time as teaching your content.

Ask your community to join in

Want your people to watch your first scope? Just ask! Really, it’s as simple as that. Whether you decide to give them days, weeks, or just a few minutes notice, tell them that you’ll be jumping on to talk about the topic you’ve chosen. If you’ve been investing in your community, you’ll find many will be more than happy join in and cheer you on.

Okay, so now you’ve got the nerves out. Here are a few things to keep in mind while scoping to keep things in perspective.

Don’t get hung up on the number of people tuning in

The most common fear I hear from bloggers and entrepreneurs who haven’t jumped on the Periscope train yet is “what if no one tunes in?” I want to start by saying I have never heard of anyone scoping without anyone joining in. It’s time to put that fear to bed and scope anyway.

As an extra tip, if you put “first time scoping” or another variation of this in your broadcast title, many people will hop in just to say hello and encourage you in your first broadcast. Periscope is cool like that.

Don’t worry about your heart count either

You do not need X amount of hearts for your scope to be seen as valuable. Repeat that until you believe it. Forget about this vanity metric for your first scope and focus more on creating an engaging conversation around the comments you receive during the broadcast.

*Everyone* flubs

No one, I repeat, NO ONE expects your broadcast to be perfect. Perfect is boring to watch anyway. Flubbing does not equal failure, friends. Is the fear of saying “um” or “like” one too many times keeping you from interacting with your audience? Don’t let it.

Don’t hit delete after you stop your broadcast

When you hit the ‘end broadcast’ button, I’m willing to bet a part of you will be tempted to hit the delete button on your replay. I know because I heard this little voice after my first few scopes too. Whatever you do, don’t delete it!

There’s no right or wrong way to scope, so have fun with it!

The post The Non-Scary Guide to Your First Periscope Broadcast appeared first on Sindie.

As I write this first year recap of #createlounge, my weekly Twitter chat, I’m blinking away (happy) tears while searching for a word that accurately describes how I feel in this moment. I still haven’t found one.

All I know is that every Wednesday at 7 PM CT, magic happened.

What once started as my way to consistently meet and share experiences with fellow creatives has now grown into a thriving community making big waves in the creative space. You can almost hear our pulse every time we meet.

I created the chat after participating in various PR and social media related Twitter chats for a year and a half. I liked chatting with other PR professionals, but I lit up like a Christmas tree when I talked to creative bloggers and entrepreneurs.

As I shifted my brand to fit this audience, I searched for chats that were dedicated to these creatives. At the time, there were none. I saw a huge gap in the industry and I was anxious to fill it. After I graduated in December 2014, I started #createlounge the following January.

#createlounge was the first Twitter chat for creative bloggers and entrepreneurs.

Since its inception, there have been dozens of other great chats for creatives that have popped up, but I still think we do a unique thing at #createlounge. But before we touch on that, let’s start at the beginning.

As a special little throwback, here’s the first tweet about #createlounge ever. (Thank heavens we changed the visual after the first chat. *face palm*)

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WOO-HOO! I’m hosting a new Twitter chat #createlounge which begins on Jan. 7th at 7 PM CT! Let’s get creative! pic.twitter.com/GKdD2eZziJ

— Sindie (@kayla_hollatz) December 8, 2014

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First, let’s start with the stats.

While I often talk about my “names over numbers” approach to community building, I do believe numbers can help to show the growth and reach of a community. For readers who are data obsessed, this next section is for you.

• 52,091 total mentions
• 2,735 unique participants (with hundreds of regulars!)
• 127 million total impressions

(Please note all stats were taken from 1/1/2015 to 1/1/2016. There were 48 total chats as 2 were canceled for holidays and 2 for work conflicts.)

Also, it’s worthwhile to note 68% of the total mentions above were replies, meaning #createlounge is the highly engaging community I always dreamed it would be.

Of course, numbers don’t tell the real story, but stories and photos do.

Here are a few of our community “wins” after one year:

We’ve seen #createlounge members launch blogs and businesses

Being creative is tough. Whether you’re battling harsh criticism, crippling doubts, or falling prey into the comparison game, having a die-hard community of fierce creatives rallied around you can help you go from launchpad to take-off.

For Devan Danielle, the community at #createlounge was the big push she needed in order to launch her blog to complement her branding design business.

Here’s what she had to say about #createlounge:

“During my first #createlounge chat, not only was Kayla super welcoming, but the amazing community encouraged me to pick a launch date for my blog. Without that push, my blog probably still would not be up today! I owe a lot of my beginning blog engagement to Kayla and the lovely community she built.”

As a fun side note, since meeting Devan through #createlounge, we’ve become extremely close. Like text each other every day, how-did-I-ever-do-life-without-this-girl close.

I even took a road trip to see her last month to have a #GIRLBOSS weekend and envision what the next year could look like for #createlounge. Case in point: Twitter chats are an awesome place to find your business besties.

We’ve helped creatives step out of their comfort zones

Creativity is synonymous with boldness and courage. Being a creative means taking a leap of faith into the unknown and pushing fear aside. This is what we try to do every week at #createlounge.

After the quick rise of Periscope, many members expressed an interest in utilizing the new platform but were nervous about live video broadcasting. After hosting a chat on building your personal brand on Periscope, a few #createlounge members got the extra dose of courage they needed to do their first scope. This is just one example of how our community members are continually pushing past their doubts in order to make beautiful things happen.

We’ve grown an offline community

Nothing brings a smile to my face more than seeing photos and tweets from #createlounge members who grabbed a coffee or drink with someone they met locally through the chat. I guess we’ve become a friendship matchmaker! I’m more than okay with that.

I’ve been able to vastly grow my offline community in Minneapolis as well. Toward the end of 2015, I hosted a few casual dinners in order to meet more Minnesota natives that wandered into the chat. This group now endlessly inspires me and is my IRL cheerleading squad.

If you’re ever in Minneapolis, give me a holler. I’ll treat you to hot chocolate regardless of the season.

Most of all, we’ve connected creatives far beyond the chat hour

During our chat on the power of handwritten letters, many members tweeted “How cool would it be to have #createlounge pen pals?” and my answer was “Super, wicked cool.” We quickly made it happen! We paired creatives based on their niche so they could connect with like-minded creatives.

And now for a special thank you

If you’re reading this and have been a part of the #createlounge community, thank you for sharing your creative heart with us over the past year. It’s been an honor getting to know you every week. You are the light of #createlounge, the fuel that keeps us moving forward. A thousand times thank you.

The post One Year of #createlounge: The Stats and The Stories appeared first on Sindie.

Remember that #EpiphanyScope where I promised I’d write a post about the difference between building an audience and community? Well, today I’m delivering.

I often see the terms “audience” and “community” used synonymously, but the process that goes into building both couldn’t be more different.

Although I specialize in helping creative entrepreneurs build sustainable, organic communities, I also know the importance of building an audience that supports your community efforts.

That’s why we are going to cover the difference between audience and community building and a few tips to help you grow both, but let’s start with definitions.

What is an audience?

Your audience is comprised of people who consume your content and even buy your products but with little to no interaction with you.

These people are commonly known as “lurkers”. They come to your website for the goods but don’t take a community action like commenting on your blog post or following up with you on social.

Your audience is often reflected in your pageviews as they can account for a large portion of your traffic. While you’re able to easily track your traffic analytics, it’s hard to determine if those pageviews are coming from your ideal clients with just audience-building techniques. This is one instance where having a community can be extremely beneficial.

What is a community?

Your community is comprised of people who not only regularly consume your content and buy your products but also take action by sharing it and regularly interacting with you. I like to call your community the “feel-good” side of business.

Community breeds die-hard supporters, those who are willing to shout how much they love you from the rooftops. Okay, maybe not exactly, but I’ve always had a flair for the dramatic.

Your community is often reflected in the engagement on your blog, social media, and even in your inbox (hello fun newsletter replies!) The higher the engagement, the more you’re pouring into your people. *high five*

Now that you’re clear on the differences between an audience and a community, how do you go about growing them?

Ways to build your audience:

Designing a stellar user experience

Put yourself in the shoes of a first-time visitor of your website. What catches their eye first? Are all of the visuals on-brand? Is there ample white space and breathing room?

If a visitor can’t navigate your website, they will navigate away from it. A big reason why I migrated from Blogger to Squarespace was to provide a more user-friendly navigation.

Beautiful things happen when you prioritize the user journey. Use your analytics to see which pages your visitors are staying on and which they are leaving from (commonly known as your bounce rate). Analytics don’t paint the whole picture but can reveal some areas for optimization.

Creating a top-level content strategy

What is something a lurker can’t peel their eyes away from? An actionable, I-can’t-believe-this-advice-is-free piece of content.

While one piece of valuable content is great, a full archive of them is even better. This comes from having a consistent content strategy in place that wows your target audience.

Here’s the fun part: creating content so memorable that the lurkers may opt-in for your content upgrade (aka extra juicy piece of content created solely for your mailing list subscribers) or comment on your blog post to tell you how much it helped them. This simple action gives you the opportunity of turning them from an audience member to a community member.

Posting pin-worthy graphics

Pinterest can be one of the best, if not the best social platform to grow your traffic. It’s where many lurkers go to hang out.

Even spending as little as 15 minutes a day pinning new content from your blog and other relevant sources can yield great results. The first step to upping your Pinterest game is by creating images that are:

• Branded (includes your brand’s fonts, color palette, and logo)
• Vertical
• Fitting your audience’s aesthetic
• Clean and minimal

While Pinterest may not be built for community building, it can raise your brand awareness in a big way. This will help your brand become memorable, both visually and through your written, audio, or video content.

Ways to build your community:

Showing an interest in what your community members do

I cannot stress the importance of this step in community building. Nothing makes a person feel more fuzzy and warm inside than someone taking an interest in getting to know them. The more genuine the action is, the more genuine the reaction is.

You may be thinking it’s impossible to reach out to each and every one of your readers. I hear you. Let’s try a super simple weekly activity to help you get in the habit of making these one-on-one connections.

To start, look through your new followers each week and choose 5-10. Carve out 30 minutes to visit each of their websites to learn more about what they do.

Then spend another 30 minutes reaching out to them on your platform of choice. I’d suggest Twitter or Instagram because of its quick but effective nature.

Don’t forget to add a personalized detail! We’ve all gotten the “hey, love your blog” comments but a comment that says “I really enjoyed your post on X and it helped me do Y so I’m looking forward to more content from you” is much more powerful.

Taking just an hour a week to do this can help you feel more connected to your community members and reveal more about your target audience. The person could even be a business bestie in the making. It’s all about showing you care.

Replying to comments, tweets, and emails

Never underestimate the power of one-on-one conversations. When your community members write you a comment, tweet, or email, you should reply back. You’re never too big to talk to your people.

If you’ve ever talked yourself out of replying back to your community because it takes too much time, remember that they understand when it’s not instantaneous. Receiving a reply a few days later is always better than radio silence.

Consistently showing up on social media

Social media is often the place where readers go to reach out to you. These are people who are inviting you into their feed so it’s important to show up and provide value on a daily basis.

A regular schedule shows consistency. *mic drop*

Showing up on social may look different depending on your brand. Maybe you’ll host regular office hours in Periscope where your community members can join you live and ask you questions on the spot. Maybe hosting a weekly Twitter chat is more your thing.

Whatever the platform may be, you’re consistently making yourself available for your community which is a huge deal. This may also be the step where some of your audience members become full-fledged community members.

Sharing their relevant content on social

Who doesn’t like to see their content has been given a shout out on social? It’s an awesome feeling, but social is a two-way street.

When someone in your community shares your content:

• First, say thank you like our momma’s taught us to do.
• Then visit their website to see what they do and who they help.
• If relevant, check out their blog and read a few posts to find your favorite.
• Finally, share it with your POV (point-of-view) rather than just link dropping.

When you use your influence (yes, you have influence, friends!) to give back, you show how important community is to your brand.

The post The Difference Between Growing an Audience and Community (and Why Both Matter!) appeared first on Sindie.

When people ask “what is the first step in building a community?”, my answer often is to become a community member first.

All great leaders who have built something bigger than themselves have been a part of something bigger first.

Before starting #createlounge, I participated in various PR and social-focused Twitter chats for over a year and a half, even before launching my blog. While participating, I found there was a big gap: no one was talking to creative bloggers and entrepreneurs, my people. I set out to fill that gap with #createlounge and now almost a year later, our community is still going strong and making an impact.

I started as a community member and transitioned into a community leader with ease because of how long I had been active in other communities. Here are a few benefits of starting as a community member first:

You’ll either strengthen or shift your mission

Have you ever been a part of a community that changes how you approach something? They can offer enlightenment and show what your audience needs more of. When you go where your audience already is and listen to what they need, you will have more direction when you start to build your own community platform.

For example, you may initially have wanted to start a Twitter chat for professional travel photographers but after being a part of a travel Facebook group with an audience who is craving photo tips, you may be inspired to start a Facebook group that aims to help anyone traveling capture their memories on camera like a pro.

Keep your eyes and ears open!

You’ll learn quickly how you want to make your community different

There are things you can’t learn about building your own community until you’re a part of a similar one that already exists. That way, you can identify what that group may be missing so you can fill your audience with extra value when you start your own.

After participating in several Twitter chats, I noticed a few things I would do differently if I was the host. Some of them included:

• sending the questions the morning of so people could prepare their answers
• summarizing the chat with Storify highlight recaps
• creating a Spotify playlist for our chat participants (so fun!)
• basing the timing of the questions on the flow of chat interaction vs. scheduling them
• doing things beyond the Twitter chat (like video calls, local meetups, and more!)

Of course, these characteristics aren’t a fit for everyone, but they were for me and guided my strategy and process when I first started. Ask yourself “what is nobody else in my niche currently doing that needs be done?” and go do that! It’s the best way to stand out from the get-go.

You’ll have visibility in your niche before starting

One of the most common fears any of us have when launching something new is that we’ll hear crickets. When you are a member of another community first, you’ll already be making connections within your niche while building the visibility of your thought leadership platform.

And yes, there are non-icky ways to showcase your expertise. Your thoughtful responses to members in the group will be enough to raise your credibility and authority without the need to feel spammy with self-promotion. *Phew*.

The audience in that community will then associate you with your blend of expertise, the niche you identify with, and your unique traits (in a combination that I call “your edge“) and will be more apt to join the community you build because of it.

You’ll see the importance of sharing the community love

A confident community leader is one who is willing to give shout-outs to other communities. We are all here to be a resource, a way to connect like-minded people with one another for a bigger purpose.

We don’t “own” any of our members, so it’s important to beat the comparison game and remember why ALL of our communities are needed in this digital space.

You can still be a raving fan of someone else’s community while still feeling the need to build one of your own.

This post wouldn’t be complete without sharing some of the communities I’m active in and totally love:

• The Creative’s Corner
• #GoIndependent
• The Badass Solopreneur Society
• #nectarchat
• #creativecoffeehour
• Full list of Twitter chats I recommend

Are your wheels starting to turn? Awesome! Get out there and start connecting, and keep a notebook by your side while you brainstorm.

The post Why the Best Community Leaders are Community Members appeared first on Sindie.