How to Leverage Online Community (When You Work from Home)
How to Leverage Online Community (When You Work from Home)
find groups that are active
Regular engagement is going to work in your favor when you're searching for community. Being in groups that don't have much conversation on a daily or weekly basis won't meet your need for connection.
You can simply scroll through the posts on the main page of the group to see how frequently members are posting, liking, and commenting.
I like to find groups that have 10+ new posts each day, but it will depend on the amount of time you're looking to spend in your groups. If you're looking to be heavily involved (which you probably are, since you're reading this article), then you might want to look for groups with 20+ new posts so you can engage with even more active people.
If you post in the group and get crickets, only to scroll through the feed and see that the lack of response is a pattern with everyone else's posts, that's a sign that the group isn't very engaged. At that point, it's your choice whether you want to stay or find a group that's more active.
find local groups
To connect even more with people online, you can look for groups that are location-specific to places around you! Most large cities or the surrounding areas have groups based on their location and people's interests.
To find these groups, all you have to do is search for groups based on location in the Facebook search bar. Alternately, you can navigate to the groups section, select "discover," and then click the button for local groups.
You can also post in groups to see where people are from and connect with them that way!
Connecting with groups and people who are near you gives you one more level of connection, and it also opens up the opportunity to meet in person!
create your own!
If you're feeling stuck trying to find community online and not finding anything that really fits, you can always create your own group!
Creating a group is simple. If you navigate to the groups page on Facebook, there's a button to create a group. Facebook will then guide you through the steps to set it up with a name, category, and description. Make sure you make it clear who the group is for and what it's about so the right people can find it.
Then it's time to start inviting people! (Note: there's not currently an "invite" option, just and "add" option, so it's usually best to write a post about the group and include the link or ask people you know if they would want to join instead of adding them directly.)
Once you have some people in your group, it's time to get them talking! You can post questions for people to get to know each other, create a meet-up if they're all local, share a live video talking about who you are and what you do, and share all kinds of resources. The options are limitless! You can encourage other group members to post freely, too, to boost engagement and get more people involved.
show up consistently
Whether you're creating your own group or posting in others, one of the biggest keys to to be consistent. It's hard for people to get to know you if you pop in one week and then go MIA for a month.
I've found it helpful to set aside time each day or two to go through my main groups and see what's going on. I read others' posts, liking and commenting as I go, and then I share something of my own.
Just like building relationships with people offline, it takes time and persistence. It's far more effective to show up week after week over the long haul than to show up once or twice and then bail (only to wonder why we didn't gain any new biz besties or clients there).
Pro tip: To remember to post about specific things on specific days (like #tiptuesday or #promothursday), I set regular reminders to repeat on those days of the week. That way, in addition to the more organic posting that I do in all my main groups, I'm also working to get my name and business out there consistently on the days designated for more promotion. This ensures more balance between fun engagement and business promotion.
PRIORITIZE RELATIONSHIPS
It's easy to see groups as one more way to promote our businesses, and they are admittedly great for that! But when we work from home, it's especially important to see them first and foremost as a way of connecting with others.
It's about the relationship first, always.
So instead of going into a group with the sole intention of promoting my business, I first ask questions to get people talking and make sure I like and comment on others' posts. I'm not just there to get new clients. I'm also there to learn from others and network.
People are much more willing to work with us (as collaborators or clients) when we've proven that we're not just in it for the sale. If we approach our interactions with an attitude of "people over profit" first and choose to engage and build relationships (and provide real value) before trying to sell anything, we build our ever-so-valuable know, like, and trust factors. And we set ourselves up to create stronger online friendships and create more leads for our businesses! It's a win all around!
So what groups will you be engaging in this week, and how can I help you up your game there? I'd love to hear from you! You can email me at jessie@notesfromjessie.com, comment below, or plan a time to chat with me on the phone about it! I'd love to hear from you!
P.S. In case you missed it or skipped straight to the bottom, the secret to leveraging online community when you work from home is to find active groups, find local groups, create your own group, show up consistently, and prioritize the relationships over the revenue.
To chat with me more about upleveling your group game, let's schedule a call!