| In 1997, David Steele was making the
transition from a professional therapist to relationship coach. Part of his strategy was
to become a center of influence and THE Relationship Coach for his community.
David decided to launch his own virtual community as a
weekly "Friday Night Social" singles gathering. After a one-month pilot program
and some market research, he designed a community for the singles in his area, unlike any
other setting available, that would meet their need to meet other singles in a safe, fun
setting.
The community also furthered David's mission to provide
relationship education and position his firm prominently within his target market.
Almost seven years later, his Friday Night Social continues
to be a vibrant singles community that supports the practices of the four coaches who
collaborated to make it happen. "It is a lot of fun, and the time and effort needed
to make it happen is minimal," says David.
"We feature a guest speaker each week, a local
professional who is usually a good referral source. We've become well-known in our
community and have a loyal following of singles who sometimes continue to attend with
their partners when no longer single!"
From Therapist to Singles Guru of Silicon Valley
Slightly Famous entrepreneurs are learning that in today's
world, given that most of us have an unmet need for community, one of the greatest
services you can offer your clients and prospects is simply to get them together.
The goodwill, contacts and status David has developed as a
leader of a niche community has boosted his business. It has minimized the need to
aggressively market his services by transforming into a guru and center of influence and
trusted advisor to his target market.
Why does this work? There is a basic human need for
community. We survive and thrive in relationships. We are social beings and cannot be
fully successful or happy alone. Ever since we lived in caves our social environment
largely determines our fate.
In today's world, given that most of us have an unmet need
for community, one of the greatest services we can offer the clients and prospects in our
niche is simply to get them together.
Think about it. A niche is a group of people that share
common situations, needs, and goals. When these people get together, they immediately feel
a common bond; they understand each other and can easily provide mutual support.
Targeting The Right Niche with the Message
Like David, you too can establish yourself as a trustworthy
resource whose reputation and work is beyond scrutiny. The secret to success is targeting
a group of people with specific interests. And that group of people can be your target
market!
Examples of groups that would be attracted to, and benefit
from, participating in a niche community include:
Fortune 500 CEO's Real Estate Investors Singles Over 50 Tai
Chi Practitioners Small Business Owners Unemployed/Laid Off Tech Workers Ph.D. Candidates
Working On Their Dissertation Stay-At-Home Dads Women in Transition New Moms
You get the idea...any niche you can think of for your
practice is a candidate for a niche community.
How a Niche Community Can Benefit Your Business
Once you establish a niche community around your business,
you can enjoy the following benefits:
Increased visibility. Community participation is a low cost
marketing strategy that can yield enormous exposure for your business. Virtual communities
provide free or low-cost gatherings that attract more people and create more prospects.
Increased credibility. The success of your niche community
reflects upon your abilities as a service professional. It provides a chance for you to
"show your stuff" and impress prospects who don't feel like they need to ward
off a sales pitch.
Word of mouth. Virtual communities stimulate conversation.
They get people talking. Participants tell their friends more readily about your business
as a "community resource" than a private service.
Transform a "practice" into a
"business". By reaching more people through your virtual community, you will
develop a platform to sell more products and services. Your community can open the door to
multiple income streams through group mentor programs, information products and other
passive revenue streams.
Getting Started
The first consideration is how you will structure your
community and bring people together. You have two choices: create a "live"
community that meets in a physical location; or establish an online community that meets
virtually through telephone and the Internet.
Live communities are straightforward. Taking David's cue,
develop a statement of purpose for the group. Then, market the group to niche market
prospects within reasonable physical proximity to one another, choose meeting times and a
location, and bring them together around a structured agenda.
Whereas live communities are more limited by location,
virtual communities offer the possibility of attracting members from all over the world.
Online or virtual communities gather people in an online
'space' where they come, communicate, connect, and get to know each other better over
time. The idea is to bring members of your niche together virtually where you combine
on-line interaction (e-mail, web forums) with telephone conference calls and classes, as
well as information and support services.
Online group interactions do not always 'happen'
spontaneously. They require care, nurturing and facilitation.
The core of facilitation and hosting is to serve the group
and assist it in reaching its goals or purpose. Some describe this role as a gardener, a
conductor, the distributed leadership of jazz improvisers, a teacher, or an innkeeper. It
can be this and more.
If you take the plunge, be patient. Online communities
don't happen overnight. Often they take time to coalesce and form themselves into
something valuable and sustainable. It's crucial that patience is exercised, since it WILL
take time for momentum and a critical mass to develop whereby the community becomes solid
and established. |