One of the most common questions I get asked about is how I create video content.
Whenever I reply asking the other person why they want to create content, the responses are all based around wanting to grow either their:
- personal or business brand
- audience or following size
- revenue or customers
Each time I hear this, the same underlying word always comes to mind…
Community
Community is the foundation of achieving each of those outcomes.
And your content is the vessel to attract, build and connect your community.
At least, that's what I've learned after reflecting on building what's now known as The Storyteller Sprints.
It all just started with a handful of legends motivated to join a like-minded group who reached out to me after seeing my content.
And even though I still feel like I'm a beginner and continually learning how to improve our community experience, I've been sought out to:
- deliver guest lessons to hundreds of creators across the world;
- coach others on how to start building communities; and
- consult with businesses and brands looking to do the same
And the common thread I've found amongst everyone is how overwhelming it feels to get started.
So if you've been putting off starting to build your community because you think it's too difficult — then my friend, you're overcomplicating it (a lot).
🖥️ Cats & WFH office set-ups
Michael Francis connected with me via Instagram as we had a few mutual friends as well as shared interests in:
- our feline friends 🐱
- running an online business; and
- investing in our WFH office set-ups
In response to an email where I announced I was shifting to offering accountability-focused programs for content creation, Michael reached out to share he was keen to do a "content sprint."
As we were keen to form a small and tight-knit group, we started with Slack as our free private messaging platform for accountability.
Then Michael added in a like-minded legend called Charlie Ehlers, a TikTok creator, to kick off our first Sprint kick-off call.
🤳🏽 My non-cringey LinkedIn content
I was committed to growing my LinkedIn and in the process, attracting others who could join us with value-driven content.
Cringey LinkedIn content usually looks like
- A random selfie plus an unrelated or empty platitude
- "I'm so humbled to announce that [insert award/promotion]"
- "With a heavy heart, I'm sharing that I'm [insert resignation]"
As for my content, I sought to serve others (and not my ego).
In response to everyone who engaged with my content, I offered free Zoom consultation calls to understand their challenges, offer advice, and additional resources or to connect them with others in my network.
Over this time, Paolo Garde & Harshdeep Kaur shared that they were also looking to join a community focused on content creation so I knew they'd be perfect additions to our community.
And just like that — we had our founding members!
We used a suite of mostly free tools to keep us connected & accountable:
- Slack (Free): for updates & feedback messaging
- Google Calendar (Free): for scheduling video check-ins
- Zoom Pro (Paid): for hosting our video check-ins
- Notion (Free): for tracking our Sprint progress
Note: at the time of writing, Circle or Skool are a few great all-in-one paid alternatives. The reason I don't suggest starting with them for your community is that you (most likely) won't be generating income from the outset. So you should avoid paid options until you have certainty that you can monetise your community (i.e. memberships, cohorts, courses etc).
⛰️ I've launched! Now what?
If I'm 100% honest...I had no idea of what the overall direction of the community was when we first started.
I didn't have:
- a community-building game plan
- a guru mentor teaching me how to build it; or
- a $997 online course with step-by-step modules
Because the truth is — your community has never been built before.
You and your founding members will co-create your own unique:
- culture
- lingo
- rituals
- values
- vision
And this might sound a bit "woo" but heck — I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe it.
I just had a deep faith in myself that if I purely focused on:
- attracting the right group of people together;
- listening to feedback to make incremental improvements;
- helping them overcome their challenges & achieve their goals; and
- celebrating all of their wins — whether big or small
...then the community itself would guide me on how to shape and improve the experience for new and existing members.
If I truly knew just how much work would've been required to build it into what it is today, I honestly would never have started.
"You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain."
– Tom Hiddleston
So in summary, to start your community:
-
🧲 Content: Share content that attracts your ideal community members and when they engage or directly reach out, offer to understand their challenges and support them (for free)
-
👨🏽💻 Start Scrappy: Don't worry about using complicated paid tools, monetising your membership or needing to have everything "sorted". Your founding members will understand that you're just getting started.
-
🫱🏼🫲🏽 Co-Create: Focus on bringing together the right group of people, serve them as best possible, ask them for feedback/input and celebrate their wins, no matter how big or small.
Mamba