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Over time, creating an online community that is free and robust community can have the potential to generate all of the top of funnel leads that you'll ever require. Does it sound too good to be real? This could be true. It's a difficult question since you do not want to provide so much value through the free community that your members who don't pay have no reason to join your paid membership community.
In the event that there's a thriving, free community within your field Do you have an unique benefit proposition that can draw people away from the place they're already comfortable being part of - the place they've met people and built an established reputation to become part of yours?
If yes, good for ya. If not, you should think about what you could do to be part of that existing thriving community and make yourself a respected participant. More on that in a moment. Two platforms that are commonly used to build communities for free include Facebook Groups and discussion forums. If you go with Facebook, we recommend the use of a closed Facebook Group where non participants will be able to view that the group is there and can join in until they have been approved by Group's administrator. If you've got an open group, the conversations that happen often revolve on the lowest common denominator and rapidly degenerate. It is important to establish an inviting, welcoming environment to encourage people to participate as they do in your subscription. Facebook also offers completely hidden "secret", invite only group, however, you shouldn't require this because you're using it for an end-of-the-line source that must be found.
One of the biggest problems with Facebook is the fact that you're playing in the sandbox of someone else. If they alter the rulesas they have been known to do in the past, your community can vanish overnight. Having more control and assuming less risk is important, taking into consideration the time and effort required to create an effective community. A free to join discussion forum can also be a good community choice. Check if the software for forums you're using within your membership lets you create an independent community outside of the wall.
Either way, clearly post the rules of your community and prepare to moderate discussion as needed. If you have moderators inside the paid community, you can expand their responsibilities to include guarding your free community, too.
In conclusion, I would strongly suggest establishing a formalized free vs. paid content strategy. Once you have one in place, you are able to start discussion in your free community using your free content and thus encourage your paid membership without being pushy.
No matter where you host a free community there is a need to invest a significant amount of time into participating there particularly in the beginning. You need to make yourself the head of your group as well as the industry expert. Give a lot of value at the beginning and answer questions thoroughly and quickly. As time goes along, as long as you've got an adequate number of members and you are able to do so, then pull your participation in the free group back. For instance, let your members know that you'll be there on Fridays and Tuesdays for questions or to participate. If they'd like to speak with you earlier, there's always a person available to talk with them within your community of paid members forum.
You also need to leave more specific answers to your questions as time goes on. Provide answers, by any means, but do not offer the complete answer as you would to members who pay. Give a taste and then direct the community member toward your paid membership where they will find the complete solution to this question as well as other questions. It's also beneficial for you to provide the content in your membership that addresses specific questions asked in your group for free. Like any other acquisition channel, you need a way to attract leads as well as bring potential customers into your marketing funnel. Download your lead magnet and start getting your email nurture sequence. Don't skip this step.
Make sure that you're consistently marketing your paid membership to your free community. Be respectful, not pushy, or in-your-face about it, but putting links to your entire free content (which naturally have lead magnet opt-ins scattered throughout) Podcast episodes and announcements about the addition of your paid membership, and specific promotions that will help increase the conversions.
Create a community for free following careful consideration by you. This is a long-term endeavor, much like hosting your own podcast, however, if you're able to gain momentum, you can start the race for an annual membership fee!
Be a role model in your the existing community
If there is one or more free communities online that focus on your field of expertise, you could join there and frequently contribute to, assist others, and contribute value, rather than creating a new community by launching your own competing community.
The idea of this could be thought of as an extension of your social strategy , and is an integral an element of your daily routine. In other words, you should keep a list of the Facebook and Twitter interactions that you wish to have during the course of the week. Make participating in these free community sites one of the primary points on your list. Make it a priority to add it to your schedule and commit to it as if your involvement isn't consistent, you'll be wasting your time as you'll not be recognized or be noticed with a significant impact.
If you're persistent in this manner, you'll establish yourself as an authority who individuals will be interested in and seek out within those free communities. Do not believe me when I say you should go and bombard someone else's community with salesy, snarky emails. It's only one way to departure of the organization's leader. Follow their rules, only make your participation known as permitted in the organic approach to influencers the first priority is to be a helpful person that adds a lot of value to the group.
Reddit and Quora
Reddit as well as Quora are often overlooked gems that serve as an all-in-one resource for those seeking information on the web. I'd be flabbergasted by the results of a search on these two websites and didn't find anything relevant to your topic.
The ability to answer questions in Quora as well as Reddit related to your area of membership creates an opportunity that continues giving. If you're a useful site on both, people will find your responses over and over again.
It is possible to add participation on these sites in your social media strategies checklist as well. Even if you only check these sites once per month , or even once per quarter, make sure you have some sort of engagement if your business subject is covered on any site. Take an hour to search these sites to find questions that you could solve or threads that you could contribute something valuable to. If you can write up 12 responses in the hour, you've planted little seeds that eventually will bear fruit as those threads and questions are referenced repeatedly at some point in the future.
If you're visiting these websites keep in mind the golden rules of marketing: be first helpful, then be even more efficient, then become truly helpful in offering so much value there's no other option but for your target audience to pay you money for even more delicious, sweet worth.