Building a Community and Finding Your Tribe

This post shares how to find a community and how to build an online community of your own.

A community can help you through a transition in your life.

A community can give you specific advice or support that not even your inner circle can provide.

A community can serve a purpose towards your personal growth or be a part of building your business. 

Community brings people together on a common goal, passion or purpose. 

And finding a community is more accessible with everything being online and building a community of your own is completely possible.

I share tips on how to find a community that you will want to get involved with and how to build a community of your own.

Find A Community

Your people are out there. You can find people who share your same passion for that cause you care deeply about. For the hobby that you can’t get enough of or that activity you can’t live without doing. 

Select a social media platform

You might already have a sense of which social platform you go to when you want to dive deeper into learning more about your interests. But now that you are intentionally looking to find a community, you need to make sure your profile represents you well. 

Here are some tips to get your profile ready:

• Check your profile picture; make sure it's clear and maybe add a pop of color to the background. It can help make your itty bitty picture stand out and make it memorable.
• Create a catchy headline; this could help get you noticed and attract other members in the community to you. 
• Double-check your email address; making sure it's the most recent one you use.

Know the In's and Outs of the Platform

To casually pop in and out of a social media platform is fine but to find a community you want to be a part of takes a bit more effort.  

Three ways to learn more about how to best use a social media platform:

1. Follow the official company profile or blog (here is an example from Discord)
2. FAQ or Help (Here is an example from LinkedIn)
3. Always a great resource; YouTube Videos. If you don’t know how to do something, there's a video for it. Trust.

Learning how to use the best features or reading about the latest updates to the platform can help you navigate around the platform faster. It can also give you a slight edge with community members. 

A community not only bonds over the common goals or interests but also about the platform they congregate on.

Use Hashtags or Keywords

Not all of the social media platforms use hashtags to round-up the most popular content that goes back to that word. But all social media platforms have a search bar. 

Use the search bar like how you would search on Google. 

Here is a little trick I like to use when searching for keywords.

1. Grab a pen and paper and start jotting down different keywords.
2. Type the first word and maybe the first couple of letters of the second word to the phrase and see what comes up. 
3. Typically search bars will provide suggestions- follow those suggestions!

Keep track of all of the keywords or hashtags that come up with good and relevant posts to what you are interested to learn more about.

Use the search bar like how you would search on Google. 

Here is a little trick I like to use when searching for keywords.

1. Grab a pen and paper and start jotting down different keywords.
2. Type the first word and maybe the first couple of letters of the second word to the phrase and see what comes up. 
3. Typically search bars will provide suggestions- follow those suggestions!

Keep track of all of the keywords or hashtags that come up with good and relevant posts to what you are interested to learn more about.

Follow Thought Leadership, influencers & Super Fans

You may have some favorites you follow already, so check out who they follow too. Community members will follow each other, so try to find out who rolls with who. 

You should also take note of the people who comment and show their support to the influencers or thought leadership in the community. Get to know these super fans. They are just as important as the people who are the main voices in the community. 

Get Involved in the Community

So at this point, you have zeroed in on an online community with a social media platform that you are knowledgeable about and comfortable being on. Now it’s time to get active!

Comment and Engage in Comments

If you want to get involved in a community, you need to comment or writing directly to the different people in the community.

Just liking someone’s post or tweet is not enough.

Really, there are no tricks around this action item. It will take time and effort, but the invest time will pay off. 

Leaving thoughtful comments (not just emojis or "great post!") or interacting with people in the community get your profile noticed.

Show Your Support By Showing up

Another way to support the people in your community is to attend their events. In-person or online.

Ever since the pandemic, an explosion of online virtual events has probably popped up on your feed. If an event is being hosted by someone you follow within your community, sign-up and show your support to them.

Share the details of the event in a post or tweet.  And ask if anyone else is attending the event. This is a great way to further connect with others by attending this event “together”.

How to Build a Community Online

Building your community will require you to put out short-form and long-form content. Why both? 

Short-form content are daily doses of your personal brand. 

Create short-form content

Short-form content is the perfect way for people to get to know who you are and to build trust with you. But consistency is the key to getting results. 

Creating video posts or showing up on audio platforms like Clubhouse are the fastest ways for people to get to know you. When people see you in action or listen to your words it can create an instant connection making easier to build that trust with your personal brand. 

Writing posts or tweets are still effective, but might take a little longer for people to get to know you. 

Create LONG-form content

Long-form content will help you establish a space of authority within a community. And if you are consistent with this type of content, it will be the building block for your community.  

Here are some suggested long-form content options:

• Podcast
• Blog
• Newsletter
• Videos 

Streaming is a Way to Build a Community

Steaming live is a way to connect with your community in real-time!

What makes a successful community is when everyone feels like they are seen, acknowledged, and heard. Streaming is the perfect medium that allows you to hit all of these points at once. 

With the ability for people to broadcast in real-time and interact with viewers, steaming has become a major tool for community building. 

"I've been in the social media and digital marketing since the Myspace days, and Live streaming is the most effective community building medium I've ever seen." Commented Travis Lachner, a multi-media producer and CEO of The Beast Node. 

A major bonus about live streaming is you can stream on multiple platforms all at once and repurpose the content into short-form content, like posts.  

Interested in learning how to master streaming to build your community? Check out the Livestream Producer Master Camp.

create a private online event- create fomo

It may seem a little counterproductive to create an event that is private or exclusive when talking about building a community, but sometimes you need to corral the most active members of your community.

With the super active members, they become your biggest supporters and can help spread the word about your community. They can play a significant role in building your community. 

So by creating a private event around your common interest is a sure-fire way for people to feel a deeper connection with one another. 

Platforms to Consider for Private Online Events:

• Private Facebook groups
• Discord
• Mighty Networks
• Slack

Conclusion

Finding a community when your life is in transition due to a career change, lay off, or launching a business can help you feel supported and not having to navigate this life moment alone. 

No one should have to figure out or navigate anything alone. That is what community is for.

With the accessibility of meeting new people through social media and the possibility of publishing long-form content online, building a community is very possible. 

I hope this post provides ways on how to build a community, get involved, and to build a community of your own.