In this episode, we’re hearing from Eager Beaver in Baltimore. Our writer today fell into the age-old myth: build it and they will come. Thankfully, they’ve since switched their mindset and realized that it takes a heck of a lot of consistent marketing to get people in their community and would like some advice.

To better help Eager Beaver in Baltimore, I invited Alli Ball, founder & CEO of Food Biz Wiz, as my guest expert. I couldn’t think of a better person for this episode than someone who has successfully marketed their paid community program for 10 YEARS, which is basically unheard of. Never mind that in that program, she teaches people how to market their products in the food industry. So, tune in for some insights about how to market your community effectively.

In this episode:

(03:52) When your free community turns out to be a mistake

(11:10) The free + paid community conundrum and Alli’s pop-up group solution

(16:50) The decision to create a community on Facebook

(20:14) The communitea: Eager Beaver in Baltimore’s letter

(27:23) The importance of setting clear expectations and strong boundaries in your online community

(38:44) Retail Ready®: a transformative community

(41:03) The drip sprinkler system marketing strategy for communities

(47:25) Layering in live launches with an evergreen sales system

(52:11) The evolution of Retail Ready®

Resources Mentioned:

🎙️ Listen to the Food Biz Wiz Podcast here!

🎧 Catch up with Episode 2 | Am I crazy to resist going from a cohort-based to a membership community model? to learn more about these two models.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Noteworthy quotes:

“If you are the leader of your community and you are the first person to respond to every post, first person to put a comment in there, to give advice, that's a dictatorship. That's not actually a community.“ - Alli Ball

“If the goal here is that I serve my community members with the best possible advice, most thoughtful responses, what boundaries do I need to put in place so that I can realistically deliver that?“ - Bri Leever

Alli Ball

🖥️ Website

📱 Linkedin

🤳 Instagram

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

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