05. Building Successful Online Communities: Trust, Coaching, and Authenticity

What if I told you that the pioneer of membership websites on the internet started his career coaching teenagers with severe disabilities? That's exactly the incredible journey our guest, Ryan Lee, has gone through. In this episode, we dive into Ryan's unique story, exploring how his experiences working with disabled teens equipped him with a skill set that's proven invaluable in his work with some of the biggest names in the fitness and digital marketing world.

Together, we delve into the art of understanding and effectively marketing to target audiences without being overly explicit. Ryan shares the power of having a private community or forum for your customers, emphasizing the trust and shared experiences it can foster. We also touch on the importance of remembering that, no matter the topic, people are still human beings who may want to discuss other aspects of their lives. Join us for this insightful conversation with Ryan Lee and learn how to build strong, thriving communities that benefit both your business and your customers.

*The upcoach podcast is produced by Ventures FM.*

Episode Quotes:

The skillsets he developed while working with kids and teens with disabilities

It wasn't just kids and teens; it was kids and teens mostly with physical disabilities, but a lot of them had multiple disabilities. It taught me, first of all, to put things in perspective. When I would coach people, and they get stressed out over a little thing, I'm like, let's relax, we're good, we're going to get through this. In perspective, it's not really the worst thing in the world. 

It also taught me a lot of patience. And I know you've used this word a lot, and I love this word too, just grit and resilience. Seeing how much resilience they had and how hard they worked, and then kind of bringing this over to coaching and working with adults, it definitely set up a really strong foundation. 

How a private forum helped his membership business succeed

The biggest reason I think that the business succeeded was we had a private community, a forum. This was before Facebook, before social media, so it was a place where everyone could gather. But what was really cool about it with the coaching, I was kind of leading the charge, but other people were chiming in and helping each other. You could almost call it just accountability community, whatever you want to call it, but it became this kind of living organism, and people were just helping each other out, especially with skill sets that maybe I didn't have. I was a track athlete all through high school and college, and I was really good at sprinting and speed training, but if someone had a question about certain types of power lifts, someone else can say, "Oh well, make sure you do hip flexion on this movement." And it was really interesting to see that kind of phase one of my career coaching online fitness and strength and conditioning. The community was the shift where I'm like, okay, instead of just working with one person at a time, I can have thousands of members in there getting coaching, accountability, community, and I'm kind of bringing it all together, pulling the resources. 

The importance of trust in a community forum

If someone gets into a community, especially if you have a community forum or private group or Facebook group, and they're not the right fit, or they're aggressive, or whatever the vibe is that's just not fitting, you have to remove them quickly even if it means sacrificing some money. Some people are scared to turn away, but you have to. You have to do that. Because the reason my communities work is because it comes down to trust, right? They have to trust whoever the leader of the community is and who's kind of the face of it, and they have to know you're always going to have their back and you're always going to do what's best for them. If they think it's just a holding group, so you can charge your fifty dollars a month, and then you're going to sell them something more expensive down the road, they know. They're not dumb. So, you have to protect them against all this stuff, and they have to know you always have their back. 

Show Links:

• Ryan Lee’s website
• Ryan Lee in LinkedIn Profile
• Ryan Lee on Twitter
• Ryan Lee on Instagram
• Ryan Lee on Facebook