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Over time, creating an open and free online community could be a great way to bring in all of the top of funnel leads you'll ever need. Sound too good to be true? Maybe. It's a difficult question since you do not want such a high value from the unpaid community that paying members aren't enticed to join your paid membership community.
If there's already an active, non-profit community in your industry, do you have the unique value proposition to make people leave their current community they're comfortable being part of - the place they have friends and have a reputation - to be part of your community?
If so, power to ya. If not, consider what you could do to be part of that existing thriving community and be a valuable part of it. More on that in a moment. Two common platforms for creating an open community are Facebook Groups and discussion forums. If you go with Facebook it is recommended to create the use of a closed Facebook Group where non participants will be able to view that there is a group, but can't participate without having been approved by the group's organizer. If you have a completely public group, discussions are usually centered on the lowest common denominator and rapidly degenerate. You want to create an environment that is welcoming and friendly to encourage people to participate as they do in your subscription. Facebook has also hidden "secret", invite only group, however, you shouldn't require this because the site is a top of funnel source and absolutely need to be easily found.
The most significant drawback for users of Facebook is that you're being a part of another's sandbox. If they alter the rulesas they have been known to do in the past and your group could vanish within a short time. Having more control and assuming less risk is important, taking into consideration the time and effort it requires to build such a community. Discussion forums that are free to join 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.
Whatever way you choose, make sure to post the rules of your community and prepare to moderate discussion as needed. If you have moderators within the paid community, you can expand their territory to include patrolling the community that is free as well.
Once again, I strongly suggest establishing a formalized free or. paid-for content strategy. If you've created one in place, you are able to start the discussion within your free community using your free content and, in turn, increase the value of your membership in a non-pushy way.
No matter where you host a free community, you're going to need to devote a considerable amount of time into participating there at the very beginning. You need to be the one to establish yourself as the chief of the community and also an industry professional. Give a lot of value at the beginning and answer questions thoroughly and promptly. But as time passes along, as long as you've got an adequate number of members, you should remove yourself from the group that is free. As an example, inform your members know that you'll be around on Wednesdays and Fridays, to respond to questions and take part. If they'd prefer to talk to you sooner, there's always a person available to talk with them in your paid membership community forum.
It is also important to provide less detailed answers to inquiries as the time passes. Answer questions, through every means, but you shouldn't divulge the entire information as you would members who pay. Give a taste and then point the free community member to your membership that is paid for so they'll find the full solution to this question as well as other questions. It's also helpful if you can point to information within your membership which answers specific questions posed in your free group. As with any acquisition channel, you need a way to collect leads and bring potential customers into your marketing funnel, aka download your lead magnet, and then begin receiving your email nurture sequence. Make sure you do this.
Make sure that you're consistently advertising your paid membership in your free community. Be respectful, not pushy, or in-your-face about it. Instead, you should include links to your entire free material (which of course include lead magnets for opt-ins across the content) Podcast episodes, announcements of new features to your membership that you pay for, as well as promotional offers to encourage the conversions.
Only create a free community after very careful consideration on your part. This is a long-term endeavor similar to running your own show, however, if you're able to gain the momentum going, then you're off to the races toward the paid membership!
Participate as a leader within existing communities.
If there is any or more communities online that focus on your field of expertise You can join them and contribute regularly, aid others, and contribute the value rather than creating a new community by launching your own community.
The idea of this could be thought of as an extension of your social plan and it should be included as an element of your daily routine. Also it is important to have a checklist of Facebook and Twitter interactions that you wish to engage in over the course of a week. Make participating in these free community sites one of the primary points on your checklist. Put it on your calendar and keep it there, since if you're participation is sporadic, you're just wasting your time as you'll not be seen or get noticed with a significant impact.
In time, if you're consistent to this method, you'll earn a name as an expert who individuals will be interested in and seek out within these communities that are free. Please don't believe that you need to bombard someone else's community with spammy, salesy junk. It's an unintentional ticket to end of the road, courtesy of your organization's leader. Respect their rules and advertise your membership in the manner that is permitted and, as part of the organic approach to influencers the first priority is to become a positive person who provides a lot of value to your group.
Reddit and Quora
Reddit along with Quora are often overlooked treasures that function as a compass for people looking for anything online. I'd be astonished when you scoured these two sites and found nothing related to the topic of your membership.
Responding to questions to questions on Quora as well as Reddit related to your membership space creates an opportunity that continues giving. If you are a helpful site on both, people will find your replies repeatedly.
You can add participation on these sites to your social media plan checklist as well. Even if you check these sites once per month or once per quarter, establish some amount of engagement if your business area is mentioned on either website. Spend an hour searching those sites for questions you can respond to or threads where you can provide something useful to. If you can write up a dozen replies in that period of time, you've planted seeds that eventually will bear fruits as these questions and threads get referenced repeatedly in the future.
If you're visiting these websites, remember one of my golden principles of marketing: be first useful, and then even more helpful, then be extremely helpful, offering so much value you have no choice but that your intended audience pay you money for more of that sweet, sweet worth.