WEBVTT 00:00:07.289 --> 00:00:10.710 Welcome to the Business Abundance Podcast, providing 00:00:10.710 --> 00:00:13.189 the tools and knowledge to help small business 00:00:13.189 --> 00:00:16.609 owners succeed. For additional resources, visit 00:00:16.609 --> 00:00:22.289 www .businessabundance .online. Hello, I'm Rhiannon. 00:00:23.109 --> 00:00:27.289 Hi, I'm Rowan. Hi, I'm Ian. Welcome back to the 00:00:27.289 --> 00:00:29.670 Business Abundance Podcast. Today we are talking 00:00:29.670 --> 00:00:31.410 about creating a community for your business. 00:00:31.690 --> 00:00:33.590 But what does this mean and why does it matter? 00:00:34.810 --> 00:00:38.899 Good question. But who are you? You're new. You're 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:43.000 not Zee. What happened? I'm Rhee. I turned my 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:45.979 head for a second. We changed Zee to Rhee. Changed 00:00:45.979 --> 00:00:49.920 Zee to Rhee. You know what could be good? Some 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:51.600 crackers and cheese. We'd have some brie with 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.719 Zee and Rhee. Yeah, so Zee's moved on to greener 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:57.679 pastures. Yeah. She's taking on the world. So 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:00.560 she's gone. Not playing golf. I think it's been 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:02.759 too cold for her to play golf from what she told 00:01:02.759 --> 00:01:05.969 me, which is apparently... A bit controversial 00:01:05.969 --> 00:01:09.209 at her local club, but yeah, so she's moved on 00:01:09.209 --> 00:01:12.810 to take on other opportunities, but Rhee has 00:01:12.810 --> 00:01:15.670 quickly replaced her. It's very convenient for 00:01:15.670 --> 00:01:17.750 you to get someone that rhymes with Zee. We didn't 00:01:17.750 --> 00:01:19.969 really know that till now. Yeah, that's awesome. 00:01:20.250 --> 00:01:21.590 Yeah, do you want to quickly introduce yourself, 00:01:21.769 --> 00:01:25.170 Rhee? Yeah, sure. My name's Rhiannon. I'm a Devonport 00:01:25.170 --> 00:01:28.150 local. I've just recently started with the Business 00:01:28.150 --> 00:01:30.590 Abundance team. So I've come from a bit of a 00:01:30.590 --> 00:01:32.549 varied background of customer service. I worked 00:01:32.549 --> 00:01:35.430 in... superannuation for a little while, worked 00:01:35.430 --> 00:01:37.310 with some cars for a little while as a service 00:01:37.310 --> 00:01:41.409 advisor. I do university on the side, so studying 00:01:41.409 --> 00:01:44.069 a Bachelor of Business with Economics, Finance 00:01:44.069 --> 00:01:46.930 and Trade. And in my spare time, I usually look 00:01:46.930 --> 00:01:49.730 after my family. Spare time? You told me you 00:01:49.730 --> 00:01:51.409 didn't have spare time. That's because all my 00:01:51.409 --> 00:01:53.489 spare time goes to university and my family. 00:01:55.329 --> 00:01:56.930 She's a busy little bee, so we can have more 00:01:56.930 --> 00:01:59.370 jobs to do with the podcast. That's good. That's 00:01:59.370 --> 00:02:03.170 fine. Welcome. Thank you. So today we're going 00:02:03.170 --> 00:02:05.010 to be talking about creating a community for 00:02:05.010 --> 00:02:07.209 your business, but what does this mean? What 00:02:07.209 --> 00:02:09.090 does it mean to have a community and why does 00:02:09.090 --> 00:02:12.009 it matter? So for most businesses we do what 00:02:12.009 --> 00:02:15.590 we do to help people achieve a goal or provide 00:02:15.590 --> 00:02:18.729 a service, fill a need in the market. So that's 00:02:18.729 --> 00:02:20.169 all well and good, but then often there are a 00:02:20.169 --> 00:02:21.930 lot of people out there in the community that 00:02:21.930 --> 00:02:24.090 want to do the same thing. Like think about if 00:02:24.090 --> 00:02:27.659 you sell eco -friendly products, you're... creating 00:02:27.659 --> 00:02:29.960 a good result for the world, but then there's 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:31.620 a lot of people that believe in being eco -friendly 00:02:31.620 --> 00:02:34.240 or do similar things or want to share what they 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:36.259 do, but they don't have a platform to do that. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:39.539 So being able to use your business and the contacts 00:02:39.539 --> 00:02:42.580 that you create to build a community is often 00:02:42.580 --> 00:02:44.699 a really, really good way to get others behind 00:02:44.699 --> 00:02:47.289 you. So for your business, what does that mean? 00:02:47.289 --> 00:02:49.030 It means more people talking about your business, 00:02:49.069 --> 00:02:51.030 more people that like your business, obviously 00:02:51.030 --> 00:02:53.150 a good bit of market research and information 00:02:53.150 --> 00:02:54.650 coming back from people about what they want, 00:02:54.650 --> 00:02:57.650 what they like, but a lot of things are better 00:02:57.650 --> 00:02:59.229 when you've got more people involved, it's more 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:01.169 fun. So there's lots of reasons to have a bit 00:03:01.169 --> 00:03:03.849 of community vibes happening. I think it's really 00:03:03.849 --> 00:03:07.389 good for growth for new businesses as well. There's 00:03:07.389 --> 00:03:09.530 a small, well it's not so small anymore, but 00:03:09.530 --> 00:03:12.750 it used to be a really small bath bomb business 00:03:12.750 --> 00:03:16.560 in Ballarat. Back when I lived there, I was walking 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:18.740 down through the mall one day and just waddled 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:21.780 in there just for a bit of a look. Waddled. It's 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:23.580 a word that doesn't get used enough. Waddled. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:26.620 Waddled. Yeah. So I went into this new store 00:03:26.620 --> 00:03:30.919 and I purchased a couple of little shower items, 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:32.639 kind of like a bath bomb, but like for the shower. 00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:34.960 It just makes it smell nice. How do you bath 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.460 bomb the shower? So they're called shower bombs. 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:39.360 And it's like... Oh, they spend all night thinking 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:41.990 that up. So are you hanging it over the shower 00:03:41.990 --> 00:03:43.710 head? No, it goes in the bottom of the shower 00:03:43.710 --> 00:03:45.930 and it just like, as it disintegrates in the 00:03:45.930 --> 00:03:48.129 water, it just makes everything smell really 00:03:48.129 --> 00:03:51.009 nice. So if you're sick, you can get like a eucalyptus 00:03:51.009 --> 00:03:52.889 one. So it's kind of like having Vicks, like 00:03:52.889 --> 00:03:55.129 having a, you know, how like you put your head 00:03:55.129 --> 00:03:56.629 in a bowl of water with like the Vicks in it 00:03:56.629 --> 00:03:58.009 when you're sick. That's pretty cool. It's like 00:03:58.009 --> 00:04:01.710 that, but for a shower. It's amazing. Try it. 00:04:02.150 --> 00:04:04.689 One use only, I'm assuming. Anyway, so I went 00:04:04.689 --> 00:04:07.210 into this store, purchased a few products, and 00:04:07.210 --> 00:04:10.370 as I was checking out, the owner was like, you 00:04:10.370 --> 00:04:12.610 know, hey, I'm gonna send you through an SMS 00:04:12.610 --> 00:04:14.110 and that's gonna have your receipt in it but 00:04:14.110 --> 00:04:16.930 it's also gonna have a link to our Facebook group. 00:04:17.170 --> 00:04:19.230 So you can upload photos of what your bath bombs 00:04:19.230 --> 00:04:21.850 look like and you can see what other people have 00:04:21.850 --> 00:04:23.910 used. You can see, you know, what fragrances 00:04:23.910 --> 00:04:27.269 people have liked the best. And yeah, just see 00:04:27.269 --> 00:04:29.430 recommendations for what everybody else has used 00:04:29.430 --> 00:04:32.149 all of their products for. So what started out 00:04:32.149 --> 00:04:35.509 as a really small little store turned into this 00:04:35.509 --> 00:04:38.189 huge group and there's now like 50 to 60 ,000 00:04:38.189 --> 00:04:40.939 people. in this group that just show pictures 00:04:40.939 --> 00:04:43.600 of their bath bombs. So let's go back a step. 00:04:44.019 --> 00:04:46.019 So they were a little store to start with? Is 00:04:46.019 --> 00:04:48.040 that where they started? Yeah, just a little 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:51.600 local store. And now they're selling online nationally. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:55.319 Yeah, with 50 to 60 ,000 people following them. 00:04:55.339 --> 00:04:58.060 Encouraging people to take photos in their shower. 00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:01.139 Anything's possible, folks. So what did they 00:05:01.139 --> 00:05:02.720 actually do? So they were obviously building 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:04.839 their community up a little bit with, hey, give 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:07.060 us your details and join this group. But what 00:05:07.060 --> 00:05:09.259 was that group? like what happened on the group. 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:12.199 It's just so that people can share photos of 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:14.300 what they've enjoyed about the different products 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:17.740 and people can also share feedback so it gives 00:05:17.740 --> 00:05:20.100 the owners like an opportunity to improve certain 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:22.079 items that might not be doing so well because 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.699 they can hear feedback directly from their consumers. 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:26.839 Yeah wow that's pretty interesting. Pretty good 00:05:26.839 --> 00:05:28.279 idea. And now you're telling me about telling 00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:31.639 it about it to us. Yeah. And we're sharing it 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:33.779 even larger. Interesting. We're miles away from 00:05:33.779 --> 00:05:36.220 Ballarat. Oh good example of a community there. 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:39.620 Yeah I think so. Ron, why do you think it might 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:41.939 be important to understand the community that's 00:05:41.939 --> 00:05:44.100 behind your business? Yeah, well, understanding 00:05:44.100 --> 00:05:45.579 what your clients want and what your clients 00:05:45.579 --> 00:05:48.420 like is 100 % important. If you get a little 00:05:48.420 --> 00:05:50.240 bit out of touch with that, you could be delivering 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:53.180 products or services that people don't want or 00:05:53.180 --> 00:05:55.360 don't quite need, or maybe they're not happy 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:57.500 with, like you mentioned, the bath bombs, if 00:05:57.500 --> 00:05:59.959 that particular product or type doesn't work 00:05:59.959 --> 00:06:03.000 very well. If you're not in touch with your community, 00:06:03.259 --> 00:06:05.439 you're not going to get that bad feedback. And 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:06.899 you're definitely not going to be able to stay 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:09.019 ahead of, oh, this is what people that did deal 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:11.720 with me, they like this now or this similar product. 00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:13.920 You're not going to be aware of the market shifting 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:17.860 whatsoever. Absolutely. You can keep your finger 00:06:17.860 --> 00:06:21.180 on the pulse. Yes, so to speak. In real time 00:06:21.180 --> 00:06:24.920 now, like 30 years ago. Could you please fill 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:27.379 in our little customer satisfaction survey? And 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:30.540 maybe we will get to you in three weeks. And 00:06:30.540 --> 00:06:34.180 now we have instantaneous feedback and photos. 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:37.180 Yeah. Do you think that it's important to target 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:39.800 the right audience as well? I think you find 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:41.459 your right audience with that method, really, 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:43.259 don't you? Yeah, well, you've got to find your 00:06:43.259 --> 00:06:45.139 audience before you find your product. Yeah. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:50.139 So if you're selling shower bombs, and I'd imagine 00:06:50.139 --> 00:06:52.800 anyone with a shower and a nose is probably going 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:55.899 to have a need, you're not going to know your 00:06:55.899 --> 00:06:58.160 audience until you start to get that feedback 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:01.040 from the community or your network, as it used 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.620 to be called. It seems we keep... We keep pivoting 00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:07.339 in marketing and advertising and we keep changing 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:11.939 terms, but it always seems to be that we're saying 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:14.139 the same thing in just a different way. So for 00:07:14.139 --> 00:07:16.699 the older business owners, think of your network. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:21.300 That's your community, except it's easier and 00:07:21.300 --> 00:07:26.240 more wide now with social media. That's an interesting 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.620 point. With social media, we're probably changing 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:32.040 the topic a little bit here, but thinking about 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:34.240 your network back in the day, You have a community 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:36.600 behind you, a network of people that you know 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:39.120 or supported you or liked you or thought you 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.959 were professional, good at what you do. And you 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:44.720 had to meet those people in person or by sending 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:46.680 them a letter and writing them. But now, you 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:48.680 know, social media is obviously a big leverage 00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:51.180 tool where you can put something out there and 00:07:51.180 --> 00:07:53.620 thousands of people can see it. Or in Rhiannon's 00:07:53.620 --> 00:07:55.980 story's case, she's walked into a shop, they've 00:07:55.980 --> 00:08:00.180 then put her into social media, leveraged her 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:02.410 100%. and everyone else and they've ended up 00:08:02.410 --> 00:08:04.110 with 50 ,000, 60 ,000 people around Australia 00:08:04.110 --> 00:08:07.470 and selling it. So, you know, your old network's 00:08:07.470 --> 00:08:09.110 a good example of the community and that could 00:08:09.110 --> 00:08:10.949 be an example of the community and the social 00:08:10.949 --> 00:08:13.689 media version is just a leveraged version. I 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:17.129 think it's much simpler now as well. And if you're 00:08:17.129 --> 00:08:19.410 not doing it, your competitor will be. Yeah. 00:08:19.629 --> 00:08:23.389 So get smart. I think even word of mouth on social 00:08:23.389 --> 00:08:26.370 media has evolved. Like where once upon a time, 00:08:26.430 --> 00:08:28.290 if you were giving a recommendation to a friend, 00:08:28.329 --> 00:08:30.110 you were giving a recommendation to just one 00:08:30.110 --> 00:08:33.159 friend and You know, they might then pass it 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:35.000 on to more people if they choose to recommend 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:37.279 it. But generally, if you're recommending someone 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:40.019 a product on social media, it's in a public space 00:08:40.019 --> 00:08:42.240 and anyone can see it. So it's potentially recommending 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:44.840 it to, you know, five, 10 other people at a time, 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:46.799 even when you're only posting it on one person's 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:49.860 status. Yeah, definitely. It's so true. The old 00:08:49.860 --> 00:08:52.159 rule of thumb used to be that if you did a really 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.700 good job, the person would tell two people. If 00:08:55.700 --> 00:09:00.000 you did a really bad job, they'd tell 10. So... 00:09:00.619 --> 00:09:03.360 Now, it's a lot harder to measure how many people. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:04.759 Time is both by a thousand, really? It really 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:09.440 is. Yeah. If you happen to sell a shower bomb 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:12.600 to a social media influencer who's got 10 ,000 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:16.480 people on their Instagram, sky's the limit. Yeah. 00:09:16.580 --> 00:09:18.159 Anyway, that's a really good example of a community 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:20.700 and why a business should build one. It's not 00:09:20.700 --> 00:09:22.820 just the growth of the business, 100%. That's 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:25.990 a good thing. There's obviously value for people 00:09:25.990 --> 00:09:28.389 to join that group because otherwise they wouldn't 00:09:28.389 --> 00:09:32.129 have 50 or 60 ,000 people in that group. So what 00:09:32.129 --> 00:09:34.370 other benefits do you think a business can gain 00:09:34.370 --> 00:09:37.509 from creating a group like that? Pivot points. 00:09:37.950 --> 00:09:40.529 If the market changes, you're going to find out 00:09:40.529 --> 00:09:42.809 straight away. Yeah, so you think it can give 00:09:42.809 --> 00:09:46.950 you insight into the activities of your customers? 00:09:47.129 --> 00:09:51.049 It's split testing, any sort of market research. 00:09:51.259 --> 00:09:53.460 is instantaneous feedback. Instead of getting 00:09:53.460 --> 00:09:55.220 a focus group together, you just click a button 00:09:55.220 --> 00:09:57.779 online. True. I suppose if you've got people 00:09:57.779 --> 00:10:00.899 talking about what you do or what the group is 00:10:00.899 --> 00:10:03.659 about, they're going to bring in new ideas, new 00:10:03.659 --> 00:10:06.000 examples. Oh, gee, I wish we had this or check 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.860 this thing that we did. Yeah. Or here's a different 00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:10.899 type of product we think everyone would like. 00:10:11.179 --> 00:10:13.340 You're going to get a lot of information about 00:10:13.340 --> 00:10:15.960 that, aren't you? Yep. It's low cost too. So 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:18.080 you're getting a lot of information without having 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:20.720 to put a lot of effort or money into it as well. 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:23.399 Yeah, definitely. So long term, the advertising 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:26.120 cost is pretty much nil and you're growing that 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:28.779 network without doing too much effort. So then 00:10:28.779 --> 00:10:31.279 you've got that side of things, but you've also 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:33.460 got the security of your business. So something 00:10:33.460 --> 00:10:35.519 that's important for a business to have as a 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:39.240 niche, which you're not competing directly with 00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:42.070 another business. One electrical company that 00:10:42.070 --> 00:10:44.230 puts power points into walls competes with another 00:10:44.230 --> 00:10:46.129 electrical company that puts power points into 00:10:46.129 --> 00:10:49.929 walls. And you have XYZ business just replicating 00:10:49.929 --> 00:10:53.129 itself doing exactly the same thing, and it's 00:10:53.129 --> 00:10:54.710 a race to the bottom with the cheapest price, 00:10:54.970 --> 00:10:57.610 or you can factor in who likes who more and things 00:10:57.610 --> 00:10:59.049 like that, but fundamentally they're the same 00:10:59.049 --> 00:11:01.409 business. But if you can figure out, well, we 00:11:01.409 --> 00:11:04.549 specialize in this type of XYZ service, and this 00:11:04.549 --> 00:11:07.190 is what we're about, you can start sort of forging 00:11:07.190 --> 00:11:10.039 some niches for your business. If you have a 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:12.539 big community group like this behind your business, 00:11:12.820 --> 00:11:15.159 in the case of the bath bombs, that's pretty 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:17.159 safe. Is someone going to come along and take 00:11:17.159 --> 00:11:20.120 your market off you? Pretty unlikely. If bath 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:21.879 bombs become illegal, let's say shower bombs 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:23.960 are illegal because they're using some dodgy 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:25.480 materials and they're putting it down to the 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:27.080 drains and it's killing all the fish in the river, 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:30.440 then they still have this big group of people 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:33.759 that wish to buy. that sort of product. So you 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:35.620 can then go, okay, well let's find something 00:11:35.620 --> 00:11:37.399 else that's going to fulfill that need and you 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:39.220 don't have to require those clients again. You've 00:11:39.220 --> 00:11:40.620 got all these people to help you with the right 00:11:40.620 --> 00:11:42.399 ideas. You can even go lucky and send market 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:45.519 research. Hey, we can't sell these anymore because 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.419 of XYZ. How does anyone know of something else 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:51.659 that's suitable? These people can't, won't necessarily 00:11:51.659 --> 00:11:53.779 want to start their own business and do it themselves, 00:11:53.879 --> 00:11:55.799 but they're happy to be a part of you've been 00:11:55.799 --> 00:11:57.740 able to provide that to everyone. They already 00:11:57.740 --> 00:11:59.690 know, like and trust you as well. Yeah. As a 00:11:59.690 --> 00:12:01.649 business. So if you've built a community of 60 00:12:01.649 --> 00:12:03.830 ,000 people, pretty sure they're not just there 00:12:03.830 --> 00:12:06.409 for the bath bombs. Yeah. Because they trust 00:12:06.409 --> 00:12:08.629 your brand. Yep. And it's probably something 00:12:08.629 --> 00:12:10.690 slightly bigger. It's not just the bath bombs, 00:12:10.789 --> 00:12:12.909 but it's probably they like smelling nice and 00:12:12.909 --> 00:12:15.330 they like a bit of pampering and it's been able 00:12:15.330 --> 00:12:17.090 to communicate with other people that like the 00:12:17.090 --> 00:12:18.610 same things because maybe in their household 00:12:18.610 --> 00:12:20.950 no one cares. So they get to be part of something 00:12:20.950 --> 00:12:23.590 bigger. It's also you look at it from the perspective 00:12:23.590 --> 00:12:25.490 of being sold something and people hate being 00:12:25.490 --> 00:12:28.179 sold, but they love to buy. If they're touching 00:12:28.179 --> 00:12:30.159 base with your community, whether it's online, 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:32.899 with social media, or it's an email newsletter, 00:12:32.980 --> 00:12:34.940 or you're doing the occasional Facebook Live 00:12:34.940 --> 00:12:40.039 to share, or a TikTok, or whatever platform you're 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:43.840 using, they're tuning in to hear what you have 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:46.679 to say. And if they've shopped once, they'll 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:50.379 shop again. So if you do have to pivot, if you 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:52.279 say, okay, well, this ingredient is terrible. 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:54.779 we've got this new product coming out. It's shaped 00:12:54.779 --> 00:12:56.960 like a dolphin. You can watch the little dolphin 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:59.539 dissolve at the bottom of your shower. You're 00:12:59.539 --> 00:13:01.700 like, oh, that's a great idea. Well, we don't 00:13:01.700 --> 00:13:04.000 want to see a dolphin dissolve. Make it a heart. 00:13:04.700 --> 00:13:08.659 I'm getting over a breakup. Oh, that's funny. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:11.240 So yeah, we've got a couple of different reasons 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:13.879 there. One's growth, one's been able to change, 00:13:14.019 --> 00:13:15.980 one's been able to be a bit more secure with 00:13:15.980 --> 00:13:17.799 your business. But you know, there's a greater 00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:20.559 good as well. It's about making something bigger 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.379 than your business. giving people a platform. 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:26.159 People buy. Yeah. And people want to deal with 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:28.899 people, not a robot. Yep. So, you know, just 00:13:28.899 --> 00:13:30.460 can make you feel good about yourself. You would 00:13:30.460 --> 00:13:31.820 be building something that's a bit bigger than 00:13:31.820 --> 00:13:34.580 your business and make your income pretty strong 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:36.519 and make your growth pretty good too. Makes a 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:39.159 lot of people happy. We're a social animal. So 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.259 what sort of advice would you give to a business 00:13:41.259 --> 00:13:43.179 that's wanting to start their own community? 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:48.720 A good question. Be yourself. Yeah. Because it's 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:51.210 really hard to keep up a fake persona. So if 00:13:51.210 --> 00:13:54.830 you're a business owner, be you. Let people see 00:13:54.830 --> 00:13:58.350 the real you. And what's the saying? Your vibe 00:13:58.350 --> 00:14:01.769 will attract your tribe. Yeah. Definitely be 00:14:01.769 --> 00:14:06.509 yourself and show people behind the scenes. But 00:14:06.509 --> 00:14:10.909 community waters out. That's not you. It's a 00:14:10.909 --> 00:14:14.830 group of people that might have leaders, might 00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:16.769 not have leaders, but fundamentally a group of 00:14:16.769 --> 00:14:20.899 people that have something in common. The number 00:14:20.899 --> 00:14:23.679 one rule is the purpose of the community. What's 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:27.240 the community solving? We talked to a client 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:31.679 last week that's in their sort of energy space. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.659 They do energy efficient products, renewable 00:14:34.659 --> 00:14:37.399 energy and cool technology and things like that. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.879 We were talking about how can we help them build 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:42.159 a community. And then they gave a few different 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:43.940 examples. There were communities already set 00:14:43.940 --> 00:14:46.759 up around electric vehicles. People in different 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:48.740 states, if you've got an electric vehicle, you're 00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:50.519 probably part of one of those groups on Facebook. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:53.840 People like to show their range and their charging 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:55.899 stations and their car and where they took it 00:14:55.899 --> 00:14:57.840 and what they towed and all those sort of things. 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:00.019 That's, you know, probably their friends don't, 00:15:00.019 --> 00:15:01.679 not too fussed about, but other people with electric 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.080 vehicles just love. So we're talking about how 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:05.740 can we do that with them? And then the first 00:15:05.740 --> 00:15:07.799 thing is like, well, you know, what's the purpose? 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:10.090 What are we? What are we looking for? We're looking 00:15:10.090 --> 00:15:12.870 to give a platform to people that they're interested 00:15:12.870 --> 00:15:15.990 in energy, they're interested in better lifestyles 00:15:15.990 --> 00:15:19.470 and maybe efficiency. Maybe it's just a better 00:15:19.470 --> 00:15:22.509 level of comfort, but particularly in the state 00:15:22.509 --> 00:15:25.629 that they're in. So defining a community is definitely 00:15:25.629 --> 00:15:27.309 the first bit, and it's not necessarily this 00:15:27.309 --> 00:15:29.629 is my business, this is what we do, but what 00:15:29.629 --> 00:15:32.250 are people interested in? Yeah, you've got to 00:15:32.250 --> 00:15:33.590 have a goal, don't you? You've got to have a 00:15:33.590 --> 00:15:36.509 target, so you can't just be a bit wishy -washy. 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:42.980 The wishy -washy. The Cheshire Cat scene in Alice 00:15:42.980 --> 00:15:45.139 in Wonderland always makes me giggle. It's a 00:15:45.139 --> 00:15:48.740 good analogy for business. She's a bit lost. 00:15:49.059 --> 00:15:51.179 She's walking through the forest. Cheshire Cat 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:53.379 appears. She's like, oh, I can't find my way. 00:15:53.559 --> 00:15:55.720 I don't know what I'm doing. And the Cheshire 00:15:55.720 --> 00:15:59.059 Cat's, well, where are you headed? I'm not really 00:15:59.059 --> 00:16:00.759 sure. How can you find your way if you don't 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:03.360 know where you're going? So define what you want 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:05.700 from a community. would be a good first step. 00:16:05.700 --> 00:16:07.899 Yeah, definitely. So define what you want and 00:16:07.899 --> 00:16:09.600 then look to see if there's a common purpose 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:11.820 that other people share or would be interested 00:16:11.820 --> 00:16:14.279 in. And then if you've got those two things, 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.200 then you've probably got a good place to start. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:18.899 What advice would you give to someone looking 00:16:18.899 --> 00:16:20.980 to choose a platform to create their community 00:16:20.980 --> 00:16:25.600 on? What platform? That's fluid, isn't it? Yeah, 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:28.220 so I guess it goes back to who's the community. 00:16:29.620 --> 00:16:32.000 four who's in the community. So the target audience. 00:16:32.299 --> 00:16:34.580 Yeah. So if, you know, people can't use computers, 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:36.940 you probably won't use the social media, but 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:39.679 you can have groups, you can have a local business 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:41.320 here. They do every Wednesday night, they do 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:43.419 a shop ride, they sell mountain bikes and they 00:16:43.419 --> 00:16:46.000 do a shop ride every week. And sometimes that's 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:49.539 just them out in the shop going for a ride after 00:16:49.539 --> 00:16:51.980 work. And sometimes it's 20 people, you know, 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:53.639 might buy bikes from them, might not buy bikes 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:55.340 from them, but they go to a trail and they do 00:16:55.340 --> 00:16:56.820 it every week. And it's a pretty cool little 00:16:56.820 --> 00:16:59.919 community there. So you don't have to just think, 00:16:59.980 --> 00:17:02.779 you know, it's in technology, we use social media, 00:17:02.940 --> 00:17:05.039 but it can be something where people go to the 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:06.519 same place. It could be a newsletter. It could 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:10.259 be a group. It could just be a meeting and an 00:17:10.259 --> 00:17:13.240 office location. So a platform is who's going 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:15.700 to be in your community. What do they use and 00:17:15.700 --> 00:17:17.240 what's going to be easiest for everyone. There's 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:19.359 no point in making a whole new platform that 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:21.400 people have to use just to be in your community. 00:17:21.619 --> 00:17:24.039 If there's something else there like a... Facebook 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:26.039 group that everyone's on Facebook and everyone's 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:27.759 gonna see it's pretty easy like the bath bombs 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:31.000 Go for it. Mm -hmm I think Facebook kind of gives 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:34.160 you a bit of guaranteed traffic as well because 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:36.299 there's already so many users that are on that 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:38.339 platform So it's easy for them to kind of stumble 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:40.940 upon it or to be referred to by friends Just 00:17:40.940 --> 00:17:42.700 because it already has such a large user base. 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:44.319 Yeah, definitely at the moment It's pretty easy 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:46.759 to use and well received depending on the age 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:51.940 group of your target audience the under 20s Not 00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:55.460 so much using Facebook as much anymore. TikTok 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:59.339 and Instagram and Snapchat. Yeah, with some of 00:17:59.339 --> 00:18:00.880 those other ones just figuring out how you'd 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:02.779 actually allow people to communicate with one 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:04.799 another. Sounds tricky. That's the number one 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:06.160 part of the platform. They could be able to talk 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:08.660 to one another. Yeah. And I think Facebook has 00:18:08.660 --> 00:18:10.990 some pretty, pretty good. parts in that area 00:18:10.990 --> 00:18:12.890 like if you go into a group they have little 00:18:12.890 --> 00:18:14.809 badges people get so if they've invited a lot 00:18:14.809 --> 00:18:16.529 of members they get like a recruitment badge 00:18:16.529 --> 00:18:19.609 and I'm a super fan yeah super fan fan badges 00:18:19.609 --> 00:18:21.990 if you comment a lot yeah yeah um and if you're 00:18:21.990 --> 00:18:24.069 like conversation starter because you you post 00:18:24.069 --> 00:18:26.529 and then people reply to you gamifying gamifying 00:18:26.529 --> 00:18:28.930 what's that one they're gamifying it yeah that's 00:18:28.930 --> 00:18:31.970 100 yeah they're making a game and that's that's 00:18:31.970 --> 00:18:34.109 pivoting with your audience we know that we know 00:18:34.109 --> 00:18:36.410 that kids learn differently now and that next 00:18:36.410 --> 00:18:41.109 generation have grown up with screens and social 00:18:41.109 --> 00:18:44.309 media. I couldn't imagine that. But I think some 00:18:44.309 --> 00:18:46.470 of the highest users now of Facebook, and correct 00:18:46.470 --> 00:18:49.150 me if I'm wrong, I could be wrong, but the last 00:18:49.150 --> 00:18:52.650 time I had a look that people over 50 are by 00:18:52.650 --> 00:18:54.910 far the heaviest users of social media. Especially 00:18:54.910 --> 00:18:56.910 Facebook. Yeah, and they say it's the kids, but 00:18:56.910 --> 00:18:58.750 the kids are on various things, but they're also 00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:00.789 doing other things. And the older people are 00:19:00.789 --> 00:19:02.710 definitely hammering it these days. A lot of 00:19:02.710 --> 00:19:04.930 schools are banning the use within like school 00:19:04.930 --> 00:19:07.930 time as well. Yes, they should. Yes. You're opening 00:19:07.930 --> 00:19:10.150 the liquor cabinet to kids. Yeah, and we're not 00:19:10.150 --> 00:19:13.809 going to talk about that today. No. A can of 00:19:13.809 --> 00:19:16.529 worms there. Do you think it's important to choose 00:19:16.529 --> 00:19:19.450 a good title if you're going to make an online 00:19:19.450 --> 00:19:21.089 group such as a Facebook group? Yeah, it's got 00:19:21.089 --> 00:19:23.549 to be people who understand what it is. But the 00:19:23.549 --> 00:19:26.750 title doesn't matter so much, depending on how 00:19:26.750 --> 00:19:29.359 you're doing it. Intent, the key, isn't it? Yeah. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:32.000 So if you're relying on social media to make 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:33.480 the group grow, it's got to be super clear what 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:34.960 the group is because people are going to search 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:37.619 for it and find it. But if people are ending 00:19:37.619 --> 00:19:40.240 up in the group because of some other reason, 00:19:40.579 --> 00:19:43.160 as in we bought XYZ or we've got this type of 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:45.160 product and they've been invited to the group, 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:48.859 the name doesn't matter as much. But like any 00:19:48.859 --> 00:19:50.799 name, it's good to be descriptive. You probably 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:54.319 don't want secret group one, two, three. Hashtag. 00:19:55.539 --> 00:19:57.359 Because I don't think that explains, I don't 00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:58.819 think people want to be part of secret group 00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:01.720 123 or it's going to be a certain type of person. 00:20:02.579 --> 00:20:05.819 But electric vehicles, electric vehicle group 00:20:05.819 --> 00:20:09.700 Queensland. A perfect example is if you're driving 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:11.400 traffic to the group from buying a bath bomb 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:14.539 and getting a QR code, for instance, the name 00:20:14.539 --> 00:20:17.579 is probably not as important. You still want 00:20:17.579 --> 00:20:19.279 to tie it to what the product is or what the 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:22.339 brand is. Whereas if you are using social media 00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:26.859 to try and drive traffic to your group, the name 00:20:26.859 --> 00:20:28.119 is probably going to be a bit more important. 00:20:28.380 --> 00:20:30.980 Yeah, I think a lot of the contents and what 00:20:30.980 --> 00:20:32.259 people get out of it is a lot more important 00:20:32.259 --> 00:20:36.440 than the name. So how would you go about getting 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:39.960 people engaged in a community? Be interesting. 00:20:41.140 --> 00:20:42.859 So creating good content, do you think that's 00:20:42.859 --> 00:20:45.559 important? Absolutely. I think that's part of 00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:47.740 it as far as you've got to be able to have, if 00:20:47.740 --> 00:20:49.859 you're starting the content from scratch, so 00:20:49.859 --> 00:20:51.480 how do you get people engaged? You've got to 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:54.029 start it. but if you're getting the right people 00:20:54.029 --> 00:20:56.730 into your community, they're going to assist. 00:20:57.509 --> 00:21:01.549 And then at some stage, so really, you do have 00:21:01.549 --> 00:21:02.950 to have a plan, just before I go on to the next 00:21:02.950 --> 00:21:04.970 step, you do have to have a plan of, okay, well, 00:21:04.990 --> 00:21:06.650 how are we going to get people engaged? How are 00:21:06.650 --> 00:21:08.430 we going to give some content? Like, what's going 00:21:08.430 --> 00:21:10.609 to get that up and running? But after that point, 00:21:10.890 --> 00:21:13.789 you're going to have that content and engagement 00:21:13.789 --> 00:21:16.930 coming from the community. And that's the whole 00:21:16.930 --> 00:21:19.480 point. The difference between your business and 00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:21.420 putting something out there for people to consume 00:21:21.420 --> 00:21:24.500 and having a community is that the community 00:21:24.500 --> 00:21:26.539 is looking after itself. People have a common 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:28.980 goal, they're getting something beneficial from 00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:31.259 it. So if you're just giving content, content, 00:21:31.380 --> 00:21:33.400 content, look at me, look at me, look at me, 00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:36.319 well people, unless they really love you, aren't 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.819 going to like that. If you're facilitating a 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:41.799 way for them to show what they've done or what 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:45.200 they've found or to help other people or do whatever 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:47.900 it is that... within that community, that is 00:21:47.900 --> 00:21:49.779 the engagement and that is the content we're 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:53.299 looking for. And then your role as a business 00:21:53.299 --> 00:21:55.220 or you don't have to be a business owner to do 00:21:55.220 --> 00:21:58.700 this is to facilitate that along with other people. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:01.559 Keep the conversation going. Yeah, 100%. So, 00:22:01.579 --> 00:22:03.640 you know, maybe people need some advice that 00:22:03.640 --> 00:22:06.099 needs a professional. You could do that as far 00:22:06.099 --> 00:22:07.720 as content. So there's some value for people 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:09.400 being in that group aside from just being able 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:11.599 to share what they like. Maybe you have some 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:14.420 interesting. Projects or jobs or products that 00:22:14.420 --> 00:22:16.700 you've done recently just to because I super 00:22:16.700 --> 00:22:18.279 interesting that you can show people I check 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:21.000 this out a bit behind the scenes Early doors 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:24.119 you could it's all about value really. So give 00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:26.779 it away. What do you know that maybe people don't 00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:31.000 know? Yeah about your product or What what stumbling 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:34.099 blocks of people found using your products? Yeah, 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.910 do some interesting content based around I made 00:22:37.910 --> 00:22:39.829 this mistake over here when I was installing 00:22:39.829 --> 00:22:42.109 this. Don't make this mistake. Here's a simple 00:22:42.109 --> 00:22:43.869 guide. We had this problem today, you know, how 00:22:43.869 --> 00:22:45.829 would you fix it? Yep. And I think it's just 00:22:45.829 --> 00:22:47.309 important to understand that it's a community. 00:22:47.470 --> 00:22:49.250 So these people are not necessarily buying from 00:22:49.250 --> 00:22:51.130 you. We talked about how it can help your business 00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:53.049 grow and it can be good for your business, but 00:22:53.049 --> 00:22:54.930 they could be people that just do it themselves. 00:22:55.130 --> 00:22:57.410 They're never going to be a client. But what 00:22:57.410 --> 00:23:00.009 does that mean if they know someone who should 00:23:00.009 --> 00:23:02.029 do it? They're not going to do it for them. They're 00:23:02.029 --> 00:23:03.609 going to say, hey, go deal with this business. 00:23:04.219 --> 00:23:06.480 So it's not just customers there, it's referrers 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:08.240 and whatnot. So giving them that free value, 00:23:08.299 --> 00:23:09.700 there's nothing wrong with that. You're not going 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:12.000 to be taking work away from yourself. People 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:13.240 want to do something themselves, they're going 00:23:13.240 --> 00:23:15.220 to find a way to do it anyway. People love to 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:17.200 be heard. Yep, and that's part of the community. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:19.839 We're facilitating the voice. Do you think there 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:22.039 are any particular issues that people might come 00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:24.700 across trying to create a community? There's 00:23:24.700 --> 00:23:28.299 always issues. Depending on where you're building 00:23:28.299 --> 00:23:30.720 it, there's always going to be trolls on social 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:33.160 media. We'll just start with those. Yeah, that's 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:35.299 one. issue that jumps straight to... So what's 00:23:35.299 --> 00:23:38.799 a troll? So somebody who is sitting behind their 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:41.119 keyboard and the only reason they're on their 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:43.480 keyboard is to go through social media and start 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:47.500 arguments or try to bring people down. Yep. And 00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:49.079 there are two schools of thought on the trolls. 00:23:49.099 --> 00:23:53.839 You either block them, ignore them or you engage 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:58.079 heavily with the troll but you don't stoop to 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:03.779 their level. So you can, due to... Due to conversations 00:24:03.779 --> 00:24:06.880 in social media, the more comments you have, 00:24:06.900 --> 00:24:09.619 the more eyes are on it. So if there's a particularly 00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:11.640 nasty troll who's deciding that your brand is 00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:13.680 the one they're going to target, engage them 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:15.579 in a polite conversation from your side of the 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:18.579 thing. Let them look like the troll that they 00:24:18.579 --> 00:24:22.279 are while you appear to be the level -headed, 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:26.099 kind business owner that you are. Keep the conversation 00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:28.559 going. And if you've got a pretty solid community, 00:24:29.609 --> 00:24:31.710 you're gonna have to, you'll stop talking eventually 00:24:31.710 --> 00:24:33.509 because you'll have all your fans coming in going, 00:24:33.869 --> 00:24:36.390 you're nuts, this is crazy. Let your fans be 00:24:36.390 --> 00:24:39.890 the people that then argue with the troll after 00:24:39.890 --> 00:24:43.490 you've sort of been quite polite. So this reminds 00:24:43.490 --> 00:24:45.470 me of a story from, this is going back about 00:24:45.470 --> 00:24:49.170 nine years, so social media was newer then, not 00:24:49.170 --> 00:24:52.930 new, but newer, and they had a, what I would 00:24:52.930 --> 00:24:56.130 say is a very unreasonable customer post very 00:24:56.130 --> 00:25:00.130 publicly. and spread that around, some bad feedback 00:25:00.130 --> 00:25:02.569 about this business, which probably wasn't quite 00:25:02.569 --> 00:25:05.750 true and probably wasn't quite fair. And they 00:25:05.750 --> 00:25:07.369 were very well known in their community, their 00:25:07.369 --> 00:25:09.490 large volume of traffic, they were a supermarket, 00:25:09.630 --> 00:25:13.390 so a lot of customers. And it was a bloodbath, 00:25:13.470 --> 00:25:15.990 like on this person who posted the bad feedback, 00:25:16.450 --> 00:25:18.750 by the next day, this is about nine o 'clock 00:25:18.750 --> 00:25:21.589 at night, from my memory. By the next morning 00:25:21.589 --> 00:25:25.930 when we saw it, it had 500 or 600 posts and 99 00:25:25.930 --> 00:25:28.829 % of them were people smashing the person who 00:25:28.829 --> 00:25:31.349 gave that bad feedback and was taking the business 00:25:31.349 --> 00:25:35.869 on. So I think Trolls, we're talking about social 00:25:35.869 --> 00:25:37.630 media in a group there, but let's just say someone 00:25:37.630 --> 00:25:41.849 who's not been positive or not been maybe adhering 00:25:41.849 --> 00:25:44.490 to how the group wants to act. It's about having 00:25:44.490 --> 00:25:47.170 some form of administration in place to deal 00:25:47.170 --> 00:25:52.690 with that. politely play along and and not suit 00:25:52.690 --> 00:25:55.190 the level but um otherwise block and delete and 00:25:55.190 --> 00:25:56.529 you know that's what you have moderators for 00:25:56.529 --> 00:25:58.890 for any group so if you if you're doing a in 00:25:58.890 --> 00:26:00.829 -person activity then you've got people that 00:26:00.829 --> 00:26:02.390 aren't necessarily your business they can be 00:26:02.390 --> 00:26:05.279 from the community you think of parkrun. So park 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:07.380 runs are definitely a community event and they 00:26:07.380 --> 00:26:10.259 have five or six or seven volunteers required. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:12.000 I don't know how many but they're always looking 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.559 for people just to do that park run for people 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:17.279 on a Saturday morning wherever it is. So that's 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:19.759 a good example of one that's in person and then 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:21.240 those people are there to ensure a little bit 00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:23.480 of safety. They're there to ensure that people 00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:25.920 generally behave but then you've also got all 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:28.039 the people that are participating that are working 00:26:28.039 --> 00:26:30.420 on that as well. So don't be too afraid of the 00:26:30.420 --> 00:26:32.339 bad eggs. You will get them. It's just a matter 00:26:32.339 --> 00:26:34.259 of letting the community deal with it. Just don't 00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:37.200 ignore them. One way or the other, you need to 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:39.859 address it. The amount of times you see a Google 00:26:39.859 --> 00:26:42.240 listing, for instance, where someone might have 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:45.000 had a less than favorable interaction with your 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:47.900 brand and given one star and they might have 00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:50.059 gone out to a restaurant, for instance, and the 00:26:50.059 --> 00:26:52.299 dessert wasn't quite what they expected. And 00:26:52.299 --> 00:26:54.680 some people overreact and go, one star, sorry. 00:26:54.859 --> 00:26:56.559 The main meal was fantastic, but the dessert 00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:59.640 was terrible. one star and then the restaurant 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:02.339 doesn't engage in it, doesn't respond. A simple, 00:27:02.519 --> 00:27:05.440 we're sorry you had such an experience or even 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:07.680 just saying, you know, here you go, let the person 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:09.920 know that they've been heard. But if you ignore 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:12.180 it, a lot of people will read those reviews and 00:27:12.180 --> 00:27:13.960 go, well, they haven't even responded. Yeah, 00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:16.359 definitely. It's subconscious negative. No one 00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:18.539 wants to be left out. No. But you're going back 00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:20.299 to the community side of things, you know, it's 00:27:20.299 --> 00:27:22.019 not a direct one -on -one with your business 00:27:22.019 --> 00:27:23.700 necessarily. It's not a community about your 00:27:23.700 --> 00:27:25.839 business. It's a community for the greater good 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:27.960 of a group of people. So you generally don't 00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:29.680 have too many people going out there trying to 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:31.539 smash your community. Like this is not going 00:27:31.539 --> 00:27:34.519 to happen. And if it does, it's definitely an 00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:36.500 issue much bigger than you. It's not for you 00:27:36.500 --> 00:27:38.559 to sort out. But problems making the community, 00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:40.079 the number one problem most people are going 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:42.960 to have is that building it. Getting it started 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:44.740 like anything, getting something started is the 00:27:44.740 --> 00:27:47.000 hardest thing. So, and then that's where as a 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:48.500 business, you have a bit of a platform to be 00:27:48.500 --> 00:27:49.960 able to start it. Cause you have the customers, 00:27:50.140 --> 00:27:51.460 you know, the people that interested, you know, 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:54.220 the right people that would be really keen to, 00:27:54.220 --> 00:27:56.420 to get involved and get it up and running. So 00:27:56.420 --> 00:27:58.079 getting off the ground is definitely the hard 00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:00.920 thing and some things you can do in business. 00:28:01.059 --> 00:28:03.539 Pretty obvious the, from the story that you mentioned. 00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:06.930 Hey. What's your mobile number? We do SMS's. 00:28:06.990 --> 00:28:08.470 We've got this Facebook group, which I'll have 00:28:08.470 --> 00:28:10.329 to join it. And we've got QR codes now, Ian, 00:28:10.329 --> 00:28:12.690 you mentioned QR codes. Scan this, just comes 00:28:12.690 --> 00:28:15.829 up, join the group. Using Square, you've automatically 00:28:15.829 --> 00:28:17.930 got it. Yep. You know, certain products you sell, 00:28:17.990 --> 00:28:19.369 hey, you know, this is a pretty new product. 00:28:19.529 --> 00:28:21.609 Not many people know how to use it. Here's a 00:28:21.609 --> 00:28:22.910 group we've set up for everyone that buys one 00:28:22.910 --> 00:28:24.869 in the local area, just to, you know, talk about 00:28:24.869 --> 00:28:26.269 how they're using it and get to know it a bit 00:28:26.269 --> 00:28:28.029 better. Like most people are going to be keen 00:28:28.029 --> 00:28:29.450 on it. If they're not interested, they're going 00:28:29.450 --> 00:28:32.160 to say no, but. The people that say yes, you 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:33.920 know, help you get it up and running. But that's 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:35.700 why a lot of other people won't make those communities 00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:37.319 because they don't have access to the people 00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:39.640 to get it up, to sort of build it up to that 00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:41.079 point where it's actually going to grow itself. 00:28:41.420 --> 00:28:43.039 Most people want to be a part of something that's 00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:45.900 bigger than themselves. So it's relatively simple 00:28:45.900 --> 00:28:47.940 as long as you have your motives in place. Yep. 00:28:48.860 --> 00:28:51.839 And then another reason why it can potentially 00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:53.380 be pretty hard to get off the ground is that 00:28:53.380 --> 00:28:54.559 people just think it's going to be too hard. 00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:56.579 We don't have the resource to manage it. But 00:28:56.579 --> 00:28:57.980 again, it's going back to its community, it's 00:28:57.980 --> 00:28:59.559 not your business. So you've got to get up and 00:28:59.559 --> 00:29:00.920 running and you've got to have a few processes 00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:04.059 to help build it. But ideally, that community 00:29:04.059 --> 00:29:06.079 is going to look after itself and it's not you. 00:29:06.099 --> 00:29:07.460 And if you're doing everything, well, you're 00:29:07.460 --> 00:29:09.599 probably doing it a little bit wrong. Is there 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:12.299 someone you can go to for help in starting to 00:29:12.299 --> 00:29:14.359 create a community? Yeah, a lot of marketing 00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:16.579 agencies would be able to help you doing that, 00:29:16.579 --> 00:29:19.890 to do that. If we just go through what we talked 00:29:19.890 --> 00:29:22.089 about in the podcast and if you go, hey, we've 00:29:22.089 --> 00:29:24.329 got access to a lot of people that have a common 00:29:24.329 --> 00:29:27.289 purpose or a common goal and there's nothing 00:29:27.289 --> 00:29:31.009 really to facilitate or a platform to bring them 00:29:31.009 --> 00:29:33.650 together. If you've got those two things, it's 00:29:33.650 --> 00:29:35.890 probably not too hard to do the next step, which 00:29:35.890 --> 00:29:38.529 is like, how do we get them together? And how 00:29:38.529 --> 00:29:40.849 might you monitor the success of your building, 00:29:41.029 --> 00:29:44.130 like how it's going and track its progress? Yeah. 00:29:45.569 --> 00:29:48.410 Are people talking? It's probably one. It depends 00:29:48.410 --> 00:29:50.369 what your goals are for the community. If it's 00:29:50.369 --> 00:29:53.089 to just make the biggest community in the world, 00:29:53.430 --> 00:29:55.269 obviously you're going to go on the size. If 00:29:55.269 --> 00:29:57.170 you just want to give a platform for some people 00:29:57.170 --> 00:29:58.990 to share, then it's going to be that. If it's 00:29:58.990 --> 00:30:01.250 a platform to make an impact on the community, 00:30:01.509 --> 00:30:03.309 or if we've got Lions clubs and all those sort 00:30:03.309 --> 00:30:05.470 of things going around, that's an example of 00:30:05.470 --> 00:30:08.960 a community. So it could be one of the... measurements 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:11.319 you use is the impact you're having on what results 00:30:11.319 --> 00:30:13.819 are happening or what change is occurring. It 00:30:13.819 --> 00:30:16.279 could just be the interaction. It could be, you 00:30:16.279 --> 00:30:17.960 know, does it make people feel good? It could 00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:20.779 be, it doesn't have to be a black and white measurement. 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:22.640 You just go, hey, is this working? Is this not? 00:30:23.429 --> 00:30:25.269 From a business perspective, if you're looking 00:30:25.269 --> 00:30:28.230 to make your business a bit more secure and a 00:30:28.230 --> 00:30:30.269 bit more work and build up some products and 00:30:30.269 --> 00:30:33.410 services or whatnot, then it's going to translate 00:30:33.410 --> 00:30:36.170 to what sort of inquiries do we get. And if you're 00:30:36.170 --> 00:30:37.809 asking people, hey, how did you find out about 00:30:37.809 --> 00:30:39.750 us? And they say, oh, friends in this group or 00:30:39.750 --> 00:30:41.890 I've been following this group, then it's going 00:30:41.890 --> 00:30:44.950 to be a really good numbers track. So a good 00:30:44.950 --> 00:30:47.509 example is many, many moons ago before social 00:30:47.509 --> 00:30:51.549 media, I worked at a hardware store in a garden 00:30:51.549 --> 00:30:53.859 center. And there was a TV show that used to 00:30:53.859 --> 00:30:57.740 be on Friday nights. It was the TV show for gardeners. 00:30:58.220 --> 00:31:01.420 And you always knew that whatever that person 00:31:01.420 --> 00:31:03.160 recommended, it didn't matter where you were 00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:05.720 in Australia. And I was in Adelaide, so it was 00:31:05.720 --> 00:31:08.759 quite arid. But on the East Coast, everyone wanted 00:31:08.759 --> 00:31:12.680 to buy these plants, depending on which part 00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:14.539 of Australia you're in. Or New Zealand plants. 00:31:14.839 --> 00:31:18.740 Plants, there we go, yep. So we prepared because 00:31:18.740 --> 00:31:20.299 we knew that there was a community of people 00:31:20.299 --> 00:31:23.339 who watched this show. And we were lucky enough 00:31:23.339 --> 00:31:26.279 to be a big enough hardware store to have ties 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:30.500 with the channel that the show was on. And they 00:31:30.500 --> 00:31:32.559 pre -warned us and said, this is what we're talking 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:36.059 about. It's a good network in there. Yeah, that's 00:31:36.059 --> 00:31:38.220 a community, isn't it? Yeah. It was a network 00:31:38.220 --> 00:31:41.039 back then. It's a community now. You were prepared 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:43.579 for the rush that inevitably came on the Saturday 00:31:43.579 --> 00:31:46.299 and Sunday of people buying Fuzzy Widget Plant 00:31:46.299 --> 00:31:51.960 number 324. Yep. Yes. Spot on. bit easier now 00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:55.839 than having to talk to TV networks and now you 00:31:55.839 --> 00:31:57.859 can just go, that's what everyone's talking about. 00:31:58.140 --> 00:31:59.960 Here's a hashtag, it's trending. Yeah. Let's 00:31:59.960 --> 00:32:02.339 buy that thing. So we've talked about a lot of 00:32:02.339 --> 00:32:04.759 points today. What do you think the most important 00:32:04.759 --> 00:32:07.140 takeaway points are today? I think it's getting 00:32:07.140 --> 00:32:10.700 people involved in what you do. So looking for 00:32:10.700 --> 00:32:13.309 ways to make your business bigger than bigger 00:32:13.309 --> 00:32:16.789 than yourself and itself. How can you give people 00:32:16.789 --> 00:32:18.670 that are interested in what you do a voice and 00:32:18.670 --> 00:32:21.670 a platform to find other people and share what 00:32:21.670 --> 00:32:24.869 they do or can do and receive the information 00:32:24.869 --> 00:32:26.829 from others. So I think that's a huge takeaway. 00:32:27.329 --> 00:32:30.130 Business is uniquely placed to be able to facilitate 00:32:30.130 --> 00:32:33.049 that community as putting those people together. 00:32:33.509 --> 00:32:35.549 So whether you do that as a meet and greet or 00:32:35.549 --> 00:32:37.900 you do that as an online presence. That's something 00:32:37.900 --> 00:32:39.940 that a business can do. So that's probably one 00:32:39.940 --> 00:32:42.119 big point. I think the second one is that it's 00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:43.720 not that hard to do. It doesn't require a lot 00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:46.759 of resource. It's a matter of finding a way to 00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:48.799 start building the group that practically, how 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:50.519 do you get the people together? But once you 00:32:50.519 --> 00:32:53.200 solve that, it's getting it set up and then letting 00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:56.700 it run its course. Those are two big points. 00:32:57.500 --> 00:32:59.839 But number three is why would you do it aside 00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:02.240 from being nice to people? It's a good place 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:03.720 for your business to be and this is going to 00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:06.319 help your business grow. Using that story with 00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:08.460 the bath bomb plays a little shop to 50 ,000, 00:33:08.460 --> 00:33:10.420 60 ,000 people following it selling throughout 00:33:10.420 --> 00:33:12.700 Australia. And you can pretty much pull that 00:33:12.700 --> 00:33:14.799 into any other business. And you've got people 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:17.259 participating in a group that are going to help 00:33:17.259 --> 00:33:19.420 with word of mouth referrals, recommendations, 00:33:20.299 --> 00:33:23.630 market data research. to help your business grow 00:33:23.630 --> 00:33:26.809 or provide better service. And the second part 00:33:26.809 --> 00:33:29.130 to that was it's pretty secure business. If you've 00:33:29.130 --> 00:33:31.049 got a huge group behind you of people that like 00:33:31.049 --> 00:33:33.230 you and you're a part of their community, like 00:33:33.230 --> 00:33:34.789 if you're a part of their community, they don't 00:33:34.789 --> 00:33:37.990 want you to have a bad day. So if you're struggling, 00:33:38.130 --> 00:33:39.349 there's going to be a lot of people happy to 00:33:39.349 --> 00:33:41.750 help you. And it's definitely helping forge a 00:33:41.750 --> 00:33:44.289 nation in your market. The bottom line is the 00:33:44.289 --> 00:33:45.829 community is going to be there with or without 00:33:45.829 --> 00:33:49.440 you. You can help focus that. Yeah, sure. So 00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:51.880 that's all we have time for today. In our next 00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:54.640 episode, we will explore why businesses resort 00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:57.160 to cutting costs and what effect this can have 00:33:57.160 --> 00:33:59.799 on a business in the long run. If you have any 00:33:59.799 --> 00:34:01.579 questions about what we talked about today, make 00:34:01.579 --> 00:34:03.640 sure to visit our website and book a catch up. 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:06.559 You can visit our website at www .businessabundance 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:09.559 .online. Till next time. Bye. So long.