#02 The Clarity Sessions - Create A Product That Serves Your Audience
So maybe you've been blogging for a while, you've been focusing on your social media, you've been growing your audience, and you have heard from some other people that it's time to monetize. It's time to create a product to sell to all those people who are watching, viewing, or reading your content. But what kind of product do you create? That is the question that Jennifer Bombarier from Sunflower Mom asks.
Jennifer asked: How do I meet my reader (single moms) where they’re at, and how do I help them through the transformation they’re experiencing? How do I continue to engage my reader through all the stages?
People come for the content and stay for the community. You’ve got the content down, so try focusing on building community.
1. Build community:
You could have a free community group on Facebook where there's an application to join the group. There doesn't need to be a monetary fee for the membership, But you can serve people in this group to build the community you want. If the group is free, people come for the community or they come to the content, stay for the community. To monetize the group, there are two models:
- Monitoring model: based on listening to the community and figuring out what they need and then creating one-off things for their different needs.
- Paid community: you could charge around $10/month, to become part of the sunflower single moms network or something like that. Some are single moms, and it's a place to connect. It's a place to get encouragement when you're feeling down. It's a place to get inspired. It's a place to get the education and the tips you need to thrive as a single mom. Maybe there's an application form that they fill out before they're welcomed into the community and create a safe place for people to ask any questions they need answered.
2. Create content for the community.
Where is your ideal reader stuck? What is she googling and how does she find you? What would be something she would want from you that you can offer her?
In terms of the actual content for the community, it can just be interviews of single-moms offering one tip. You could have a once a week call of encouragement or Q+A. Then you can share that call in the group so other members can still benefit even if they can't make the call.
I would email your audience and say, "I'm thinking about starting this thing (include details about your idea). Let me know if you're interested." If they say yes, I'm interested, then sign up for a tool like Kajabi and give it a shot for 30 days. Send the email to your audience and say, "Hey, we're starting it. Here's the link to join for $10 a month, and we'll see you on Tuesday!
I've really found that membership sites are kind of where it's at right now. It's really powerful. It's one of my favorite things I get to do is to log into that facebook group and see all the questions. Because remember, you've been doing this for a while, so what's obvious to you is magic to somebody else.