How To Monetize Your Community

Guest Post

3 years ago

I recently bumped into a brand that creates specifically for their community. Not in the way most people do, their way is special. They ask the community to tell them what they need. They pick the top 10 suggestions and ask their community which needs are most pressing.

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They produce the top-voted need and they sell out in days! They do not ideate products, they just offer the community what they are asking for. I thought this was genius! It got me thinking:

Why are people missing out on the power of community?
Why are social media managers struggling to help the brands they manage to hit their sales goals?
Why are businesses struggling to leverage social media for sales?
Why are content creators struggling with monetisation?

If you fall into any of these categories, I hope this post helps you. It is important to note that you do not need 100 followers or 200 subscribers to have a community. You just need 5 people or more who have a shared mission, vision, goals, or likes. The main point here is the people you have are bound by an action, feeling or desire they share. That’s what a cohesive community really is. And as you guide your community, make sure that you are self-aware, you know and care about them, and most importantly, you create something they need. Not what you think they need but what they actually need. You will only know this if you ask them and listen carefully.

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Now, how do you monetise? There are many ways but I will go on to talk about 3:

Direct Monetization

This involves directly earning from each member as they join. This type of monetisation includes memberships, subscriptions, creating advertising slots for members of the community or advertising to members of the community. This could also include making products specifically for your community.

Indirect Monetization

This involves directly saving money from your business activities. This includes cost reduction, customer acquisition & retention, and market research. You could survey your community, create insights and sell it. It is also cheaper to announce a new product to your already existing community.

Ladder Monetization

This is my favourite. If your product costs $3000 and you know 90% of people in your community may not be able to afford it, you can create ladder products like ebook ($10-$50), online courses ($100), workshops, consultations, trainings, digital products to give them a taste of your service. Cross-sell and upsell. Whatever you sell, make sure it is valuable, very valuable to your audience. Ensure it transforms them in one way or the other. Ask yourself, what do I want my community to experience or learn? After they purchase this, how would it impact their lives? If you can’t answer this… start afresh by asking them what challenges they are experiencing. Which of these monetization strategies are you going to try? Tell me here. Featured Image Source: Dreamstime

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