This is a good way to create connection
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Welcome to Issue 14 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about a good brand move that helped grow a small business. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) Hello Reader, If there's one thing the pandemic made clear, it's that we're hardwired for connection. But with most our interaction happening online these days, human connection is increasingly harder to find and create. As someone who’s spent a lot of time creating content and building communities on the internet, I’ve found that making spaces for connection—true connection—takes a very intentional approach. While my new friend Jermaine would argue that the same goes for building communities in real life, it seems that he’s cracked the code. As one of the co-founders of Groundflooor, a fast-growing coworking club and community space built around common interest groups, Jermaine has created a beautiful space for connecting with others. As a happy new member, I can attest that they’re doing something differently—something I believe every business could replicate. And it all comes down to asking the right questions. A Good Story Like many people on the planet post-pandemic, buddies Jermaine, Jamie and Leutrim were seeking connection. They were in their late-20s, and their central hub for work and social life—the office—had been stripped away. While no one really missed the commute or the hours, they longed for the spontaneous lunches and genuine friendships facilitated by an office space As a solution, they’d meet up at coffee bars or join social clubs. But they quickly found that coffee bars aren’t the best places to strike up a conversation. And social clubs with expensive memberships and rigid rules weren’t delivering on the “community” piece that was promised. Something, they thought, needed to fill this void created by the pandemic. Something that was in between an office and a home—a third space. With that, the idea for Groundfloor emerged. It would be a beautiful, flexible space, where members could connect with others, share experiences, and spend time outside of their house. It would be a place to work and relax. Most importantly, it would be a place for human connection. (People after my own heart.) And because they truly wanted it to be for the community, they decided it needed to be built with the community. A Good Approach Jermaine and his co-founders recognized that strong communities have been around since the beginning of civilization. And the most powerful ones—like religious groups—all have a couple of thing in common: leaders and shared interests. So, instead of reinventing the wheel, they set out to copy it—starting with finding leaders. These theorized that these people would galvanize others and bring them into the club. Internally, they called these individuals “lamposts.” (I like to think of them as IRL influencers.) This could be any person interested in bringing other people together over a shared interest, value or life goal. It could meditation or knitting or business building or networking. The club would allow anyone who wanted to start a group or host an event around their interest to do so. When new members applied to join, they’d have to fill out a form listing their preferences. In addtion to job tiltle and location, the questions would include the deeper, more interesting stuff—interests, values, life goals goals. These things would be a prevalent part of members' profiles. That way organizers—through Groundfloor’s membership app, newsletter, or social accounts—could facilitate meaningful interactions for individuals around things they cared about. These “lampposts” leaders would then invite guests (who could invite guests) to come to their workshop, talk or social group hang, creating a word-of-mouth marketing phenomenon that many startups could only dream of. (This, by the way, is how I ended up becoming a member—I was a guest of a member who was hosting a workshop on building a referral network.) As for how Jermaine found his first members and lamppost leaders? He became a slave to Reddit. He posted constantly on special interest group threads and dropped mentions of this “cool new club” opening up nearby. It was one of those crazy, unscalable early-stage-startup moves that worked to get the first few customers in the door. To say this approach paid off is an understatement. In two years, Jermaine and his partners have opened four locations of Groundfloor—including three in the Bay Area and one in L.A. Membership has grown at a rate of 20% month over month, bringing in all-time revenue of over $2.28 million. Now, more than 90% of experiences, events, and classes at Groundfloor’s four locations are led by the members of the community itself. It’s a unique bottoms-up approach to building a community that works because it’s co-created with their ideal customer around things they care about. By matching people over these shared interest categories—not just work—Jermaine and his co-founders have built something that feels genuine to their mission of creating a space for meaningful connection and community. A Good Lesson Jermaine says that as a founder, you often want to build something that is best for yourself—not necessarily your customers. While he wanted more of a social space to meet friends, he recognized that Groundfloor members were really yearning for more of a replacement for their workspace. A place to socialize, yes, but also network and learn. Initially, he tried to force more of the social angle, but each location has taken on a culture of its own. Some locations revolve more around fun activities while others revolve more around work. A constant feedback loop and open communication with members have allowed Jermaine and his co-founders to build something that people truly want and need. It's a good reminder that what you ultimately build might not be exactly how you envisioned it. But, when you’re committed to building something that provides real value and willing to listen and incorporate feedback, you’ll build something people truly want. A Good Takeaway Building with your ideal audience (as opposed to for them) is an effective way to scale fast and create something people actually want—especially if you focus on things they care about. While age, occupation, and location are relevant in personas, it might serve you more to focus on things that actually unite your traget market. It's the opinions, lifestyles, values, and preferences your people share. To find these, ask yourself:
How can you infuse those value systems into your brand? Where can you weave it into your website copy? What stories or points can you highlight in your content? Wherever you use it, remember that psychographics unite. And unity creates community around your business. Taking another page from Groundfloor's playbook, think about how you can bring your ideal customer into the development of your product or service. Maybe it’s involving them in the creation of your product or offer. Or listening closely to their feedback and creating offers around the things you learn. The upshot: When you involve your customers in the creation process, you build something that truly resonates and meets their needs. So, whether you’re starting a new business or looking to grow an existing one, consider how you can invite your customers into the process and speak to what they care about the most. A Good Resource
Hope you have a good one, |