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Ksusha

How do you grow a community around the product?

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We all know that a community can increase sales and grow the product. But it’s hard to make people interested in the product before it is launched. How do you unite people in a community and stir up interest?
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Julie Meridian
There are a minimum of three perspectives to think through: 1. yours: what are your product motivations? (looks like you're got a strong handle on this: leverage it to increase sales, grow product) 2. passive members: what makes it worth the effort to visit it? 3. active members: what makes it worth the effort to contribute to it? (comments or posts; also comment & user moderation) Communities live or die by the interplay of content and member's involvement with it, especially if they generate it. In an extreme but not implausible case, it can get out of hand quickly and shift into something that runs counter to your brand (especially if there aren't people involved with moderation). What's far more likely is that it quietly struggles with engagement, and that happens when those core reasons (#2 and #3) aren't strong. There's a time-based aspects to these perspectives too. A community of aspiration/hype pre-launch is likely to turn into a community of support post-launch. If you plan for that, great! If you're not ready to shepherd it as such, it might make more sense to find existing communities to participate in.
Ksusha
@juliemeridian wow, very detailed response, thank you! I got good points for myself🙂
Paul Mit
This is hard, it's true :) Beta testing, useful content for the product's audience, socials, "velvet rope marketing strategy", etc.
Ksusha
@mituhin what is the "velvet rope marketing strategy"? can you give me any article to read about that?
Paul Mit
@ksusha_golovchenko sure, I like this one gabygoldberg.medium.com/the-value-of-a-velvet-rope-effects-of-hype-and-exclusivity-on-launch-strategies-8e8061cf517e
Ksusha
@mituhin thank u❤️
DCodes
@ksusha_golovchenko @mituhin Checked out the article. Thanks for sharing! By the way, I'm looking for feedback on AnyGo, a tool used to easily compare the cost of driving and flying between U.S. cities. You can find it on my profile page. Thanks Paul!
Yulia Butovchenko 🇺🇦
@mituhin Thank you for the article. I am building the AI startup and marketing is very useful now, as we have product in Beta version)
Sofia
It is always hard but possible if you start generating and suggesting valuable content in the area you specialize in :) Community gathers around certain people or topics of interest; if you can bring anything useful and exciting to the table, people will appreciate it and come back for more.
Ksusha
@sonya_key_ good point! so, people need an useful and informative content, yeah?
Sofia
@ksusha_golovchenko yes, in my experience it's the ony thing that helps!
Aaron O'Leary
@sonya_key_ content as they say is everything.
Ksusha
@sonya_key_ @aaronoleary good content is everything!🙂
Paul Mit
Oh, and I remembered a tip from the official Product Hunt manual: build community first
Paul Mit
Here is Casey Neistat case from Ryan's post: medium.com/@rrhoover/building-a-startup-build-an-audience-first-9fbba4f1fa15
Ksusha
/@rrhoover @mituhin must read! thank u a lot 👽
Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover @mituhin good memory!
Aaron O'Leary
/@rrhoover @mituhin Thanks for surfacing this again!
Giuseppe Di Nuccio
@ksusha_golovchenko There's a great book and guide that I found very useful: Traffic Secret by Russell Brunson. The key messages are: - first, search for and discover the potential users and customers of your product. They are already congregating somewhere, e.g. FB groups, Twitter chats, Blogs, Communities, Forums, Instagram, ... Product Hunt :) - Cultivate and build relationships in such places where your potential audience is congregating, without marketing: provide as much value as possible to help them with the problems or requests they have - After the relationship and your trust are consolidated, you can start to "invite" them to "your party", by promoting your product to that audience - find and build relationships with top influencers, asking them to help you to promote your product (again, after you have built trust with them). It's a long-term play, not immediate we know. But once done, it opens a lot of doors and changes! @all: Book Reading (if not done) is highly recommended.
Devanand Premkumar
@ksusha_golovchenko @all @giuseppe_di_nuccio Even if you can't get the book and read it, there is an audio version in YouTube. Hear it while on the move :)
Ksusha
@all @giuseppe_di_nuccio thank you a lot! 💙
Ksusha
Aazar Ali Shad
- Challenge the status quo and have an enemy - Beat a bush about on socials - Get folks to your waitlist. Check out Microacquire, he does it well.
Ksusha
@aazar_ali_shad can you decipher "Challenge the status quo and have an enemy"? How to do that and whats the aim?
Aazar Ali Shad
@ksusha_golovchenko Microacquire fights VC backed mindset. It is for founders. They are for folks who are bootstrapping. So Enemy is anything VC backed. Look at his tweets: https://twitter.com/agazdecki
Ksusha
Rosie Sherry
Lots of community comes down to having conversations with people and finding ways to help them. The hard part is knowing what conversations to have and how to help them, much of this is down to researching (community discovery), practicing and experimenting (Minimum Viable Communities).
Julie Meridian
@rosiesherry The research is *especially* important for existing communities. There can be very different reasons for them thriving (that can be upset if not understood), and norms that are not always obvious but have emerged through group interactions.
Piyush Patel
I built the product on side while I was working full time in pharmaceutical out of curiosity. I didn't think of anything about marketing and sales. Now I am trying and learning all social media and community building around the product.
Ksusha
@pintubecom the product didn't launch yet, yeah? u r planning to build a community before launch or after?
Piyush Patel
@ksusha_golovchenko pintube.com is up and running. and work in progress. My burn rate is really low so not rushing. you have got great UI and unique idea. Just subscribed and followed you on Twitter. Also advertise on https://stackoverflow.com/
Ksusha
@pintubecom thank you!😊
Piyush Patel
@ksusha_golovchenko please register your company with us as well if you can, that way you will network effect. You can also advertise jobs with us, its free. Happy to provide any assistance or admin work if you need.
Julia Doronina
It's really hard... We tried to use different platforms as Indie Hackers or Product Hunt Discussions to gain the community for our launch (we launched today LeaksID 2.0 and will be grateful for your support). 😀
Ksusha
@julia_demyanchuk sure, i upvoted!
Chrystal Cienfuegos
Most of the communities I've joined were actually when I was looking for support but then I stayed for other reasons.
Ksusha
@chrystalnicole because you engaged in content?
Chrystal Cienfuegos
@ksusha_golovchenko Yes, for example - Squarespace. I used it, had a quick question and found their FB group, and got my answer. However, it still shows in my feed and now I know a lot more about it and I've kept it longer than I would have otherwise. This has happened with other products as well.
Ksusha
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