The first thing you need to do is build one or more platforms where you can communicate with your tribe. These platforms may include:
- A mailing list.
- A popular blog.
- A social media page.
- A forum.
- A Facebook group.
Keep these keys in mind:
Owned platforms are better than third-party platforms. This means you should prioritize building platforms you own (e.g., a mailing list, blog, etc.).
The reason is simple – since you own the platform, you get to make full decisions about what you’ll do with your contacts. Even if you’re using a third-party service like an email service provider, these services will let you download your list because you own the list (not them).
Now compare that to a third-party platform like Facebook. You don’t “own” the contacts. Indeed, Facebook even makes you pay in order to reach all your Page followers. There’s no way to transfer these followers to another platform directly (e.g., you can’t download a list and transfer it elsewhere). And if Facebook decides to change their rules, ban you, or anything else… you’re out of luck because the followers don’t belong to you.
Which brings us to the next point…
Prioritize your email list. Not only do you own your list, but it also gives you a way to reach your audience any time you want.
Yes, a blog is good because it’s an owned platform. You can and should build a blog, as it will help you generate traffic, build relationships and close sales.
But here’s the problem: in order to be truly effective, a blog requires people to remember to come back and visit. This means they need to be subscribed to your blog, or they need to follow you on social media where you announce new blog posts, or something similar.
Now, once a reader has been visiting for awhile and really appreciating the quality of your content, they will remember to come back. But getting them to that point is the problem.
And that’s where a mailing list comes in. If you focus on getting people onto your mailing list, you don’t need to worry about them remembering anything. You can contact them at any time to build relationships and promote offers.
Keep in regular contact with your tribe. Think about some of the offline relationships you have, like your best friends. How did that relationship develop?
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One big key is that you and your friend interacted on a regular basis. It may have been someplace where you saw this person regularly, such as school, work, church, a hobby group or some other organization. You developed a relationship because you talked on a fairly regular basis and got to know one another.
The same goes for your business tribes. You can’t build a relationship if you’re not interacting with them at least weekly (or perhaps daily, depending on your niche and audience). So, be sure you make it a point to interact regularly.
Stay in touch across platforms. Even though your goal is to focus on building your mailing list, obviously not everyone is going to join your list. That’s why you should put your secondary focus on other platforms (like your blog and Facebook page), and update these regularly as well. That’s because this frequent contact and interaction on other platforms can help persuade a prospect to join your mailing list.
Now the next component of building your tribe…
Keep Reading: How To Build a Perception
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