5 Benefits of Running Facebook Groups: Blog-vember 2018

Blog-vember Day 4 2018 --Blooming Prejippie

5 Benefits of Running Facebook Groups:

Blog-vember 2018

As you may know, we started two new Facebook groups back in September 2018.

The first one is a group for folks who, like us, enjoy quite a variety of musical genres, but rarely find others who feel the same. In that group, we share favorite songs, video clips, memories, and newly-discovered artists. It’s quite a fun bunch of folks and it’s called “Funky Happy People (Who Listen to a Variety of Musical Genres). (https://www.facebook.com/groups/funkyhappypeople/ )

The second group is for those of us who want an upgrade on finding success in the music business. We stress the “make your own luck” ethos, so that you’re not sitting around waiting for success to find you. That group is called “Be the Next D.I.Y. Rock Star” (link). In it, we share “Tips, Tricks, Mindset for Music Business Success.” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/DIYrockstar/ )

If you're curious, check out the "9 Things We Learned in 8 Months of Blogging" post.

Now, that it has been almost two months, I feel like I can share the surprising things I’ve learned about managing Facebook groups.

15 Tips for Better Band Photos --Blooming Prejippie Zine

It’s fun….

Upon the advice of my new “best friend”—not really!—Caitlin Bacher (https://caitlinbacher.com/ ), I felt emboldened enough to gather whatever tribe we could find to share about interests that we have. Her advice was that, as content creators who want to know what “our people”—in my case, my Avatar—really wants, we should stop guessing and go right out and ask folks. Though it took me a while to follow through on this advice, eventually I decided that, as part of this risk more get more rewards model, I would strike out there.

I can say that what stopped me early on in my tracks was the idea that no one would want to join the group and that it would be a waste of time. (This turned out to be wrong—which is what she had said.) The second fear was that it was going to take time that I did not have and that, instead of being a benefit to our businesses, it would become a daily burden. I am soooo happy to say that I was wrong….

Yes, it took me a day or two to warm up and just post what I think is most beneficial and/or thoughtful and/or fun for each group, but I can truly say that I look forward to finding things to share. (--Bruce is a HUGE help for this, since he finds and shares music-related posts naturally. All I had to do was to figure out which posts worked for each group and just post them to the pages.) Also, when I see posts on Twitter or another post that I happen to click through to are all prime material for daily posts. I also have those aha! moments, when I think of a post that is just perfect that poses an open-ended question.

Keep Creativity Flowing --Blooming Prejippie Zine

It’s kinda like having a big party, where I have invited a bunch of folks that I know like the same thing—they opted in, remember?—and it is up to me to keep the conversation going. When I look at it that way, there was no way I could go wrong. I loosened up and even threw some jokes in there from time to time. I can truly say that this is one of the fun parts of running Facebook groups (and that is extremely unexpected); Caitlyn did NOT prepare me for how much fun it would be.

It’s informative

The other surprising thing about running Facebook groups is that I learn so much by being the facilitator of the conversation. Not only do I need to read/listen to all things that I post, but I also get feedback that helps me know more about topics that I care greatly about. I expected to be the most knowledgeable one in the room—which helped me get the groups going—but I have learned so much from members sharing their suggestions and/or critiquing songs and ideas that I truly have to say that every day, I learn something new. This is a wonderful bonus for me, a former teacher, who values lifelong learning. The fact that it’s learning that I am happy to participate in is the best surprise.

It helps build your tribe

You may all know, but we are not just sharing content, but we are looking to build full-time income from our online products. Building our tribe is one of the ways to be sure you have folks who already want what it is that you plan on selling. While I thought we were doing that by having two Facebook business pages (put links), we have realized that we were not actively talking back and forward with them; instead, we were simply posting things without a daily response thread. This did not allow as many people to voice their opinions, so that we can find our common ground. So, while I had resisted going down this path, I am super happy to say that we have found some people who are truly passionate and seem to enjoy engaging on the topics we share.

A natural benefit of this relationship may be the ability to interest our members in some of the posts and products that we may create. In the meantime, though, we are just having fun and making friends.

It’s collaboration on a higher level

An additional benefit of having Facebook groups is that when we are contemplating a product, we can easily take polls of our membership to see what might be beneficial to them (versus what would not). While that was an area that I was perfectly content to overlook, the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. If you HAVE people that you can ask about what they want and need in a course, eBook, etc., why wouldn’t a smart entrepreneur ask?! Again, I had originally thought this possibility was not at our disposal, but now that folks regularly check in to join and to engage on daily posts, they ARE there and seem ready for any questions I through their way. I’m being honest here, we sincerely DO plan to cash in that chip and just ask BEFORE we launch. It is truly lovely to be able to say that this vital option is now at my disposal.

Here's Day Three of this 30 Day Challenge.

It’s opens options for future partnership

While I am not planning to swarm down on members, it feels really good to know that it was much simpler than I had originally thought and that it just took putting out the sign that said “Please join us” and that we have been able to gather nearly 100 new, engaged members. I have no idea what that will mean for us as a business, but I do know that between learning new things and the possibility of being able to provide them with content that would help them solve their problems, we are on the verge of a wonderful, new world, where we can partner with our members to do amazing things. We create playlists together, share brave new bands, and share videos of classic songs in Funky Happy People and share mindset hacks and rock star resources in our Be the Next D.I.Y. Rock Star Group. If either of these topics appeals to you, please don’t be shy; join us over at Facebook. We look forward to seeing you soon. We hope to be pleasantly surprised at the things you do as well.

5 Benefits of Running Facebook Groups: Blog-vember 2018