In this episode, we’re hearing from Sensitive in Seattle. Today’s letter deals with how to grow a community where joining that community might in and of itself be taboo.

To better help Sensitive in Seattle, I’m bringing in the big guns. I invited Murtaza Bambot as my guest expert. He is the Founder & CEO at Heartbeat — the all-in-one platform for community businesses (also the sponsor of this podcast!) that has served has served over 5, 000 communities.

So, tune in for an episode packed full of wisdom where Murtaza guides us through the process of finding those initial community members, even in a sensitive community, from a place of empathy and authority.

In this episode:

(05:51) Having a customer community when everything is going wrong

(10:55) The only way out is through

(14:40) The communitea: Sensitive in Seattle’s letter

(15:41) Why community exists in the first place

(18:23) Immediate boots-on-the-ground strategies to find your initial members

(22:52) Prime advice on sales calls

(24:43) Murtaza’s advice on using paid ads

(26:27) The power of a paid waitlist to launch your community

(31:16) You deserve to be paid for your work

(34:45) Focus your marketing on the transformation

(45:17) Be ready to constantly research, test, and implement

(46:40) Leveraging ChatGPT as a thought partner

(49:25) What makes a great salesperson

Resources Mentioned:

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Noteworthy quotes:

“When you have 0 customers, your job is just to get to 1. And when you have 1 customer, your job is to get to 10. You don't have to think about what 100 customers, 1,000, 10,000 customers look like. Don't build these things to scale at the start.“ - Murtaza Bambot

Murtaza Bambot

🖥️ Website

📱 Linkedin

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱 Linkedin

And before you go…

💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

💚 Leave a review on Spotify

That helps the podcast more than you know and I deeply appreciate it. 🙏

Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

*Dear Bri is produced by Ideablossoms.

Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this episode, we hear from Negativity in New York. Today’s letter deals with the nuanced line between keeping your community positive while making space for people to be honest and real about the struggles they are experiencing.

To better help Negativity in New York, I invited Mallory Contois as my guest expert. She has lots to contribute today because as the creator of one of my FAVORITE communities, Old Girls Club — a virtual community for working women with over 1,800 members that’s been running for 2.5 years on Slack.

Mallory has seen some sh*t, so tune in for some tactical advice and practical strategies for navigating the difficult task of allowing tough conversations to take place in your community but not letting them take over.

In this episode:

(04:33) Moderating difficult topics and maintaining a safe space

(12:08) The Politics channel: a test

(16:28) Different responses for different sizes of community

(19:31) The communitea: Negativity in New York’s letter

(20:58) What to do when a community member is trauma dumping

(27:35) Practical advice for having those tough conversations

(33:39) The importance of creating some distance from community members

(37:37) The wild success of the Yell in Caps Here channel in the OGC community

Expect: Thoughtful community engagement tactics and community management coaching.

Resources Mentioned:

👩‍🦰 Join the Old Girls Club jointheogc.com.

🎧 Past episodes mentioned: Episode 7 with Andrea Middleton and Episode 9 with Jae Washington.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. All-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for community creators building community-powered businesses.

Mallory Contois

🖥️ Website

📱 Linkedin

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱 Linkedin

And before you go…

💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

💚 Leave a review on Spotify

That helps the podcast more than you know and I deeply appreciate it. 🙏

Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

*Dear Bri is produced by Ideablossoms.

Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this episode, we’re hearing from Hesitant in Honolulu. Our letter today deals with a sensitive subject between two community members and the question of whether to take a proactive approach or not to try to control the potential conflict.

To better help Hesitant in Honolulu, I invited Carrie Melissa Jones as my guest expert. She is an award-winning community builder, author, social scientist, and consultant who has worked with large enterprises, foundations, non-profits, and leading brands like Discord, Nike, Google, Microsoft, and Airbnb. So, she definitely has the experience and the hard-earned wisdom for the job.

So, tune in for practical ways to stay ahead of any potential conflict, a new way of thinking about competition and community.

In this episode:

(03:27) Drama at dinner

(07:03) Clear is kind and the permission to trust your intuition

(11:49) The communitea: Hesitant in Honolulu’s letter

(13:51) How to proactively approach potential conflict in your community

(19:51) Community mantras

(22:12) Revisiting and reassessing your community values

(25:42) Competition or community?

(32:41 ) Proactively having the hard conversation

(35:31) Building community is work worth doing

Expect: Community management strategies to prevent conflict.

Resources Mentioned:

📖 Carrie’s book: Building Brand Communities: How Organizations Succeed by Creating Belonging.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Noteworthy quotes:

“When people stop making progress in a community, that is when engagement stalls. And similarly with you as a leader, if you as a leader stop making progress with the community, then interest often wanes, progress stalls, engagement drops.“ - Carrie Melissa Jones

Carrie Melissa Jones

🖥️ Website

📱 Linkedin

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱 Linkedin

And before you go…

💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

💚 Leave a review on Spotify

That helps the podcast more than you know and I deeply appreciate it. 🙏

Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

*Dear Bri is produced by Ideablossoms.

Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.