Creating a global community / mastermind group of sorts for relationships (dating), business, and networking. Looking for feedback and path forward.

[Borderless CLTV]

Hey all, I'm an American that's been traveling the past few years internationally. I'm currently in Taiwan after venturing around Latin America for a couple years.

As a single guy looking for a serious relationship and to live/invest abroad, I found some online forums that catered to this, but they all sucked, quite frankly. Members that: never traveled; were losers; had no ambitions. So I decided to create one. I've networked with plenty of successful guys, many of which were also in my position, and didn't really have a way to discuss these things (mainly dating but business too).

I have a lot of experience in different parts of the world and want to finally create content about it, but more importantly grow this business to help guys like me. So I decided to scratch my own itch.

Here's my Welcome article for those interested. Open to feedback on it.

Welcome to the Borderless Collective

About me, about the Borderless Collective, and what to expect

borderlesscollective.substack.com

What I'm struggling a bit with is the most effective and efficient path to grow.

I've been on X for a couple weeks now. I paid for the Premium+ version so I get the biggest boost in replies (shows higher on posts and I can create long-form content similar to Substack) and have a few subscriptions to large accounts with some crossover into my niche. I set notifications to each and send out a ton of quality replies daily. I've been DMing similar accounts and seeing if we can help each other out - I'm not selling my content yet. So far I'm up to 209 followers.

I use the X article feature to post my longer-form written content, which I duplicate over on Substack. The reason being is that Substack makes it easier to collect emails for direct selling among other benefits. I discovered the X article feature after setting up my Substack, by the way. I also wanted to have a landing page outside of X.

I'm also active on a couple of forums and discords catering to 'passport bros.' Despite my hatred of that phrasing - I'm working on something similar but more akin to much higher caliber expats / single guys, not 20-something losers - there are a couple that I've connected with that have shown interest in joining my platform. Maybe 10% of guys on these forums are what I'm looking for.

I also have a few guys from my travels that I've pitched this idea to, and they're also interested.

What I want to do is have a paywall (say, $5 USD) to gatekeep the losers and broke members (to put it bluntly). This just provides access to the private forum, which I imagine for now would just be on Discord. There's a service called Subscribe Star that has tiered membership options, including integration with Discord that I could do this via. I think Patreon could do something similar, but they're known for censorship and just kicking people off. I worry that I don't have a large enough community to do this with just yet. I also consider doing a dedicated forum (similar to this, honestly) that could set me apart from others that may only just have Discord. I could throw in some kind of lead magnet like a quick guide on the best places to visit first or similar. Here's one example a guy doing it via Patreon, but he's also got 50k subs on YouTube and another 50k on X.

A couple friends are interested in mastermind groups, such as weekly calls and such. For this I could set up a separate tier, maybe $10-20/month and get access to this with me and other members.

One way to differentiate my content, aside from writing which I enjoy doing, is video. I bought a Sony ZV-E10 and want to utilize it. I took a solo hike recently and filmed some content from atop a mountain peak, discussing topics in my niche. I suck at being on camera though...but I want to do more of that kind of content, and setting it up in an office environment as well.

Sorry for the verbose post.

Would love to get feedback on this. Thanks.

 

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[ygtrhos]

I am a single guy, in your target audience, I would assume.

But I cannot really understand why I am paying 5 dollars a month for. What benefit am I getting to join your forum? I still could not see that.

Being on the same website with someone does not make me feel better really. And I do not believe that the necessary camarederie I need from men can come from an online forum.

Especially where so many scam artists run amok.

 

[Kevin88660]

Hey all, I'm an American that's been traveling the past few years internationally. I'm currently in Taiwan after venturing around Latin America for a couple years.

As a single guy looking for a serious relationship and to live/invest abroad, I found some online forums that catered to this, but they all sucked, quite frankly. Members that: never traveled; were losers; had no ambitions. So I decided to create one. I've networked with plenty of successful guys, many of which were also in my position, and didn't really have a way to discuss these things (mainly dating but business too).

I have a lot of experience in different parts of the world and want to finally create content about it, but more importantly grow this business to help guys like me. So I decided to scratch my own itch.

Here's my Welcome article for those interested. Open to feedback on it.

Welcome to the Borderless Collective

About me, about the Borderless Collective, and what to expect

borderlesscollective.substack.com

What I'm struggling a bit with is the most effective and efficient path to grow.

I've been on X for a couple weeks now. I paid for the Premium+ version so I get the biggest boost in replies (shows higher on posts and I can create long-form content similar to Substack) and have a few subscriptions to large accounts with some crossover into my niche. I set notifications to each and send out a ton of quality replies daily. I've been DMing similar accounts and seeing if we can help each other out - I'm not selling my content yet. So far I'm up to 209 followers.

I use the X article feature to post my longer-form written content, which I duplicate over on Substack. The reason being is that Substack makes it easier to collect emails for direct selling among other benefits. I discovered the X article feature after setting up my Substack, by the way. I also wanted to have a landing page outside of X.

I'm also active on a couple of forums and discords catering to 'passport bros.' Despite my hatred of that phrasing - I'm working on something similar but more akin to much higher caliber expats / single guys, not 20-something losers - there are a couple that I've connected with that have shown interest in joining my platform. Maybe 10% of guys on these forums are what I'm looking for.

I also have a few guys from my travels that I've pitched this idea to, and they're also interested.

What I want to do is have a paywall (say, $5 USD) to gatekeep the losers and broke members (to put it bluntly). This just provides access to the private forum, which I imagine for now would just be on Discord. There's a service called Subscribe Star that has tiered membership options, including integration with Discord that I could do this via. I think Patreon could do something similar, but they're known for censorship and just kicking people off. I worry that I don't have a large enough community to do this with just yet. I also consider doing a dedicated forum (similar to this, honestly) that could set me apart from others that may only just have Discord. I could throw in some kind of lead magnet like a quick guide on the best places to visit first or similar. Here's one example a guy doing it via Patreon, but he's also got 50k subs on YouTube and another 50k on X.
View attachment 55110 View attachment 55111
A couple friends are interested in mastermind groups, such as weekly calls and such. For this I could set up a separate tier, maybe $10-20/month and get access to this with me and other members.

One way to differentiate my content, aside from writing which I enjoy doing, is video. I bought a Sony ZV-E10 and want to utilize it. I took a solo hike recently and filmed some content from atop a mountain peak, discussing topics in my niche. I suck at being on camera though...but I want to do more of that kind of content, and setting it up in an office environment as well.

Sorry for the verbose post.

Would love to get feedback on this. Thanks.

Welcome.

Just my personal preference I think selling to 20 years old plus single men relationship based content and advisory is gonna the toughest sell ever. Good luck to you.

Personally I would prefer targeting older men who just divorced and just hit their pension withdrawal age. They have more dry powder to spend on many services you can offer.

 

[Borderless CLTV]

I am a single guy, in your target audience, I would assume.

But I cannot really understand why I am paying 5 dollars a month for. What benefit am I getting to join your forum? I still could not see that.

Being on the same website with someone does not make me feel better really. And I do not believe that the necessary camarederie I need from men can come from an online forum.

Especially where so many scam artists run amok.

Thanks for the feedback.

It's not just single men, but men (that will more than likely be single) that are interested in living abroad. To network about best places to setup tax residency, hidden gems for living, but also dating locales.

The market has a few sites / platforms to discuss, but they're full of lower class members let's call it. The idea is to build a higher quality community.

 

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[Borderless CLTV]

Welcome.

Just my personal preference I think selling to 20 years old plus single men relationship based content and advisory is gonna the toughest sell ever. Good luck to you.

Personally I would prefer targeting older men who just divorced and just hit their pension withdrawal age. They have more dry powder to spend on many services you can offer.

Thanks.

Perhaps I need to explain better that it's not just about dating. It's about connecting higher quality members together on a variety of areas - best areas to live, best areas to setup business for taxes, etc. There have been some solid instances of forums (just forums though) that were open to discussing a variety of subjects, many that weren't exactly PC. I want to re-create that but focused on global lifestyle topics.

 

[Andy Black]

Ask your audience now? Check out what I posted to Facebook and LinkedIn in the "Just Start Already" post in my signature.


Longer term:

Figure out how to build and distribute content that builds your audience on your preferred social media platform(s).

Figure out how to get people onto your free newsletter.

Figure out how to create a content flywheel so that as your subscriber list grows the more subscribers come in.

Figure out how to tag and segment your email subscribers.

Keep observing what content resonates with people, what CTAs get the most action, and what offers people are interested in.

Build/create what people express an interest in.

Act, assess, adjust.

 

[random_username]

I'm exactly your target demographic. I traveled few months last year, and I'm currently working to setup my life so I can slow travel full time. I agree 100% that you have identified a pain point. I've been on some of these forums daily since 2022, and it's obvious how people come with good intentions and post some information, but then slowly stop when idiots start their bullshit. In the end I've stopped reading all of them. I was genuinely thinking about doing similar few months ago, but decided I have better problems I want to tackle. I genuinely wish there is a normal forum for this, as normal as these kinds of things can be. There is a real problem where people who don't have successful older guys around them to show them the game. I'll share my opinions below, I just want to say two things:
1. I really hope you make this honestly
2. I don't claim to be expert in anything below.

I do think some kind of opt in for nominal amount, let's say - 30EUR yearly, or something similar HAS to be there to filter people out.

You talk about global worldwide thing. But somehow in your welcome post you use a lot of "passport bros", "expat", "mgtow", "west is bad", "cost of living", "flag theory" keywords. I know SEO is important, but I don't have words to explain how weak this sounds. It sounds like usual self important American bullshit. I know The Algorithm likes those words, but if I heard a guy using those terms in real life, I would run the other way. Normal people in other countries don't speak like that.

I don't believe you for one second you want to build your network for the right reasons. Reason is that creating a Discord takes 2 minutes. Creating a forum like this one takes one day max. If you wanted to do it, it would already be done. But somehow Substack "upgrade to paid" is already there?

What is the value add for me to join your network? You don't post any social proof that resonates with me at all, you just talk about you life vaguely and have some keywords around. It all sounds so generic, google keywords planned filler. You can say a lot about other similar communities, but they are not vague or generic by any stretch of the imagination.

To be completely blunt this whole thing reeks of a typical digital nomad grift. You know which ones I'm talking about. I'm not saying this is you, just giving you honest feedback.

 

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[Kevin88660]

I'm exactly your target demographic. I traveled few months last year, and I'm currently working to setup my life so I can slow travel full time. I agree 100% that you have identified a pain point. I've been on some of these forums daily since 2022, and it's obvious how people come with good intentions and post some information, but then slowly stop when idiots start their bullshit. In the end I've stopped reading all of them. I was genuinely thinking about doing similar few months ago, but decided I have better problems I want to tackle. I genuinely wish there is a normal forum for this, as normal as these kinds of things can be. There is a real problem where people who don't have successful older guys around them to show them the game. I'll share my opinions below, I just want to say two things:
1. I really hope you make this honestly
2. I don't claim to be expert in anything below.

I do think some kind of opt in for nominal amount, let's say - 30EUR yearly, or something similar HAS to be there to filter people out.

You talk about global worldwide thing. But somehow in your welcome post you use a lot of "passport bros", "expat", "mgtow", "west is bad", "cost of living", "flag theory" keywords. I know SEO is important, but I don't have words to explain how weak this sounds. It sounds like usual self important American bullshit. I know The Algorithm likes those words, but if I heard a guy using those terms in real life, I would run the other way. Normal people in other countries don't speak like that.

I don't believe you for one second you want to build your network for the right reasons. Reason is that creating a Discord takes 2 minutes. Creating a forum like this one takes one day max. If you wanted to do it, it would already be done. But somehow Substack "upgrade to paid" is already there?

What is the value add for me to join your network? You don't post any social proof that resonates with me at all, you just talk about you life vaguely and have some keywords around. It all sounds so generic, google keywords planned filler. You can say a lot about other similar communities, but they are not vague or generic by any stretch of the imagination.

To be completely blunt this whole thing reeks of a typical digital nomad grift. You know which ones I'm talking about. I'm not saying this is you, just giving you honest feedback.

I feel the same that trying to have paywalls now it is a bit too early.

OP has to do the heavy lifting of running a community, attracting new members, and maintaining good vibes, for years.

Exact how MJ did it.

Communities are like gardens, once unattended will have wild grasses growing all over. I have my own first-hand experience of building wechat groups and spend countless moments kicking up accounts that do nothing but spamming promotional ads.

Doing it as a hobby to learn skills it's fine. But as MJ warned before, running forums and writing books are not ideal way to hit your first pot of gold in life.

There is a company owned by an Irish expat in Singapore doing corporate setup and basic accounting services. He charges 2-3x compared to other similar companies offering identical services. It's amazing and amusing how new expats in Singapore are willing to pay much more to him for routine paper work than any high school graduate can do. It is a highly competitive field.

If you focus on your global experience, and connection and dive deep into niches there could be real gold to be found.

Being an American in a foreign land can be an advantage because once you developed your own followers and publicity, and if you offer an essential service to other expats they are going to trust you more.

 

[Borderless CLTV]

I'm exactly your target demographic. I traveled few months last year, and I'm currently working to setup my life so I can slow travel full time. I agree 100% that you have identified a pain point. I've been on some of these forums daily since 2022, and it's obvious how people come with good intentions and post some information, but then slowly stop when idiots start their bullshit. In the end I've stopped reading all of them. I was genuinely thinking about doing similar few months ago, but decided I have better problems I want to tackle. I genuinely wish there is a normal forum for this, as normal as these kinds of things can be. There is a real problem where people who don't have successful older guys around them to show them the game. I'll share my opinions below, I just want to say two things:
1. I really hope you make this honestly
2. I don't claim to be expert in anything below.

I do think some kind of opt in for nominal amount, let's say - 30EUR yearly, or something similar HAS to be there to filter people out.

You talk about global worldwide thing. But somehow in your welcome post you use a lot of "passport bros", "expat", "mgtow", "west is bad", "cost of living", "flag theory" keywords. I know SEO is important, but I don't have words to explain how weak this sounds. It sounds like usual self important American bullshit. I know The Algorithm likes those words, but if I heard a guy using those terms in real life, I would run the other way. Normal people in other countries don't speak like that.

I don't believe you for one second you want to build your network for the right reasons. Reason is that creating a Discord takes 2 minutes. Creating a forum like this one takes one day max. If you wanted to do it, it would already be done. But somehow Substack "upgrade to paid" is already there?

What is the value add for me to join your network? You don't post any social proof that resonates with me at all, you just talk about you life vaguely and have some keywords around. It all sounds so generic, google keywords planned filler. You can say a lot about other similar communities, but they are not vague or generic by any stretch of the imagination.

To be completely blunt this whole thing reeks of a typical digital nomad grift. You know which ones I'm talking about. I'm not saying this is you, just giving you honest feedback.

Thanks for the feedback.

I don't agree with several points, but thanks nonetheless.

You sound really angry for some reason too. It's possible to provide honest feedback, but in a more constructive approach.

 

[Borderless CLTV]

I feel the same that trying to have paywalls now it is a bit too early.

OP has to do the heavy lifting of running a community, attracting new members, and maintaining good vibes, for years.

Exact how MJ did it.

Communities are like gardens, once unattended will have wild grasses growing all over. I have my own first-hand experience of building wechat groups and spend countless moments kicking up accounts that do nothing but spamming promotional ads.

Doing it as a hobby to learn skills it's fine. But as MJ warned before, running forums and writing books are not ideal way to hit your first pot of gold in life.

There is a company owned by an Irish expat in Singapore doing corporate setup and basic accounting services. He charges 2-3x compared to other similar companies offering identical services. It's amazing and amusing how new expats in Singapore are willing to pay much more to him for routine paper work than any high school graduate can do. It is a highly competitive field.

If you focus on your global experience, and connection and dive deep into niches there could be real gold to be found.

Being an American in a foreign land can be an advantage because once you developed your own followers and publicity, and if you offer an essential service to other expats they are going to trust you more.

Right. I just mentioned to the other guy that I setup a Telegram and Discord a few days ago, but haven't really kicked it off because I worry it'll just be lacking activity due to lack of community. It's why I've been hitting X hard and DM'ing like-minded people over there to kickstart it.

 

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[lifemaker]

Hey all, I'm an American that's been traveling the past few years internationally. I'm currently in Taiwan after venturing around Latin America for a couple years.

As a single guy looking for a serious relationship and to live/invest abroad, I found some online forums that catered to this, but they all sucked, quite frankly. Members that: never traveled; were losers; had no ambitions. So I decided to create one. I've networked with plenty of successful guys, many of which were also in my position, and didn't really have a way to discuss these things (mainly dating but business too).

I have a lot of experience in different parts of the world and want to finally create content about it, but more importantly grow this business to help guys like me. So I decided to scratch my own itch.

Here's my Welcome article for those interested. Open to feedback on it.

Welcome to the Borderless Collective

About me, about the Borderless Collective, and what to expect

borderlesscollective.substack.com

What I'm struggling a bit with is the most effective and efficient path to grow.

I've been on X for a couple weeks now. I paid for the Premium+ version so I get the biggest boost in replies (shows higher on posts and I can create long-form content similar to Substack) and have a few subscriptions to large accounts with some crossover into my niche. I set notifications to each and send out a ton of quality replies daily. I've been DMing similar accounts and seeing if we can help each other out - I'm not selling my content yet. So far I'm up to 209 followers.

I use the X article feature to post my longer-form written content, which I duplicate over on Substack. The reason being is that Substack makes it easier to collect emails for direct selling among other benefits. I discovered the X article feature after setting up my Substack, by the way. I also wanted to have a landing page outside of X.

I'm also active on a couple of forums and discords catering to 'passport bros.' Despite my hatred of that phrasing - I'm working on something similar but more akin to much higher caliber expats / single guys, not 20-something losers - there are a couple that I've connected with that have shown interest in joining my platform. Maybe 10% of guys on these forums are what I'm looking for.

I also have a few guys from my travels that I've pitched this idea to, and they're also interested.

What I want to do is have a paywall (say, $5 USD) to gatekeep the losers and broke members (to put it bluntly). This just provides access to the private forum, which I imagine for now would just be on Discord. There's a service called Subscribe Star that has tiered membership options, including integration with Discord that I could do this via. I think Patreon could do something similar, but they're known for censorship and just kicking people off. I worry that I don't have a large enough community to do this with just yet. I also consider doing a dedicated forum (similar to this, honestly) that could set me apart from others that may only just have Discord. I could throw in some kind of lead magnet like a quick guide on the best places to visit first or similar. Here's one example a guy doing it via Patreon, but he's also got 50k subs on YouTube and another 50k on X.
View attachment 55110 View attachment 55111
A couple friends are interested in mastermind groups, such as weekly calls and such. For this I could set up a separate tier, maybe $10-20/month and get access to this with me and other members.

One way to differentiate my content, aside from writing which I enjoy doing, is video. I bought a Sony ZV-E10 and want to utilize it. I took a solo hike recently and filmed some content from atop a mountain peak, discussing topics in my niche. I suck at being on camera though...but I want to do more of that kind of content, and setting it up in an office environment as well.

Sorry for the verbose post.

Would love to get feedback on this. Thanks.

Read it, sounds great.
In my opinion, if you would move the "what's this all about" section to the top it can be more effective. At some point for me the article became a bit too boring from not knowing what it leads me to, what you can provide to me.
If you state the offer clearly and straightaway it would eliminate such not-understanding occuring in the future.

Wish you good probability on your path!

 

[Borderless CLTV]

Read it, sounds great.
In my opinion, if you would move the "what's this all about" section to the top it can be more effective. At some point for me the article became a bit too boring from not knowing what it leads me to, what you can provide to me.
If you state the offer clearly and straightaway it would eliminate such not-understanding occuring in the future.

Wish you good probability on your path!

Appreciate it. I just re-read that page with this feedback in mind and changed it accordingly. Definitely flows better now!

 

[lifemaker]

Appreciate it. I just re-read that page with this feedback in mind and changed it accordingly. Definitely flows better now!

Will reread it again in the evening and give you some more thoughts to use for (possible) improvement

 

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[lifemaker]

Appreciate it. I just re-read that page with this feedback in mind and changed it accordingly. Definitely flows better now!

read but forgot to reply.
If people visiting the page will come from DMs or adds - the page became much clearer and effectiver (in my opinion). great job!

 

[Borderless CLTV]

Bumping this thread.

I want to paywall this for higher quality clients/members to join.

Having a Discord is the quickest path to building community, but it seems a bit tacky (if I'm attracting higher quality members).

I spoke to a friend that happens to be an ideal member, and he thinks $5/month is way too low - I just threw that number out there but was ultimately thinking of $20/month as a low tier membership option.

This would include access to the forum/Discord, content I produce (podcasts, travel content discussing dating/etc. in parts of the world, articles).

Then weekly mastermind calls and such would be part of a higher tier option. Maybe $30-50/month.

Wanted to get your thoughts on this as well. Thanks.

 

[Kevin88660]

Bumping this thread.

I want to paywall this for higher quality clients/members to join.

Having a Discord is the quickest path to building community, but it seems a bit tacky (if I'm attracting higher quality members).

I spoke to a friend that happens to be an ideal member, and he thinks $5/month is way too low - I just threw that number out there but was ultimately thinking of $20/month as a low tier membership option.

This would include access to the forum/Discord, content I produce (podcasts, travel content discussing dating/etc. in parts of the world, articles).

Then weekly mastermind calls and such would be part of a higher tier option. Maybe $30-50/month.

Wanted to get your thoughts on this as well. Thanks.

I pay $49 a month for full access to Bloomberg articles.

If I were to do what you do I will cancel out the contents on dating and personal health optimization. You are competing with a sea of free information online, and people are much more willing to pay for business and financial education.

I will select the clear value proposition for a specific niche, for instance English speaking expats figuring out tax and incorporation oversea. Or Real estate investing in Latin America. Then research and study everything about it.

There is nothing wrong with writing a blog like a personal hobby, and writing generally here and there, but it becomes harder when you expect people to pay for it.

 

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[Borderless CLTV]

I pay $49 a month for full access to Bloomberg articles.

If I were to do what you do I will cancel out the contents on dating and personal health optimization. You are competing with a sea of free information online, and people are much more willing to pay for business and financial education.

I will select the clear value proposition for a specific niche, for instance English speaking expats figuring out tax and incorporation oversea. Or Real estate investing in Latin America. Then research and study everything about it.

There is nothing wrong with writing a blog like a personal hobby, and writing generally here and there, but it becomes harder when you expect people to pay for it.

The blog is just one aspect of this.

There's a growing trend of guys looking to date, live, do business overseas. Remote work is facilitating this. That's why I'm tapping into. I had a lead reach out to me via X asking for a 1:1 consult on how to get started on this path. He seems to have cold feet, but that's one angle of revenue I'm going for too.

There used to be a forum dedicated to global dating (for lack of a better way to put it). It was a goldmine of information but the owner found God and changed course. I've had a few guys recently tell me they want something like that again (including a commenter above in this thread). I want to make the forum/Discord avenue somewhat like that, but mixed with business and networking as well. Not focused on hookup culture/passport bro BS.

There's an American guy that's been living in Latin America for several years and he does something similar with a group of paying customers for $25/month. This is basically live calls with him on a weekly basis. This is one aspect of what I'm going for, but more of a mastermind group and not solely focused on LatAm.

As I grow my follower list I expect all of this to funnel in a variety of ways.