The magic of this forum is the relationships you build

[Andy Black]

Many forum members never learn that the magic of the forum is the relationships you build.

Some are insta-banned for posting a link to their crappy affiliate offer in their first post.

Others post long pieces of "content", wonder why they get a negative reaction or no reaction at all, and leave blaming the forum rather than themselves.

Their problem is they see forums, Facebook groups, and other online communities as "marketing channels". They join to generate leads for their business.

It's sad. Sad because they may never learn it's exponentially better to make friends, build relationships, and create win-wins.



Here's some tips to help you make better use of online communities like this forum:


1) WHEN YOU'RE STARTING OUT:

Join communities of PEERS and make friends, build relationships, and create win-wins.

Do NOT go in trying to find clients. If your target market is electricians do NOT join as a web designer / digital marketer to get clients. You're a wolf in sheep's clothing and not a genuine community member.

Examples for me are communities like thefastlaneforum, Facebook groups for Irish business owners, people using New Zenler (course software I use), etc. I'm a PEER, the same as everyone else. I join because I want to engage in the community and learn as well as contribute.

After you join, make sure you don't lurk...

• Don’t lurk, do this instead

2) WHEN YOU'RE ESTABLISHED:

When people start seeing you as a helpful and valued community member, AND as an expert at XYZ then you will start to:

• Get *INVITED* into groups of electricians (by the group owner).
• Get *INVITED* in as the resident expert in XYZ (by the group owner).
• Get *INVITED* in to do regular workshops for members (by the group owner).

How do you get invited by the group owner?

"Be so good they can't ignore you."
(Steve Martin)


Examples for me:

• Getting invited to do monthly Google Ads workshops for a Facebook group of 3k Irish business owners - by the group owner.
• Getting invited into large groups of B&B owners, Personal Trainers, Permanent Makeup Artists, etc - by the group owners.
• Being given free membership to a dozen paid communities - by the group owners.

----

TIPS FOR YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE

Just use your personal profile when you join Facebook groups. Have a genuine profile, where you're mostly sharing non-business stuff like everyone else. Occasionally post business stuff, but just sprinkle it in.

In your bio (and maybe your banner) give a nod to what you do. Don't be like those outbound guys who have a banner stating how they're a high-ticket closer, a business coach for agency owners, a dadpreneur, or any of that cr@p. No-one wants to connect with them.

Let your talking in the Facebook group "show don't tell" that you're helpful, supportive, a good guy/gal to know and interact with, and competent at XYZ. This is what makes you referrable, and what will get those people already interested enough to check out your profile and follow their nose to your website.

Below is a screenshot showing what my personal profile looks like. I'm happy to just leave a few subtle breadcrumbs for anyone interested in learning more.

----

Further reading:

• How to use forums (and Facebook groups)
• PM me
• Make friends, build relationships, and create win-wins
• Learnings from 700+ PMs with fellow forum members

----

Screenshot of my personal Facebook profile:

• It's a genuine personal profile, yet people who want to learn more can follow the breadcrumbs...

 

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[Johnny boy]

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Thanks Andy for the write up. Bump.

 

[JustMorpheus]

It's sad. Sad because they may never learn it's exponentially better to make friends, build relationships, and create win-wins.

That's interesting because Naval Ravikant said something very similar. "All returns in life come from compound interest in long-term games" He says that relationships compound over time too. So he says we should find people who you can build long-term, win-win relationships with, and it will compound by a large degree.

 

[Darius]

When I used to help music artists grow their fanbase from 0, it always started with being a good human being and making more friends.

There's so much power in genuinely being a good person.

 

[Rauschmi]

Thanks for the post Andy. Great reminder to get out there and make some friends. I definitely need to get into more groups of my PEERS and not just find a group to lurk in.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Andy Black]

Two tips:

1. If you read something that helps you, then reply with your takeaways and what you'll do different going forward. Keep the conversation going, and be helpful and supportive.
   
   
2. When you post something, ask people what THEIR takeaways are and what they'll do different going forward. Keep the conversation going and encourage others to be helpful and supportive. You'll be surprised and humbled what people's takeaways are.

 

[KushShah9492]

I can 100% agree with this.

You will never succeed in life or business if you aren't genuinely interested in building a relationship with other people and helping them out.

 

[Andy Black]

In my mind, building a relationship is more important than making a sale.

 

[dana2andrea]

Many forum members never learn that the magic of the forum is the relationships you build.

Some are insta-banned for posting a link to their crappy affiliate offer in their first post.

Others post long pieces of "content", wonder why they get a negative reaction or no reaction at all, and leave blaming the forum rather than themselves.

Their problem is they see forums, Facebook groups, and other online communities as "marketing channels". They join to generate leads for their business.

It's sad. Sad because they may never learn it's exponentially better to make friends, build relationships, and create win-wins.



Here's some tips to help you make better use of online communities like this forum:


1) WHEN YOU'RE STARTING OUT:

Join communities of PEERS and make friends, build relationships, and create win-wins.

Do NOT go in trying to find clients. If your target market is electricians do NOT join as a web designer / digital marketer to get clients. You're a wolf in sheep's clothing and not a genuine community member.

Examples for me are communities like thefastlaneforum, Facebook groups for Irish business owners, people using New Zenler (course software I use), etc. I'm a PEER, the same as everyone else. I join because I want to engage in the community and learn as well as contribute.

After you join, make sure you don't lurk...

• Don’t lurk, do this instead

2) WHEN YOU'RE ESTABLISHED:

When people start seeing you as a helpful and valued community member, AND as an expert at XYZ then you will start to:

• Get *INVITED* into groups of electricians (by the group owner).
• Get *INVITED* in as the resident expert in XYZ (by the group owner).
• Get *INVITED* in to do regular workshops for members (by the group owner).

How do you get invited by the group owner?

"Be so good they can't ignore you."
(Steve Martin)


Examples for me:

• Getting invited to do monthly Google Ads workshops for a Facebook group of 3k Irish business owners - by the group owner.
• Getting invited into large groups of B&B owners, Personal Trainers, Permanent Makeup Artists, etc - by the group owners.
• Being given free membership to a dozen paid communities - by the group owners.

----

TIPS FOR YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE

Just use your personal profile when you join Facebook groups. Have a genuine profile, where you're mostly sharing non-business stuff like everyone else. Occasionally post business stuff, but just sprinkle it in.

In your bio (and maybe your banner) give a nod to what you do. Don't be like those outbound guys who have a banner stating how they're a high-ticket closer, a business coach for agency owners, a dadpreneur, or any of that cr@p. No-one wants to connect with them.

Let your talking in the Facebook group "show don't tell" that you're helpful, supportive, a good guy/gal to know and interact with, and competent at XYZ. This is what makes you referrable, and what will get those people already interested enough to check out your profile and follow their nose to your website.

Below is a screenshot showing what my personal profile looks like. I'm happy to just leave a few subtle breadcrumbs for anyone interested in learning more.

----

Further reading:

• How to use forums (and Facebook groups)
• PM me
• Make friends, build relationships, and create win-wins
• Learnings from 700+ PMs with fellow forum members

----

Screenshot of my personal Facebook profile:

• It's a genuine personal profile, yet people who want to learn more can follow the breadcrumbs...

View attachment 44435

I’m looking back at old threads that may be helpful and came across this one. Great advice about Facebook profiles. I don’t use Facebook often so the tips were helpful for me! Thanks!

 

[Private Witt]

In my mind, building a relationship is more important than making a sale.

So true and nothing crushes a relationship when someone goes for a quick sale. Just had this happen with someone I thought was building a solid relationship and he yanked the rug out with a hard sell and I lost interest in building the friendship, if waited a few months would of probably got a sale and a friend.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[bc0510]

Just read this thread today. Valuable and true!

 

[DareDevil]

It's not forum to be honest its home for us

 

[i_like_quinoa]

In my mind, building a relationship is more important than making a sale.

this is pretty much how im building the ethos of my agency.