The Real Reason Why People Are Not Joining Your Paid Community

In previous episodes, we covered:

• Episode 1: What the heck is a Portfolio Career

• Episode 2: How to launch your 1:1 offer from zero

• Episode 3: Launching your cohort and 3 pitfalls to avoid

Today, the focus is on launching and growing your paid community.

Last week I talked about how people overestimate what they can achieve with 10,000 followers and underestimate what they can achieve with 100 true fans. Today we are going to find yours through the power of community-building.

I started writing online at the end of 2022 and if I could go back in time and do one thing differently, it would be this:

I used to think that if I published something really good (an article on Medium, a book on Amazon, a Post on Substack…), sooner or later I would be discovered and have a breakthrough moment.

Except that the breakthrough moment never happened because nothing sustainable was ever built on lucky shots.

See, I wasn’t working on the foundation: I was rushing the lemons from the tree and whatever hint of success I had was short-lived. You can’t build on virality; you can only build on trust.

Once I understood that community was the backbone of everything, I changed my strategy (and my mindset) and my priority shifted from volume to depth and from numbers to connections.

Yes, that strategy took much longer and I can’t claim a huge following after almost 4 years writing online but having a real community has allowed me to achieve incredible things:

- Become an Amazon Bestseller multiple times in my Category (more on book publishing in next week’s episode)

- Sell my cohorts before I create them, like the Public Speaking Bootcamp

- Become a Substack Bestseller and generate recurring revenue of 25K US$+ annually through paid subscriptions alone

- Sustain a profitable coaching business where clients come to me (99% are my loyal subscribers, aka community)

- Collaborate with top creators such as David McllRoy, Claire Venus, Kristina God or the Write - Grow - Scale team and reach thousands of readers outside my network

- Make new friends around the world and even meet them in person!

If I had to start over and only had one hour a day to grow my creative business, I wouldn’t focus on creating courses or writing more. I would honestly focus my energy on growing my community. This is how:

I don’t mean suffocating yourself in a box but creating your own little movement that people identify with and want to be a part of.

Readers join book clubs because they are passionate about literature and want to connect with others and share experiences around their love of reading.

People sign up for running clubs because they want to exercise in a group, have accountability, and turn something hard into something less hard and social.

Speakers join speaker communities to exchange best practices, connect with peers and learn from each other.

A community is not what you do but what people experience inside.

Look at it from their perspective and go back to the drawing board until you have a good answer for this question:

Why would people want to join your community?

The Lemon Tree Mindset is a movement for creative entrepreneurs who want to turn their business into their lifestyle and be part of a community where they learn, ask questions and collaborate with like-minded people.

What’s in it for your readers?

Content gives readers a reason to come but community gives them a reason to stay.

If you lead with content, you die with content too, meaning people will come and even pay to get your info/ frameworks/strategy, but once they have the know-how/ expertise/ template, they will move on because, well…why should they stay?

Once you understand this, the focus shifts from boosting numbers to building depth and loyalty.

Because while content is transactional, community is experiential. It’s about belonging: people are not just the recipients of an email; they become a part of something.

Think bigger and wider: don’t just give your readers things to consume and discard. Bring them in, open the doors, make them want to stay and join your movement.

Are you giving them a reason to stay?

Give them options

People like to be involved in different ways.

Back to our running club, no one pays a membership fee to get a training program. In fact, you can get fantastic training programs (aka content) for free online.

So why would people actually want to pay?

The reality is that people find value in different things: some only want the training; others want to join races; some like training with others and some are there to get a workout and flirt after the session (run clubs have become the new Tinder!).

You can’t expect everyone to join everything, but a community gives people different options so that they can join it on their terms.

There is no copy-paste formula to build a community but here are some ideas you can play with to create your own club:

• Encourage connection and peer-to-peer sharing through the Group Chat

• Turn your comments section into a debate

• Create accountability through challenges and prompts

• Create opportunities for collaboration and co-creation

• Host group sessions and Masterminds to promote a creative space

Did you notice how none of these are “content”?

They are experiences: the true levers and the building blocks for your community.

I used to think that for people to become my paid subscribers, I had to give them a ridiculous amount of perks: 3 Posts a week, multiple chats, live sessions, personalized feedback, monthly webinars…it turns out value is not measured by volume but by quality (is it good?), relevance (do I care?) and resonance (does it land?).

Don’t be fooled. Your readers don’t want more quantity: that’s what your imposter syndrome is telling you- trying to convince you that you are not enough, and that lack of confidence is filled by more volume and more noise.

This is the big mindset shift: your most valuable asset is the shared experience you create; not the number of emails or initiatives you deliver every month.

The article is the channel but the real value happens inside.

If you are struggling to monetize your audience, stop treating it like an audience and start turning it into a community where the participants play a role.

2 years ago, The Lemon Tree Mindset went from a hobby to the spine of my portfolio career. What I mean by this is that my most loyal members become not only paid subscribers: they also join my cohorts, purchase my books, sign up for my courses and many even become friends.

This is not a copy-paste template and you have to create your own journey, but the mindset shift will definitely help you go from random growth (the one Post that got lucky) to sustainable and strategic growth.

If you take away one idea from today, it’s this: Lead your community with purpose.

Don’t start with the what; start with the why (purpose).

What this looks like in my case:

→ To create interest and welcome people:

1-2 Posts a week (currently I’m only sending 1 and the growth is the same)

• 1 free Post to invite people to discover my writing and my style and get a sense of what my community is about. Think of it like a free tasting.

• 1 exclusive Post to paid subscribers: I paywall the implementation part, so that all readers can benefit from the information but premium members have access to the strategy/ how-to.

PS: The magic of the Posts starts in the comments: I turn them into an open forum where the conversation continues beyond the “thank you for commenting.”

→ To create engagement and peer-to-peer connection:

2 group chats a week:

• 1 free to build connection and celebration

• 1 paid for my premium members to ask questions, get premium tips and personalized feedback. Think “open day” for my premium members.

→ To go deeper into a group discussion and brainstorm:

A monthly roundtable: an intimate group discussion where members come and share about a specific topic (I only moderate and facilitate). Think a Sounding Board for founders and creative entrepreneurs where you hang out with smart and cool people.

→ To make people feel exclusive

VIP perks: exclusive news, access to prelaunches, priority to join my cohorts, special discounts for my courses

→ To promote collaboration:

Opportunity to collaborate with me/ others: I have done 50+ collabs with my premium members from live sessions, guest Posts, joint webinars, interviews and features in my newsletter. The goal is to help amplify their voices and add new perspectives and skill sets to my readers. A win-win.

This is my way of building community because it’s based on what I love doing and it’s aligned with my nervous system and my lifestyle.

I don’t want the pressure to write every day.

I don’t offer free discovery calls because they drain me.

I don’t do a lot of promotions and countdown deals because I prefer to lead with quality and attract fewer people who are committed and not those looking for a bargain.

I mix writing and video because I like variety.

I don’t have a super strict schedule because I want to leave some room for intuition, flexibility and spontaneity.

I double down on collaboration because I’m a team player.

My point is: start from within. Be truthful to who you are. Leave behind the things that drain you and build on what makes you you.

Build something great inside out.

Next episode will cover book publishing and how a book can take your Portfolio Career to the next level!

Upgrade now to unlock the full series and join an exclusive Portfolio Career Roundtable where you can share your idea, get feedback, find inspiration and collaboration opportunities.

📍19 August 8pm EST / 20 August 8am UK

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