Tips for Building Trust in Online Communities

I’ve coached many of the most successful community leaders. A few are businesses that have grown every year for a decade. I've learned that the key to compounding growth is not complicated funnels, hiring a marketing team, or hanging out on TikTok. The secret to growth for community businesses is… friendship. Helping members make and keep new friends in your community is how you reduce churn, increase your referral rate, and turn your existing members into leaders. And it’s also a really fun metric to build a business around. In her excellent book Platonic, Marisa G. Franco outlines the six elements of starting and deepening friendships. What if we applied these elements to a community business context? Here are the 6 elements, each with one way that we might create an environment that encourages them in our communities: 1. Initiative 💥 One way to encourage: Help your members take initiative by normalizing reaching out and providing them with a clear guide on how to initiate connections. 2. Vulnerability 🤲 One way to encourage: Model vulnerability by sharing your own experiences, challenges, and personal stories in the way you’d like your members to open up to each other. 3. Authenticity 🤸🏻♀️ One way to encourage: Make it clear that the community is different from social media platforms and invite members to show up more joyfully, and less polished than they otherwise would. 4. Productive Anger 🔥 One way to encourage: Be transparent about how conflicts are handled and don’t freak out when they come up. Having clear member guidelines and reminding members of what’s expected of them makes it easier to mediate conflicts when necessary. 5. Generosity 💐 One way to encourage: Encourage members to share what they can offer others, whether it's knowledge, support, or skills. Then, when those exchanges happen make it a point to celebrate them. 6. Affection 💞 One way to encourage: When someone thanks you for introducing you to a new friend because they’re amazing, invite them to also share that message directly with the new friend. It’s a great way to deepen a budding friendship! Cultivating a culture of friendship in your community has the potential to ultimately grow and sustain your business. And it's also a beautiful way to meaningfully improve the lives of your members. What are the ways new friendships have sparked for you in the communities you lead and/or are a part of? Friendship stories are my favorite. ☺️

Notice a gap? What do you do about it? Do you wait for a solution or create it yourself? I noticed a need within the community space and had to find a way to fill it. How did I know? By getting to know my members. I asked what they needed-> surveys, one-on-ones, emails,... Need: Community members wanted to connect. Goal: To bring them together in a common spot. Problem: No common place to gather virtually. To gain more support: Spoke with active users (whom I built relationships with) to contribute and help me promote the event. *Solution: Set up a monthly recurring virtual meet-up -> 'Connect CommUnity' *Benefits from this meetup ↳Members became friends online & offline ↳Learned more about each other & built trust ↳Collaborated at events & in projects together ↳IRL connections happened (picture in comments) Impact of it? ↳Enhanced customer experience ↳Members were excited to hang out ↳Established meaningful relationships ↳Members felt appreciated and heard ↳Over time, members started to host the meet-ups. The beauty of it all? I got to see this all unfold and witness the amazing connections form. Gain more insight into what they needed by listening to their conversations. And continually help create a better environment for them all. ⭐ If you don't see a way to solve a problem, create the solution instead. You don't need to wait for a large crowd to get started. Start with what you have and add on. (If you need help, ask your members)

The fastest way to kill trust online? Trying too hard to look perfect. I see it everywhere: Over-polished content with no personality Success stories with zero struggle Generic advice that helps no one Here's what builds trust: Be real about your journey. → Share the struggles behind the wins, not just the highlight reel. → Admit what you don't know. "I'm not sure, but here's what I think..." goes → further than generic expertise. Give first, ask later. → Answer questions in comments. → Share resources freely. → Show up consistently. Trust is built through repeated small interactions, not one viral post. The people making real money online aren't the most polished. They're the most trusted. What's one thing you see in others online that makes you trust them? Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost and follow Claudia Garcia for more! Want to glow up your profile? Grab the Quick Fix Profile Checklist: https://lnkd.in/gWzpW6aM