Join a Niche Online Community - Here's 10 Reasons Why

Most of us are really social animals and we tend to do better when we are part of groups and communities. Connecting with like minded people so as to exchange ideas and discuss current trends, events, various articles, strategies, etc can be very helpful. Today’s technology allows us to connect and learn from people from all around the world unlike years ago when it was not really possible.

Social media is the best place to start to search for groups you are interested in to get connected with like minded people. Often in these groups we can ask professionals about our business and personal problems. Many influencers and professionals take on the role of resident problem solver. They are usually willing to answer questions and help people to increase their businesses or offer some guidance based on their own personal experiences.

It’s not about how many members are in a particular community it’s more about how people contribute in a group that is important. Some groups have become more a spam group where you are bombarded with advertising whereas others are tightly monitored and very beneficial.

The prime reason people are joining social media groups is to get insights from influencers and to be a part of a community.

What does the word community mean?

Definition of community - “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.” Communities help bring and keep people together so they can discuss common interests and ideas as well as support each other and keep each other motivated. 

What are the characteristics of a good group or community?

A good niche community doesn’t depend on the number of people it has but how the people in it interact with each. Are they making conversations, are they engaging and contributing with good content are they helping to build up the community. One of the benefits of a group is that members can drop in at a time that suites them to get a daily dose of interesting insights on things they are interested.

Engagement is the key here but there is two types of engagement. The first is a community sharing helpful and on topic content or the second is just sharing irrelevant website links and spam.

10 Reasons Why Joining or Even Creating a Social Media Group is Good.

1 - Social media is free and you have unlimited choices

Social media is free to join. You can create groups on Facebook, build up communities on LinkedIn, create a following of people on Twitter or create boards on Pinterest.

Social media platforms have different demographics so it’s best to choose which one aligns more with the niche you are interested in. For example, if your niche is more about women then Pinterest is more or less the best social media site to join and to share your product photos and small blog posts on. If its business then LinkedIn would serve you well.

2 - Job Opportunities for businesses and freelancers

Companies and freelancers are able to explore, learn and share valuable information from one another. 

Any contribution is an opportunity to grab potential employers’ attention because whatever you contribute in the community is visible to everyone. Companies seek talent in groups and communities to hire and outsource work to ensure an expert is working on their projects. By joining social media groups you are sharing your resume and portfolio with thousands of people.

3 -  Traffic Generation

Social media groups and communities is the holy grail of content. User-generated content is one of the greatest benefits of being part of a social media community. This content helps rank groups and communities on search engines and social media searches. 

Social media groups and communities help you get traffic to your website. You can share your business with your peers and prospects. Sharing your business in communities and groups helps in traffic generation. 

Social media optimisation - User-generated content helps in search engine and social media optimisation which can bring additional traffic. You get a boost by social media sites because you are active on them.

4 - Private Community to get premium stuff and freebies

There are many private communities where you can get secret access to pro tips and tools shared by industry leaders. These communities intend to provide value so that people keep returning to the group and contribute and help build the community up.

Many groups are subscription and paid membership based which provide freebies like templates, softwares and training for their private group members. These are premium paid membership groups where we get training from industry experts. Business owners share how they do their business and share their experiences and case studies. 

These groups are perfect to learn online because it’s like an online classroom where people are willing to help each other and learn together. We get to know how the industry works and what we need to do to grow our business.

5 - Potential partnerships and acquisitions

Groups are best place to get referrals for your business. If you are looking for people for partnership and acquisition groups are one of the best places to seek people who are ready to help and could be your future partners.

Social media communities is kind of like a peer to peer messaging medium which holds people's discussions and motivates them to contribute in the discussion. While discussing about the industry people also discuss where they are lacking or services that are missing and they are looking for partnership and outsourcing tasks. 

6 - Advice and feedback you can trust

Many group and community owner validate the user before allowing them to contribute in community. This results in less spam and ensures only people who are knowledgeable about the industry are a member of the group. Validation before granting membership helps to bring the right people in the community and increase community engagement and trust. 

Being an active member of the community helps you in networking and connecting with experts from different niches. In communities you find solutions from niche experts. You can interact with them to get advice on your problems.

The community is usually trustworthy and you can trust community members because they know their industry very well.

7 - Reach out to new people for demand generation

Groups and communities makes it easy to reach new people and share your business with them. It creates a buzz around your business which helps in business branding. As you get connected with new people they get to know about your business. You introduce yourself and your business to group members which increases your brand/business awareness.

Contributing in groups and communities increases your reputation and demand generation because you are contributing in the community where people are seeking information and businesses so they can stay up to date with your business and industry trends.

8 - To promote news, freebies and job opportunities

Communities and groups are best place to promote your business, ebooks, freebies and seeking talent. Communities are flooded with content hungry people who are looking after these kind of opportunities and they grab these opportunities because they can relate with the business and industry.

Sharing industry news with these people create a lot of buzz around the topic and it’s the best place to share news because people are looking for latest news in the industry. 

Freebies like software, templates, ebooks, graphics, over the shoulder hatting videos, etc are easily shared in groups where people want to try new things to perfect and improve their skills.

Groups and communities are best place to seek talent. They usually consist of many  talented people who can also be industry experts that know how to perform specific things specially in their niche. These people are highly motivated to work on your projects and that’s why groups and communities are best place to seek and find talent to outsource. 

9 - Diversity and new perspective and views on topics

Finding solutions from experts is one of the hardest things to find on the internet. Google can bring you thousands of results but that doesn’t mean you are getting the best information. 

In groups you get expert advice from different people who are experts in various segments. This helps you in decision making and getting know about different perspectives and views from various segments. 

Groups and communities brings diversity and different perspectives on the same topic because people have expertise on various topics and they have different experiences and viewpoints on same topic. 

For example ...

In the Video Marketing Group - someone asking “what is an affordable video marketing solution for small business?” he/she can get a reply from people who are experts in screencasting videos, explainer videos, demo videos, presentation videos or business videos.  

Someone else who needs help to get better rankings for their videos in google would learn that the best gigs for video ranking or youtube seo is on Source Market.

Groups add diversity in the content and we have knowledgeable information to make our decision and as well as we get to know about different perspective from experts.

10 - Stay informed on events, webinars, seminars and competitions

Groups and communities are the best place to stay informed on upcoming webinars, events, seminars, and competitions. This ensures we are up to date with latest happening in our industry as well as increases our networking. It also helps us to get answers to our questions because webinars and seminars answer a lot of our questions. 

Its also a great way to build up relationships with people who you would otherwise never meet due to the distance of living in another area or country. But if you are able to meet its like you already know the person and now you are meeting face to face for the very first time.

11 - Stay updated with latest trends and industry

Online communities and groups help you stay Informed about industry trends. You remain abreast on the most recent news, trends and happenings.

You will always find something new in groups and communities because people and businesses are sharing the latest news the most recent technique as well as their personal knowledge and experience with community members.

Groups and communities share information so it doesn’t matter if you a small business owner, a freelancer, a blogger or a newbie marketer you are getting same content as big corporate brands often only have access too.

It helps stay up to date with latest information and you can run your business efficiently and effectively while increasing your competitiveness.

12 - Highly targeted audience = High engagement and conversion

Groups and communities have professional members from a specific niche and that’s why they are highly targeted. These people always seek content which is going to help grow themselves and their business. They are ready to read your blog posts and give feedback on your business. This results in high engagement and better conversion.

If you are a marketer and want better engagement and conversion then you should join niche communities to promote your products and services. These groups help you get engagement and conversion. You don’t need to find a lead generation service provider and don’t need to spend money on it. 

Many marketers are discovering that small is better for community, just like Seth Godin said “Small is the New Big”.

Is there any group you should join right now if you are interested in Video Marketing? Yes!

                        

The “Video Marketing Group” is a Facebook group where you get to know about video marketing as well as tools and tricks to get your business ranked in the search engines. This group consists of experts from around the world who are ready to provide assistance and share their knowledge.

Who should join?

Anyone that understands that Video is a key marketing tool for almost any business.

From entrepreneur to a newbie blogger everyone can join the “Video marketing Group” as its a free group on Facebook. It consists of all sorts of people from a vast range of industry sectors with many people having hands on experience. Although free it is a closed group which means you have to be approved to be accepted.

Local marketers, video production companies, business owners can all benefit from this group by networking  with each other. 

How to join Video Marketing Group? You can search for Video Marketing Group on Facebook or you can visit the website - http://www.videomarketinggroup.org  and from there you can join the group and check out some of the recommended tools. 

Conclusion

The internet is bringing and connecting people from all around the world. These communities are helping thousands of people in networking, lead generation, traffic generation and branding. Being part of these groups brings credibility and trust in your business which helps to grow your business on a long-term basis. 

To get best result from groups and communities you must contribute to build up the community and grow it so you get the benefits. Don’t be a passive member get involved in the discussions and share your views to get benefits of being in these communities. 

Be sure to check out the group description too see what its purpose is.   For example the group description for the Video Marketing Group is .... “Video Marketing Group - The purpose of this group is to have an impartial environment where we can all discuss the subject of video marketing, video production, video ranking, courses and tools as well as to help motivate each other to greater heights. Spamming the group will result in instant removal.” 

Being an active part of groups is both rewarding and fun at the same time. Good Luck!