By: Eden Hensley Photos by: Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit
Connecting with community is always on a creative’s mind–whether they are just starting out or have been producing awhile. With comments down and interaction primarily through social media, it can be easy to focus on numbers and tactics to boost likes and shares. Unfortunately, it is not that simple.
Community starts with you as a person, being interested in your community, and builds from there. Twice this summer, members of the Alt Community have chatted on Twitter about how they show their communities they are interested. Here are ten tips to ensure you stay interesting to your community:
- “Don’t be the guy standing on the corner yelling ‘look at me, look at me.’” – Sandra of Raincoast Creative Salon
- “Give heartfelt shout outs to other bloggers and share content that moves you.” – Koseli of Original Archiving Co.
- “Get all mushy and write thank you posts.” Laurel of A Bubbly Life
- “Share and promote others as much as you can. Support the amazing efforts of bloggers and companies in your community!” – McCall of McCall of the Wild
- “Genuinely listen. Let readers know you care about what’s important to them. Acknowledgement = appreciation.” – Davon D. E. Hatchett
- “Listen, link to/repost/retweet their work, and publicly/privately give thanks and recognition.” – Chris of Red Letter Everyday
- “Co-host Instagram challenges.” – Sport of Meanest Look
- “Polling and asking questions is a great way to get your community involved and show them you care!” – Christen of The Broke-Ass Bride
- “Show your community you appreciate them with special content, peeks behind the scenes. Ask their opinion.” – Tori of Thoughtfully Simple
- “Tell them! Also show friends appreciation through exclusive giveaways, special promotions, and more.” – The Honest Company
- “Choose topics that are exciting to you so energy comes through in your posts.” – Sophistiquicke
Want more resources for building your community? Check out these posts from the archives:
- Disney of Ruffles and Stuff has three simple tips for getting started building an online community and five tips for sharing yourself
- Elena of Randomly Happy reveals five foolproof tips for creating a better community
- Jeni of Jeni’s gives nine tips for building community
- Kollabora shares how they build an authentic creative community
Do you get inspired by chatting with other creatives and entrepreneurs? Join us live one Wednesday at 9AM PT/12PM ET on Twitter for our weekly #AltChat. Next week, Wednesday August 20th we will be discussing how to promote yourself without feeling like a used car salesman.
