How to Find Communities to Join When You Are New with Alissa M. Trumbull @AnOrchidInBloom #VCBuzz

How to Find Communities to Join When You Are New with Alissa M. Trumbull @AnOrchidInBloom #VCBuzz Joining niche communities is the best way to establish valuable business connections, build your presence and become known.

But where to start? How to find which communities to join and how to get accepted? Let’s discuss!

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About Alissa

Alissa M. Trumbull @AnOrchidInBloom works in campaign and event management. She is co-founder of @BizGalz.

@AnOrchidInBloom is also ambassador for #Foodiechats & #SocialRoadTrip.

Questions we discussed

Q1 Why is it important to be part of community when building your online presence? How did you end up being part of three active communities: #BizGalz, #Foodiechats & #SocialRoadTrip. Why those?

Communities are great both online and offline for meeting people and learning more about what you’re interested in. I love the #JustBeSocial group for that very reason.

@vcbuzz A1. Communities are the best way to build a strong network and really it shows you are a part of something bigger than yourself #vcbuzz

— Cheval John (@chevd80) January 23, 2018

A1 A “community” is typically more engaged than an “audience” you push content at. Stronger relationships are the result. #vcbuzz

— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) January 23, 2018

#BizGalz is a passion project @lifeofaworkgirl and I started about 2 1/2 years ago (wow!). It’s been wonderful building that community.

@AnOrchidInBloom I loved being a guest at #BizGalz once! #vcbuzz

— Sana Knightly (@SanaKnightly) January 23, 2018

#Foodiechats was the first Twitter chat I EVER participated in! They celebrated their 350th consecutive chat last night! (WHOOP!) I can’t always join anymore, but the community is always close to my heart.

Way to go #Foodiechats! 350 consecutive chats – that's impressive! Must check them out! #vcbuzz

— Sana Knightly (@SanaKnightly) January 23, 2018

I think #Foodiechats was the first one for me too! Then I discovered #NostalgiaChat, then #MediaChat, then #MobileChat…and the rest is history. ? #vcbuzz

— Anh Nguyen (@AnhTNguyen) January 23, 2018

#SocialRoadTrip is simply incredible. @JoelRRenner founded it a few years ago. It’s an amazing way to take your online relationships to in-person relationships. We have meetups a few times a year. The next one is in July in San Diego.

@vcbuzz A1B. A business should focus on building a loyal community and not focus on making money solely, meaning advertising. #vcbuzz

— Cheval John (@chevd80) January 23, 2018

Q2 How to search for communities to join when you are just entering a niche? How to identify which ones are worth spending time at?

Always use your network. Talk to friends and colleagues to see which communities they fund valuable around a topic in which you’re interested.

@vcbuzz A2. Basically it comes from digital word of mouth from trusted people and if you feel a welcoming culture there too #vcbuzz

— Cheval John (@chevd80) January 23, 2018

Be sure to do your research. There are a lot of wonderful communities out there (like for coding, cooking, and more). You need to find the one(s) that are right for you and what you’re looking for.

A2 Start with scheduled Twitter chats. Which ones do people you follow participate in? Then continue the conversations. #vcbuzz

— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) January 23, 2018

Twitter chats are an amazing way to find different communities for topics you’re interested in pursuing.

Just don’t limit your definition of “community” to chat participants. #JustBeSocial is a good example: There’s no formal chat. #vcbuzz

— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) January 23, 2018

Exactly! I shouted out #JustBeSocial earlier. It’s pretty much my favorite chat. And it happens 24/7.

Ain’t no party like a #justbesocial party cuz the #justbesocial party don’t stop. #vcbuzz

— Josh McCormack (@joshmccormack) January 23, 2018

Q3 How to make yourself comfortable in a new community? How to build partnerships and friendships when you are new and shy?

Say hello. That’s often all you need to get a conversation started.

If you’re joining a community as a “newbie” you already have some common ground around the community’s focus/topic. Start there. Share about why you find it interesting.

A3: Make yourself in a community by listening and replying. Take it easy. No need to be profound in the first 120 seconds. #vcbuzz

— Josh McCormack (@joshmccormack) January 23, 2018

Spot on with that, Josh! A little listening goes a long way.

@vcbuzz Just be you. Too many people tend to want to be something they aren't online. #vcbuzz

— Cendrine Marrouat (@cendrinemedia) January 23, 2018

@cendrinemedia Absolutely. Be you. No lurking! You can listen, but let people know you're there. In the flesh there's a difference between hiding and smiling and nodding your head. #vcbuzz

— Josh McCormack (@joshmccormack) January 23, 2018

Q4 Are there people you learned social media networking from? Please list some of community building mentors and influencers you are following

Definitely @CBarrows, @JoelRRenner, @SteveGOgreen, @KDHungerford. These are some of my favorite community builders.

@vcbuzz A4. @sungroupwp @kdhungerford @tweetinggoddess are the first ones that comes to mind for community building #vcbuzz

— Cheval John (@chevd80) January 23, 2018

A4 Participating in chats with people like @anorchidinbloom @glendavee @JoelRRenner @CBarrows @joshmccormack helped encourage me to be more social. #vcbuzz

— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) January 23, 2018

@vcbuzz A4B. Another one who is excellent at building communities off line and online is @kamichat. She knows how to bring people together once a month for #smbhou #vcbuzz

— Cheval John (@chevd80) January 23, 2018

Ann Smarty, Sana Knightly, and Phil Turner are my community-building mentors. #vcbuzz

— Don Sturgill (@DonSturgill) January 23, 2018

@martinlieberman Iron sharpens iron. I've learned a great deal from you, the folks you listed, and more like @LUCYrk78 @BPucino @TheComicHunter @ItsJeffHiggins @ScottOntiveroz @craigthusiast #vcbuzz

— Josh McCormack (@joshmccormack) January 23, 2018

Q5 What are your favorite networking and community building tools?

Twitter and Facebook groups are my favorite places to engage with people and communities that are of interest to me.

@vcbuzz A5. I love twitter because you can actually interact with people in real time #vcbuzz

— Cheval John (@chevd80) January 23, 2018

@AnOrchidInBloom What are your fav Facebook groups? #vcbuzz

— Viral Content Bee (@vcbuzz) January 23, 2018

My favorite Facebook groups are for a few organizations of which I am a member. I also love the @CMX group.

A5: My favorite way to network and build community is to recycle old threads. If you have a thread with interested people on a topic, have something about that topic, add it to the thread! #vcbuzz

— Josh McCormack (@joshmccormack) January 23, 2018

A5 https://t.co/p63bJjxxxg is a good platform to check out when it comes to building your community! Also Tweetchats! #vcbuzz

— Ann Smarty (@seosmarty) January 23, 2018