3 Communities That Will Help You Succeed

After the last few years, we need community now more than ever! Isolation and loneliness doesn't just effect those who live alone, you can feel lonely when you’re surrounded by people, and it's often the reality of those working alone.

We know being part of a community is important for health and wellbeing, it’s also important for you to succeed as a holistic practitioner. As humans, we naturally connect with people and build relationships. It's those quality connections that are core to marketing yourself successfully and building a great holistic business.

Having a community around you is about having likeminded individuals who are there for you, through the highs and the lows. When you train as a practitioner, you’re surrounded by friends and have shared experiences whether that’s online or in person. Everyone’s excited about the future and building their business, but the reality of working as a holistic practitioner can be very different. The feeling of isolation can creep in when you start to build your business.

Here are 3 communities that will help you and your holistic business succeed:

Local Community

Your local community is a great place to raise awareness of the work you do as well as making friends, and even finding new hobbies. Your local community will have numerous opportunities for you to get involved in, from fun events, to summer fairs, and voluntary work.

A client of mine volunteers leading health walks in her local community. They have become a favourite feature of her week - she gets to spend time with lovely people out in nature and has had several referrals from the relationships she’s built.

Another client supports her local fair by renting a stand. She spends her time at the fairs chatting to people and being really helpful. Following an event, she will pick-up a few new clients because people have got to know, like and trust her from having had the opportunity to chat to her in person.

Not everything has to be work related, but they are opportunities to meet new people and for them to get to know you and what you do.

Niche Community

Creating a community of people who are in your niche is a great way to build your profile as an expert in this area. Ultimately, you’re creating a community of people you help who could become clients. This can be done in person or online – consider what suits you best, and where your favourite clients hang out.

Whatever you decide, consider the cost and time implications of creating your own community as they take work to maintain.

Here are a few options:

Start a local group or club - consider what you could easily offer that is linked to how you work, for example, if you’re a fitness trainer helping menopausal women to feel young at heart, you could create a walking group for local women.

Online groups – there are groups available on many different platforms, but the most popular is Facebook. Creating a group is a great way to get known for what you do, as well as giving you the opportunity to interact with, and support people. And it's a great way to really understand your niche and the challenges they face.

Social media – if Facebook groups aren’t your thing, use the social media platform you feel most comfortable with to create a community around your posts and interactions. To do this, you have to interact with people – it’s all about being social but it's less commitment than running a group.

Other people’s communities – if you don’t have the capacity to build your own niche community, you can get in front of other people’s communities by being a guest expert for their members. Find people who help a similar niche to you, but in a different way. The idea is to collaborate with them rather than be in competition with them.

I’ve done this by being a guest expert in Facebook groups, online memberships and by speaking at conferences. It’s been a great way to build my profile and find new clients in the process.

Business Support Community

Being in business can be lonely and you need people around you who understand what you do. And although your friends and family want you to succeed, most don’t understand the challenges of running a business, or working with clients.

Here are some ideas for business support communities:

Peer support - when you studied to be a practitioner, you spent time building relationships with others on the course. Continue these by creating peer support groups, where you can be there to help each other. They can be a sounding board for ideas and inspiration for working with clients. Or they can help you understand and adopt developments within your discipline and build your businesses.

Online groups - these have become more and more popular and can be an affordable way to find a community of like-minded people. Groups are a great way to build relationships for your business, find new friends, or even find new clients.

Mastermind group – these are peer-to-peer support groups where the members mentor and coach each other to solve their problems. They’re a great way to build your personal network, find new business friends and feel like part of a like-minded community. They are such a great way to bring new ideas and inspiration to your business.

You can create a mastermind group with other practitioners, or small business owners. It doesn’t matter if they don’t do the same work as you, look for those who have similar business models and values to you. 

You can also pay to join a mastermind that’s led by a coach or other professional. These groups have an understanding and commitment between the members that is powerful. They are a brilliant way to build your business, get help and be kept accountable.

Even if you work alone, you need the power of community to support you and your holistic business to succeed. Come along and join my free Facebook group ‘Holistic Business Matters’ for holistic business owners who want to make the impact they desire and succeed in a way that feels right.