Context:

A woman wanted to start a full vegan raw food organic restaurant, she spent one year preaching the concept, talking with veterans and professionals from the industry and focused on generating community. As a result on the day when she launched, she was received by more than 10,000 enthusiasts.

Findings:

Her community start supporting the concept, the type of restaurant, type of eating but not the business. She also benefitted from tapping into the existing community of people who believed eating raw organic vegan food is healthier and were passionate about it.

Take home lesson:

Create the movement, before you create the business. Start blogging, start the newsletter, start tweeting before saying “We have something to sell” Get the point of view out there.

Underlying ideas behind community:

Community always:

Give and take.

Share similar interest.

Share ideas.

Old Marketing Technique

Draw the funnel and “Trap” leads into the funnel. Lure them without giving them anything real. Just trigger psychological sensors.

Giving away “free stuff”: Old marketers often offer “Free trials” which are just a way to get leads deeper into the funnel.

People are growing tired of that model.

New Marketing technique focuses on building meaningful relationships and have conversations that can benefit the users of the product therefore instead of getting more & more followers. New marketers aim to convert followers into evangelizers.

Where do I start? Start your community locally, and be very narrow.

Get connected with local press.

Create conversations, and organize meetups.

Communities always form around the idea.

Ideas are communicated through content.

Types of content:

Content that builds trust

Content that educates

User generated Content

Content that converts

Content from other people

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