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Starting an online business or establishing an online presence for your company can be a lonely journey. There are countless unknowns and every journey is completely unique, which often leads to confusion.
Don't do this alone. By joining an online community centered around a common goal, you can receive support, guidance and feedback. It can help you improve your skills, fill knowledge gaps, take responsibility and work effectively towards your goals.
At SPI Media, we know a thing or two about virtual business communities – we're the founders of two of them! Through the experience of hundreds of members and the incredible success stories we've heard (like this one), we've figured out how to build healthy communities that drive real, meaningful outcomes for our members.
Pat Flynn (our founder) shared his experiences and social reasons for joining an online business community in this article. Below, we'll explain why joining an entrepreneurial community is the best step in your journey and what unique opportunities our communities offer to support you on your journey.
Support for every part of your business journey
A creator community isn't just for YouTubers with billions of views, and an entrepreneur community isn't just for people whose idea is scribbled on the back of a napkin. No matter what stage of growth your business is in, there is a business community that is here for you.
Many communities are aimed at new entrepreneurs – groups of people with great ideas who want to make structural progress, such as building a website or starting a podcast.
Others are intended for people who have an established presence, with a certain amount of recurring revenue or a certain number of monthly customers.
Still others are intentionally focused on a shared interest in a niche—people with brick-and-mortar stores or fitness instructors who teach primarily over the Internet.
No matter where you are in your journey, an online entrepreneurial community offers unparalleled opportunities for support. Questions can be posted and answered by people around the world, and because this post is visible to everyone, everyone learns from the answers. Or questions can be discussed in real time during community events via video conference.
Photo credit: Nathan Dunlao
Virtual communities combat loneliness
New online communities are constantly emerging – business or otherwise. The popularity of online communities in response to the loneliness epidemic has never been more widespread and critical. A 2023 report from the US Surgeon General found that before the pandemic, loneliness affected half of adults, linking loneliness to risks such as heart disease, stroke and dementia.
Combine these risks with the inherent loneliness of entrepreneurship, and it becomes clear that online creators and business owners are particularly vulnerable.
An online entrepreneurial community offers an antidote: peer connection, giving and receiving feedback in mastermind groups and real-time networking events.
Ready to find join your people and level up?
Like you, we are online entrepreneurs who crave connection, guidance and support from people like us.
Learning Entrepreneurship: Together
When entrepreneurs come together in a virtual community environment, lessons are everywhere. These lessons happen naturally, simply because of the nature of living in an environment with peers. The opportunity to share insights, experiences, successes and failures is unparalleled.
However, some communities go one step further, such as our own All-Access Pass community. We built this special community with young entrepreneurs in mind and designed it to be a community-based learning experience for our members.
The All Access Pass gives members access to our entire library of courses, covering everything from YouTube mastery to starting a podcast, building a community, affiliate marketing, and more.
But rather than just offering courses as a perk, the community is designed to enable cohort-based learning. One way to achieve this is through accelerators, which allow students to complete a course as a “class” while receiving the support and guidance of our team. We've also created Paths, which serve as suggested navigation paths through multiple courses and are focused on a specific goal – such as creating, growing, and consuming a podcast.
These features, along with community programs like fireside chats, Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) sessions with Pat Flynn (our founder), networking events, and live teaching opportunities, create a community experience that focuses on learning. This robust and active community component supports and encourages growth and progress.
[image here]Competent advice always at hand
Online business communities are mostly built by people who are interested in the game, and it follows that many of these communities – if they are reputable and built by the right people – attract experts in their fields as members. As a benefit of membership, these communities often offer the opportunity to network and have questions answered by experts, improving the member experience.
Our SPI Pro community – designed for established entrepreneurs looking to take their business to new levels of success – is full of professionals, many of whom are experts in their niche or business.
We also have a robust Experts in Residence program, further increasing access to experts. This program consists of a network of renowned professionals who interact directly with our community members, providing opportunities for in-depth learning and business advice at the highest level. Much of our community programming is created with the help of these experts, including workshops, panels, and more.
Image credit: Microsoft Edge
Connection and networking
Our community members have launched podcasts together, collaborated extensively on marketing plans and cross-promotion efforts, formed lifelong friendships, and helped each other reach new heights of success in their businesses. We would never dream of receiving this honor, but the ability to provide a vibrant space for connecting people and facilitating learning opportunities is the very reason we exist.
Another huge benefit to online business communities like ours is the opportunity to create thought leaders. These are groups that meet regularly to provide feedback, hold each other accountable, and agree on next steps—all while working independently on their own businesses. The structure of thought leaders can vary widely – some take turns and put each other in the weekly hot seat, for example – but at their core they all have support for growth. As a benefit of an SPI Pro membership, we offer to connect members with existing mastermind groups, but we also welcome people to spontaneously create new groups.
[image here]What all communities have in common
Of course the right people!
The best online entrepreneurial communities aren't for everyone. Adding new members is like fiddling with the ingredients of a complicated recipe – it can't be done spontaneously.
For this reason, we have integrated an application process into our communities. It is particularly important for our SPI Pro community that we bring entrepreneurs together at the right stage of company growth. Including an application phase also helps us ensure that the people coming in are serious about growing together and are aware of the community guidelines.
There are many business communities. But with our combination of community-centered learning, access to experts and robust events, we believe our event is the best on the market. Visit our community page to learn more.
No matter what community you join, connect! Learning entrepreneurship is one of the most challenging things you can do in life, and also the most rewarding. Don’t make it harder than necessary – find your people!
Ready to find join your people and level up?
Like you, we are online entrepreneurs who crave connection, guidance and support from people like us.
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Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
