There are a lot of ways to grow a business; many people use product led growth or sales and marketing to increase their sales. But know there is a third engine to grow your company: community led growth.

On the Small Business Radio Show this week, my guest grew his business using his only his community.

Lloyed Lobo, an entrepreneur, podcast host and community builder, experienced the Gulf War as a young refugee in Kuwait, witnessing the strength of community in evacuating the population to safety. As the co-founder of Boast.Al, he leveraged the Community-Led Growth model to bootstrap the company to eight-figure revenue and secure over $100m in funding, while also co-founding Traction, a community empowering over 100k innovators through connections, content, and capital.

He has  a book coming out in September titled, “From Grassroots to Greatness – 13 Rules to Build Iconic Brands with Community Led Growth” featuring stories from Harley Davidson, Nike, Peloton, Crossfit, and HubSpot.

Here is what we discussed:

Why do some companies have loyal, cult-like followings while others blend into oblivion? Is a good product enough to win in the market today?

Audience vs community, what is the difference?

Most people hear community and ask, “should I start a Slack/ FB Group/ Discord group/ or newsletter?” instead of thinking through the mechanics of the journey and building relationships. Lloyed talks about how people are thinking about community wrong.

What are the different types of community strategies with some tactical examples? I.e.. Community of Practice, Community of Product and Community of Play.

Getting your community started from scratch. If you had to break it down into a step-by-step process, how would you do it?

How do you ensure your community sticks and sustains for the long haul?

What metrics to measure should you stay on top of?

What are the main acquisition channels for new members and how do you measure them?

What are some best practices to scale a community through ambassadors?

How to turn your early members into evangelists?

What is the one community growth strategy that had the highest impact and the results you achieved?

What are the unique strategies and tactics to keep the community engaged and drive interpersonal connections between members.

How to monetize a community in a way that members don’t feel like they are being sold to?

What are the key metrics for community success?

What tools are you using to manage the community?

Listen to the entire interview on The Small Business Radio Show.

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Image: Lloyed Lobo

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