Following years of an isolating pandemic, “community building” has become a priority in both personal and professional spheres. People are craving connection with others. 

Community building is the act of gathering people around a common interest or cause. As web designers, you have the power to gather a community around your work, services, and offerings.

While building an audience is more effective with the rise of social media platforms and tools for creators, cultivating a strong community remains elusive. But, if you can harness the power of your audience and create opportunities for them to connect with one another directly, you have the potential to unlock new sales opportunities and revenue streams previously unavailable to your business. 

The difference between audience and community

Audience members interact directly with your content (e.g., blogs, videos, podcasts, newsletters, and so on), while community members engage with one another. Audience members gain value from what you create, whereas community members have the opportunity to both learn from you and others who are also interested in your content. Those in your community have more opportunities to level up their own work as a result of the connections they have made, so they may be more keen to book a paid consulting call, join a course community, or sign up for your mastermind series. 

In the web design industry, there are many ways to turn your audience of social media followers or newsletter subscribers into a thriving community. By creating opportunities for those who are already engaged with your brand to connect with each other, you can establish brand loyalty and build a community flywheel (i.e., a loop of consistent relationship building that creates a constant stream of leads) as community members bond over learnings, return for more, and ideally bring others from their network along with them. 

Turning your audience into a community

As a professional web designer, you have a wealth of knowledge that you can use to activate your audience and turn them into a powerful community. Regardless of where you are in your career, there are several ways to take the first step.

Launch an online course

Once you have a few sites under your belt, merchandise your expertise through an online course. Courses provide natural opportunities for community building, as students can simultaneously benefit from connecting with one another while learning. 

Launch registration for your course in cohorts and invite students to participate in live sessions to share what they’ve learned, or create a community forum where they can discuss each lesson. If you decide to go with a cohort model, consider whether you’ll run multiple cohorts  concurrently or one at a time. You’ll also want to decide how many members to invite to each cohort so it doesn’t become a burden to support so many students at once.

Connect your social media followers to each other

If you’ve already invested in building a social media following, you have an audience primed to connect with one another and share what they’ve learned from you. Many social media platforms have group chat features that you can use and seed conversation prompts. You can periodically invite new members to join the group chat, or start a new chat for your followers to connect on certain topics. Consider asking your group questions such as, “What’s one project everyone is tackling this week?” or “What’s something you want to learn more about?” These questions spark discussion, create opportunities for you to potentially spot leads, open up opportunities for members of your new community to support one another, and give you ideas for future content.

Invite your subscribers to exclusive events

If you have launched a newsletter or collected emails through your website, you have the opportunity to turn these subscribers into community members through fireside chats or mastermind groups. Set up a monthly fireside chat or mastermind group exclusively available for those on your email list. 

Fireside chats are informal conversations between you and your community. They give you the opportunity to introduce a particular topic and open the floor to discussion between members. At Circle Day, Squarespace’s annual event for creators and entrepreneurs, we welcome speakers to deliver an informal presentation and engage with attendees. This format breaks down the barrier between the presenter and audience members, opening the room for relationship-building and creative conversations. 

Masterminds are groups in which attendees each share a problem they are working through and then invite others in the group to share their insight on how to solve it. This format is a great way for members of your new community to feel connected while bonding over a shared issue and finding resolutions together. As part of Squarespace’s partner program, Circle members have access to a members-only forum, where they can share challenges with each other and communicate about client projects. They have the opportunity to offer advice, troubleshoot problems, and interact with one another.

Using your new community to generate revenue

Building a community can be a fulfilling venture for your business. As a professional web designer, it’s important to be thoughtful about how the time you’re investing ultimately impacts your revenue stream. Fortunately, running a community can be lucrative. 

Package offerings

Each of the aforementioned ideas are great opportunities to add a new revenue stream to your practice. If you decide to launch an online course, consider packaging it with digital downloads like templates or worksheets, another video collection that provides a deep dive on a specific topic, or access to a one-on-one call with you. You can sell each of these options at various price points to capture the widest range of customers.

Offer exclusive access

Selling access to a mastermind group or support group is another great way to earn additional income. For instance, if your practice is focused on helping clients increase their marketing reach, consider launching a group where aspirational marketers can come and share the biggest challenges they are facing and let the group tackle them together. Set up group sessions to run for a few weeks at a time, and consider giving community members the opportunity to sign up for a batch of sessions to maximize the likelihood that they build meaningful connections with others.

Sell products

Monetize your expertise and turn your audience into a thriving community by offering exclusive access to buy physical or digital products from you. For example, if your expertise is in Acuity Scheduling, consider selling a guide on how to set up Acuity Scheduling. You can also provide an invitation to an online forum (such as a social media group or group message) for community members who are navigating the set-up process to support one another in learning. 

Consider selling physical merchandise to those who want to rep your brand. You can also give your community exclusive access to new or limited edition products, the option to book time with you, or the chance to provide feedback on upcoming launches. 

Turning your community into clients

After you’ve built a thriving community, the next step is closing the deal and turning your community members into clients. If you’ve engaged them along the way through courses, mastermind groups, or through physical and digital products, it’s possible they’ve already been paying for your offerings. 

For those interested in ultimately turning community members into website design clients, here are four strategies:

1. Message exclusive offerings to community members

   Email those who have engaged with your community offerings with special deals that are only available for them. Consider marketing seasonal promotions like a summer brand tune-up or a holiday season marketing audit that are only available to community members. 

2. Limit your availability for website projects to community members

   If you find yourself with a full client load, make booking projects with you a benefit that’s only available to community members. Even if you have one or two slots for new clients in a given month, reserve them for your community. You may even consider discounting your rate for these projects. 

3. Offer exclusive 1:1 consultation calls 

   If you’re interested in offering client consultations, consider only sharing the opportunity with community members. List consultations as a benefit of membership and make several call slots available each month. To take it a step further, you can offer these to your most engaged community members or let anyone in your community pay for a one-on-one consultation call.

4. Launch an affiliate program

   Turn your clients into brand advocates by launching an affiliate program. Reward your community members by giving them something like a digital download or status in your community for referring new members. You can also give them a financial share of the business they refer to you as an additional incentive.

   As you work to turn your audience into a thriving community, remember that community growth is never linear–it’s a learning process. Start small, don’t be afraid to experiment, and take note of what resonates best with those who say yes to going on this journey with you. 

Engaging with clients on social media is a crucial component of creating strong client relationships. By setting goals, leveraging social listening tools, tuning into client feedback, and engaging thoughtfully, you can set the tone for client relationships that reap big rewards for your business.

Want more?

Check out Squarespace Circle, Squarespace’s program for professional web designers, developers, digital entrepreneurs, and creatives. Along with exclusive content, discounts, and other perks, Circle brings professionals together from all across the globe to exchange advice while connecting with new clients and collaborators.