{"id":2415,"date":"2015-05-05T22:34:16","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T03:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bizwomenrock.com\/?p=2415"},"modified":"2017-05-21T21:52:39","modified_gmt":"2017-05-22T02:52:39","slug":"listenervscommunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bizwomenrock.com\/beta\/listenervscommunity\/","title":{"rendered":"A Day in the Life of a Podcaster: Listener vs. Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t know why, but before I launched my podcast, I knew I wanted to build community<\/i>. \u00a0Not just listeners.<\/p>\n

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Maybe it\u2019s because community building is all I\u2019ve known during my entrepreneurial life…heck during my whole<\/i> life. \u00a0I grew up in a family of six, was always involved in or leading organizations and played for countless team sports.<\/p>\n

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In the business space, my husband and I have run a business community called the Tampa Bay Business Owners<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span> for the past 7 years and culture, intimacy, strategic alliances, support and specialness is all I\u2019ve breathed during that time.<\/p>\n

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So when we decided to launch the Biz Women Rock podcast, my immediate strategic mind went to, \u201chow can I create a special community for the women who listen?\u201d<\/p>\n

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I really believe my focus on community from the beginning has made all the difference in my business.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n

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In my last post<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span>, I talked about download numbers and what they mean (and don\u2019t mean). \u00a0All of us podcasters pay attention to our download numbers. \u00a0But creating a community<\/i> means that we have to be very clear on the distinction between a few words:<\/p>\n

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This is a download:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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But a download only represents a number, a statistic. \u00a0What\u2019s on the other side of that number is a listener<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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These are listeners.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Screen\"Screen \"Screen \"Screen<\/p>\n

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And THIS is the Biz Women Rock Community (well, some of them, anyway!)<\/p>\n

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So how do you get from a \u201cListener\u201d to a \u201cCommunity?\u201d And why would you want to?<\/span><\/h2>\n

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Listeners are awesome. \u00a0They\u2019re amazing. \u00a0They\u2019re why<\/i> I do my show. \u00a0Because I know that on the other end of my seemingly one-on-one interview, I have tons of listeners getting something out of it.<\/p>\n

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Listeners talk to me. \u00a0And I talk to my listeners. \u00a0We engage through email and social media and I often give them shout outs on the show just because they\u2019re so cool!<\/p>\n

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But your Listeners have no way of connecting with each other<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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Unless YOU create a Community.<\/p>\n

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A Community allows the relationships you have with your Listeners, the relationship they have with you AND the relationships they have with one another to go deeper and have more dimension!<\/b><\/h3>\n

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Ultimately, I believe that having a Community will allow you to do things that are completely untouchable with Listeners.<\/p>\n

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A Real Time Example<\/span><\/h2>\n

Last week, I posted in the BWR Connect (the private Facebook group for Biz Women Rock) and asked the ladies to share a story about how they\u2019ve been strong over the past year. \u00a0I called it Warrior Wednesday. \u00a0Seven days later, I\u2019m still reading the incoming comments from women, every one of which I need to click on the \u201csee more\u201d link because they\u2019ve gone into such detail about their strong moment. \u00a0As of today, there are just shy of 40 comments from my ladies, sharing intimate stories about their lives that would not be shared elsewhere. \u00a0Replies to their stories showing support, amazement and congratulations mix in with these comments.<\/p>\n

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This is the stuff that brings tears of joy to my eyes. \u00a0Because I know my ladies get to engage in a safe space amongst like minds where they can feel proud for being successful (let\u2019s be honest, we women are often apologizing for our success), support and cheer on others and initiate friendships that go so much deeper than business!<\/p>\n

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Katie, you really get all this from a simple Facebook post?<\/i><\/p>\n

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Hell. \u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n

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Let me put it this way. \u00a0Within the Biz Women Rock Community, because of the Facebook Group (which is the platform on which my community communicates with one another), I know of instances when:<\/p>\n