In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and https://my.captivate.fm/www.socialmediology.com.au (Social Mediology) founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Chris Field, CEO and founder of Mercy Project, an innovative nonprofit working to end child labor trafficking in Ghana, Africa. Outside of his role at Mercy Project, he is an award-winning author, speaker, business consultant, college lecturer, four time Guinness world record holder, viral sensation, 27-time marathoner, and ice cream lover. About Chris Chris’ passion around community is centered on all of us getting more comfortable with what it is that we have to offer. He believes that when we choose to give what we have and not what we have left, the impact of that kind of gift can be so great. His greatest superpower is inspiring people to believe they can actually change the world and then showing them how to join him in doing it. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Stacey, and is father to Micah, Beckett, Lincoln, and Theodore. He is the author of "A Billion Hours of Good" and "Disrupting for Good." BIG IDEA 1 “Community is us believing that we're better together.” (12:09) Chris talked about how everyone of us have something good to give the world today. He said that we all have these little moments for us to give what we have, and just to say, “Look, it's not much but this is what I have”. And the beauty of that is when a whole bunch of people do that, collectively, it's transformational, and it creates a tidal wave of good that simply cannot be contained. He also discussed about how a community is a bunch of ordinary people choosing to receive the gifts we have with open hands, and how we are also giving the gifts back with the same open hands. He encourages us to give what we have a little bit every day, and trust that over time, the impact of that is going to be greater than we could ever imagine. BIG IDEA 2 “What we lack is courageous leaders.  I really believe there's this beautiful opportunity to find courageous leaders as the world is desperate of them. ” (17:26) Chris shared that based on his experience, if you've got a well thought out, sincere, life changing, life altering sort of idea and you're willing to sacrifice for it, people are going to line up behind you because we're all hungry to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We have this deep yearning of our lives to matter. We want to do stuff that matters. And that cuts across all socio-economic status and education level and age. He advised to do the right thing and find that things that you know and chase it like a dog chases a tennis ball, and look behind you, you’ll see a bunch of people following behind you. He added that people are so gracious, especially when you're vulnerable, transparent, and honest about what you're learning and how you're growing and how you're improving. BIG IDEA 3 “At some point, you have to ask if the things you’re sharing and the ways you’re communicating and the choices you’re making and the messages you are creating about, is really resonating with people.” (26:55) Chris said that on social media, vanity metrics are fine. But at the end of the day, as an author, speaker, and as somebody who really wants to make a difference in the world, it's when people start coming to him and saying, that something he wrote mattered enough that it was changing behaviors in their life, for him, that's the greatest gift anybody can give. He thinks that if we listen carefully, people will tell us if the things we're doing are making an impact. We'll be able to tell in the ways people look at us. If they're waiting for us, if they're listening to us, if they're wanting us to weigh in on hard topics, because they value our voice, those are...

Social Lights

Give What You Have - Episode 59

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and https://my.captivate.fm/www.socialmediology.com.au (Social Mediology) founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Jenn Donovan, marketing thought leader, change-maker coach and mentor for small businesses, a keynote speaker and a podcaster. She is the founder of an extremely successful community Facebook group Buy from a Bush Business, which currently has about 330,000 members. She's also co-founder of social enterprise Spend With Us -- Australia's answer to Amazon, for rural and regional small businesses. About Jenn Jenn started her career in law, for 18 years, but later found her passion in social media and marketing. She is teaching small business owners how to make marketing a priority (and why they should) and how to grow more people to know about how amazing your products or services are. Jenn has ten chooks, three children, two peacocks, two Guinea fowl, one husband, one dog, one cat, and several pet lambs. BIG IDEA 1 “Empathy is essential to any community. The community has to be a safe space” (19:21) Jenn created the community out of the need to help people in rural Australia affected by drought. She knew that people no longer just wanted to donate because they didn't know where their money was going, so she created a space where people could actually buy something from the person so the money goes directly into their bank account, to directly put food on the table or help feed the animals -- and help actual people who live in rural Australia who were really struggling. We talked about creating rules within the community as it has to be a safe space because these people are going through a lot (drought, bush fires, COVID, floods, mouse plague). These people are very vulnerable and they've got to have a safe place to be able to post and tell their stories and get some income. BIG IDEA 2 “I've got to stick to my business model because that's how it started -- being very focused on what I wanted the group to look like and not swaying from that.” (26:43) Jenn talked about the challenges that come in creating a community and the strategies she has used in maintaining the community. It’s important to know what your goal is for the community and to start making decisions toward that goal. The main question always boils down to, “Will it help the community?” She advised to be laser focused on what you wanted the group to achieve, but also making it a very safe space so that people felt safe and encouraged.  Jenn realized that if she starts swaying from the business model, she is going to lose the people who are relying on the community because they're going to lose trust in her because she has changed what it looks like. BIG IDEA 3 “Community is the golden nugget of business” (34:08) Jenn opened up about the gifts of running a community and watching it grow. She said that community has taught her so much about business, about life, about trust and about collaborations. Having a community who trusts you, who are willing to sit with you, buy from you over and over again and refer to you, that's the golden nugget of business. Whether you have 10 customers or 100 customers making them feel like they belong to a community as humans is key.   Episode Links Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenndonovan_/ (https://www.instagram.com/jenndonovan_/) https://www.instagram.com/spendwithusaustralia/ (https://www.instagram.com/spendwithusaustralia/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spendwithusaustralia/ (https://www.facebook.com/spendwithusaustralia/) https://www.facebook.com/socialmediaandmarketing.au/ (https://www.facebook.com/socialmediaandmarketing.au/) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-donovan/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-donovan/) We’d love you to join us for future episodes of the Social Lights podcast, produced by Social Mediology. You can connect with us on Facebook at...

Building a Community on Empathy - Episode 58

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Peace Mitchell, investor, international keynote speaker, co-founder of the Women's Business School and Ausmumpreneur, author and host of Best And Brightest podcast, Australian ambassador for women in tech and a Forbes.com business expert. Peace has a community of over 50,000 women and believes that investing in women in purpose led business is the number one way to change the world. About Peace Peace is inspired every day by the incredible women that are running businesses, starting businesses, scaling businesses and women who are really passionate about making a difference through the work that they do in their business.  She started as a primary school teacher but later realized that online business was going to be the answer to find a way that she could work at home and still be at home with her children, while still be able to pursue her professional career ambitions and bring to life all of her ideas and dreams and following her calling. Her love for the community began as an idea to bring women together, to support, to uplift and to provide them with the connections they need to succeed. Peace is a co-founder of the Women's Business School and Ausmumpreneur, author and host of Best And Brightest podcast. She is an Australian ambassador for women in tech with over 50,000 women in her community and a Forbes.com business expert. Her new book, The Women Changing The World will be out in December 2021. BIG IDEA 1 “Women are the world's greatest untapped resource; if we could encourage and support women to be everything that they want to be and know that they can be, it could be incredible.” (7:15) Peace believes that women see the world through a completely different lens by the natural instinct of women nurturing and caring for others, this means that women approach things in a different way than typically a man would. She thinks that it flows through to business; the way that women look after their customers, the way that they look after this staff and the way that they solve problems. She said that women hold the key to an unlocking and solving the problems that the world's facing everything from leadership. Peace believes that investing in women is the number one way to change the world and if we could invest in women and give them the support to really get their ideas off the ground, we would see big changes happening in the world. And from an investor perspective, she thinks that women are more likely to be successful and bring in more money. BIG IDEA 2 “Community is at the heart of everything we do and our vision has always been to create a circular community” (7:15) Peace talked about the communities being at the heart of everything. She believes that creating a circular community where the women who were starting out can get support and encouragement from the women who have more experience has always been at the core of why they started building a community. She said that it's all about working together and collaborating and connection. And being that women are just naturally good at communication and supporting each other, the generosity that we see within their community is incredible. It’s about women going out of their way to help each other and really caring about each other. She strongly believes in the philosophy; “We rise by lifting others”, and that it's a huge key to building community. BIG IDEA 3 “Connections is everything. Success isn't just about how much money you make or whether you're famous, or whether you drive a great car. It's about the relationships you build as well.” (13:14) Peace pointed out on the connections that have opened the door

Community at the Heart of Everything - Episode 57

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and https://my.captivate.fm/www.socialmediology.com.au (Social Mediology) founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Venessa Paech, Australia’s leading expert in online communities and community management. She has led community for Lonely Planet, REA Group, Envato and Australia Post, and her private clients include: ABC, AASW, Teach for Australia, QUT, University of Sydney, SANE and Woolworths. About Venessa Venessa is Co-Founder and Director of https://www.australiancommunitymanagers.com.au/ (Australian Community Managers) (ACM), the national centre of excellence for online community management training and resources. She started building intentional communities, with a mission of helping people connect, generate new value together and making better lives together. She teaches online community management for post-graduates at the University of Sydney and she is the resident Community expert for the Future Work Skills Academy. Venessa is a published academic, and a PhD Candidate researching AI and online communities. BIG IDEA 1 “We want to make sure that all voices are represented.” (13:20) Venessa talked about the importance of diversity and inclusivity in communities. Community management is female dominated by a landslide of 75% and every year that goes up, partly because of the industries that community falls in Australia. She said that finding great women is not so challenging but increasingly she wants to make sure that all voices are represented. She talked about how she had really phenomenal indigenous scholars and practitioners sharing first nations community building techniques and knowledge, and in ways that is permissible and suitable for non-first nations and indigenous communities to use and apply because there's so much incredible ancient knowledge. BIG IDEA 2 “The distinction between social media and community marketing is complicated because it is layered and there's a lot of natural overlap. Both practices can compliment one another.” (16:30) Venessa defined and distinguished the difference between social media and community marketing. She said it’s important to understand that what each is trying to accomplish is quite different and how you measure success is quite different. There are clear distinctions and both practices can compliment one another. If you're an incredible marketer who creates great content, that's a really useful skill if you're a community builder as well. And likewise, if you're going to go and work as a social media marketer, knowing how to handle a crowd, how to moderate knowing how to really kick off and spot great conversations is a great way to generate engagement. BIG IDEA 3 “The insights being generated from your community can be applied to every single aspect of the organization or business to enrich everything” (30:10) Venessa emphasized that this is actually a very sculpting and enveloping concept. Managers describe community management as a central nervous system or air traffic control. There's a shift in thinking on community building from some sort of a title to being a little bit more wholistic and thinking about how do our relationships with these people, how their insights can be generated to create new products, new ideas, innovation capability. The insights being generated from your community can be applied to every single aspect of the organisation or business to enrich everything. Community building maybe a lot to take on for an organisation or business at the early stages but that kind of potential awaits. Episode Links You can find Venessa Paech at: Australian Community Managers: http://www.australiancommunitymanagers.com.au/ (www.australiancommunitymanagers.com.au) PeerSense: http://www.venessapaech.com/ (www.venessapaech.com) Swarm Conference 2021:  http://www.swarmconference.com.au/ (www.swarmconference.com.au) Twitter https://twitter.com/venessapaech (@venessapaech)...

Creating Intentional Communities - Episode 56

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Allie Fernando, Director of Brand Experience at https://kajabi.com/ (Kajabi). She has been with Kajabi for four years – exceling in the many different roles since she started including social media marketing and partnerships. Allie has also been responsible for the massive growth of the Kajabi community with 27,000 highly engaged loyal customers in their Facebook Group alone. She is passionate in bringing the Kajabi brand to life through culturally relevant offline events and experiential programs that connect people in meaningful ways with the brand. About Allie After engaging in several internships to build her skill set in social media marketing during her college days, Allie started working at Kajabi, four weeks after graduating college. She became a social media marketer where she did everything concerning marketing, including designing. Along the line, she had been interacting with different influencers on Kajabi’s social platform where she first had an idea on influencer marketing. She later joined an Influencer marketing team at Kajabi that deals with relationship building internally and externally, figuring out what the brand wants and how best to serve them. Allie is passionate about building relationships with her customers by creating experiences where the things they are passionate about intersects with what they are talented at. Big Idea 1 “It's about giving people a space where they feel truly seen, truly heard and truly known so that they can then take that community and that culture back into their business.” (19:14)   Allie shares her insights on the value of relationship-building through your online group or online community. Real growth does not only mean having thousands of members but creating a culture. This is built through authentic engagements, active listening, exchanges, and inclusion. This positive culture creates ripple effects - members embrace and implement the best community and cultural values and practices back in their own businesses and relationships. Big Idea 2 “If you're starting a community and you're starting to see it get really, robust and really engaged, think about tapping on those key community engagers to help you grow and cultivate the community.” (24:23)  When aiming to scale your online community such as your Facebook group, make your most engaged members as your partners. Honour their efforts and their active participation and tap them in growing the community together. They are not just ambassadors for your brand but real powerhouses that can support you in expanding the mission and vision of your community. Big Idea 3 “Your customer is your hero. You're a guide in their journey and how can you unlock this amazing journey for them so that they can get to a place that's better than where they started.” (43:46) Allie reflects on humility as an integral part of creating sustainable and impactful communities and business. It is essential to let your customers be at the heart of what you do. Remain grounded in your why or in your purpose of creating a product or a service at the first place. Offer your best guidance that can propel them to greater heights instead of getting stuck in the idea that you should be the one at the pedestal. Let their success be the reflection of your success. Episode links You can find Allie Fernando at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allie-fernando-129885b3/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/allie-fernando-129885b3/) You can find the Kajabi Facebook Group at: https://web.facebook.com/groups/newkajabi/ (https://web.facebook.com/groups/newkajabi/) Keep listening to the upcoming episodes of the Social Lights Podcast produced by Social Mediology. You can connect with us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SocialLightsPodcast (@SocialLightsPodcast) and find future episodes at...

Community: Truly Seen, Heard and Known - Episode 55

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Kara Cronin, community manager, relationship builder and renowned public speaker. Kara is the Community Manager of Community Partnerships at Facebook and is leading the community experience for the Facebook Certified Community Manager program. About Kara Kara has been building community since the age of 6. She fell in love with community building while working as a Sorority Leadership Consultant, and continued pursuing her passion while leading communities at theSkimm and Shine. Kara is now a Community Manger at Facebook where she's using her experience in community building, content creation, grassroots marketing, and event strategy to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. She has coached collegiate women to lead award-winning sorority chapters; cultivated a brand ambassador army responsible for 20% of audience growth; led campaigns to educate and motivate over 200,000 people to cast an informed vote in the 2018 midterm election; and connected millions of people across the globe with support, strategies, and resources to prioritize their mental health as members the world’s largest self-care community. Kara has been a keynote speaker at the CMX Summit and SocialFresh conferences, a panellist at Be Social Change and Dreamers / Doers, a facilitator for Alpha Delta Pi and LeaderShape, as well as a mentor for FindSpark and Get Sh!t Done Accelerator programs. BIG IDEA 1 “We're in an age of authenticity where people are really supporting the brands and organisations, that customers not only believe in, but are really aligned with, whether it's based on their values or the organisations that they support.” (12:33) Kara says there are so many opportunities for brands and organizations right now to create communities that it’s hard to pick just a couple to talk about. She says we're in an age of authenticity where people are really supporting the brands and organisations, that customers not only believe in, but are really aligned with whether it's based on their values or the organizations that they support. It feels different than it did even five - ten years ago in terms of people aren't just buying the big brand anymore, they're buying from the people that really feel authentic and that they feel connected to. She says community, especially a digital community, can just be such an amazing tool to showcase that authenticity, to connect with your consumer and community on a regular basis in a way that's real.  BIG IDEA 2 “Connecting the community members with each other is the most important thing.” (21:13) On the topic of learning how to become a community manager, Kara says connecting community members with each other is the most important thing, especially in a learning group. Because social learning is so important, that peer support, is essential for community managers. To be able to give them a community and provide them with people who get it and can help them along the way, to help them feel supported and help them learn. She says that’s why the Facebook Community Manager Certification Learning Group has learning mentors who support the learners in this group. They're there to share personal experiences, host study sessions and answer questions to make sure that people feel like they have someone behind them cheering them on. She says that because not anyone can get certified, to know that not only are you putting in the work, but you have this group of people behind you that really want to see you succeed is important. So, the Facebook Community Manager Certification Learning Group has the learning mentor program set up to help with that. Everything is organised. So if people want to go in and learn at their own pace, they can go through the guides and get directed to all the learning materials very easily.  BIG IDEA 3 “Know why you're starting

The Age of Authenticity on Facebook - Episode 54

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and https://www.socialmediology.com.au/ (Social Mediology) founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Beth McIntyre, Head of Community at https://www.bevy.com/ (Bevy), a leading provider of community software, powering live community events both in-person and virtual. Bevy’s community, which is called https://cmxhub.com/ (CMX), is the world's largest and most passionate network of community professionals. About Beth Beth is the Head of Community at CMX. She manages the ever-growing Facebook group, the bustling CMX Slack Workspace, and the incredible CMX Pro Community, CMX's premium space. CMX is the world's largest and most passionate network for community professionals. Thousands of community professionals come to CMX for support and education in community strategy. Beth oversees the engagement, strategy, and structure of all CMX’s community spaces. She also built and runs CMX Connect, an in-person distributed events program (turned virtual in 2020), with more than 50 volunteer-run chapters, that host live events regularly around the world. She is also the host of The Community Corner with Beth McIntyre podcast. Beth lives in the incomparable Rocky Mountains in Jasper, Canada and spends most of her free time in total awe of their majesty. BIG IDEA 1 “That excitement, that enthusiasm, that engagement can take place the entire year.” (7:50) Beth discusses a growing trend on how communities are starting to leverage off the momentum of holding annual conferences or large one-off company events that bring all their customers or users together in one place. She talks about the experience of going to a trade show or conference how you walk in, you can feel the buzz, people are talking and it’s so exciting! And when you get home afterwards you are still feeling that buzz and excitement, you have all these big ideas about things you are going to implement. Beth then talks about how little touch points there are after a big event, an email, a survey, another email to say the recordings are uploaded, that’s it. Then you have to wait another 11 months to feel that excitement again. She says more and more companies are starting to take the momentum from that conference, and using it to build a community for the other 11 months of the year. They feed into each other, the conference will help build your community, it will help engage. It will help drive that momentum and your community will help drive the momentum back into your conference. So it doesn't have to just be this one big event. That excitement, that enthusiasm, that engagement can take place the entire year.  BIG IDEA 2 “Social media is an entry point and the community is an end point” (23:20) Beth talks about the customer journey loop and the difference between communicating on social media and communities. Social media is the top of the funnel and how customers find you, but it’s not a community because it’s not necessarily a 2-way street. She says the community space is a lot more intentional, it’s like a bubble at the bottom of the funnel. There's an identity. So instead of someone just choosing to follow you on Twitter or on social media, there's kind of an agreement that you have these expectations for your members, and they have expectations of you. The beauty of the community is that you're both meeting those expectations and holding each other accountable to how you want to be treated and what the purpose of the community is, and what we're there for in the first place. When we talk about the social identity cycle, it starts with identification. Beth feels like that's where social media comes in. They see your tweets, they see your social media posts. They say, I identify as that thing when they join, that's participation. Now they're in the community, they're commenting, they're liking, they're connecting with other people. And then the third step is validation. That's when you say we love...

The Power of Events to Build Community - Episode 53

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and https://www.socialmediology.com.au/ (Social Mediology) founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Lucy Good, founder of https://beanstalkmums.com.au/ (Beanstalk Single Mums) and the popular Facebook group, The Single Mum Vine. Lucy has been named as a finalist for the 2018 AusMumpreneur Awards in two categories: Making A Difference (business) and Women Changing the World. About Lucy Lucy Good is the founder of Beanstalk Single Mums, an online space which empowers single mothers to re-find their potential and re-build their confidence through a website that delivers targeted information and support. Lucy works with hundreds of single mothers through the offering of her online course and her Facebook group, the Single Mum Vine. She sits at the centre of the think-tank of modern-day single motherhood and is a sought-after social commentator on single parent issues. As well as having her own blog and podcast series, she has appeared several times on national television, speaks regularly on national and local radio and writes articles for online and print parenting, news, lifestyle, and business communities. Lucy’s blog and podcast series are designed to support and empower single mums from all walks of life and on every stage of their single mother journey. Her podcast covers all areas of single motherhood including separation, family law, children of divorce, co-parenting, solo-parenting, education, careers, dating, sex, health, household, and a range of money matters. BIG IDEA 1 “The guidelines that you have for your group are imperative” (12:40) Lucy discusses the importance of having a set of guidelines. The guidelines are imperative and need to be stuck to. The guidelines in Lucy’s group include things like: -         We, we don't allow rants. You can't just come on and have a whinge. Now you can come on and say, look, I've had a really crap day because this has happened. Wonder if anyone else has been through the same or anyone's got any solutions or suggestions as I can as how I can get over it. But you can't just come on and say, I've just had a crap day because that helps one person, that one person who's put the post on and it brings down everybody else that reads it. -         We don't allow man-hating or ex bashing in the group. So we're about trying to foster positive relationships with your ex partners, if at all possible. So we'd love it if someone comes on and says, Hey, you know my ex and I went into this with the kids today, we had a great day. -         We have a lot of rules around what you can post, like no medical posts. You can't put a post on there because then you get all these people who have no idea what they're talking about, providing medical information. And we have had it in the past where we've had a kid in hospital because someone's given the wrong advice. The guidelines are set up for a reason. BIG IDEA 2 “You often get a topic which just keeps coming onto the thread over and over again. Sometimes it's a topic that doesn't really work with what the group is about” (22:53) In discussing repetitive posts or posts that go off topic Lucy says; One other thing as well, that's really important is you'll notice that in groups, you often get a topic which just keeps coming onto the thread over and over again. Sometimes it's a topic that doesn't really work with what the group is about, but it has to be there. So for my group that’s Centrelink, everyone's got questions about Centrelink and they just flood the feed. Now the feed is meant to be upbeat, inspirational, funny, and Centrelink none of those. So if that happens, then just create a weekly thread, say or a weekly posts and say, please keep all your child support and Centrelink questions within this weekly thread. And that just helps to...

The Key to Community Culture - Episode 52

Social Lights, with Kate vanderVoort, interviews changemakers and innovators on their visionary work and explores how they connect with and activate their tribe on social media. Get ready for inspiration, innovation and tangible strategies to help you share your passion and purpose with the world!

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