Ep 124: Transform Your Pipeline by Tapping Into Niche Communities

Hello and welcome to episode let me look 124 . This is the tiny marketing show and I am Sarah Noelle Block . It's good to be here Today . I'm sharing something a little bit different .

I am sharing a clip from my masterclass that happened last Tuesday if you're listening on release day , where I talked about how you can leverage niche communities to build a thriving sales pipeline .

So stay tuned as I share the first two parts of that masterclass , where I get into how to find niche communities and how to start conversations with people in those niche communities that lead to sales conversations . Okay , stay tuned , enjoy . Hello everyone , thank you so much for joining me today .

We have about 20 more people joining over the next 30 minutes , but I'm going to get started because this is a quick and dirty masterclass and I want to get into it . So , for anybody who is new to my world , I am Sarah Noelle Block .

I am the founder of Tiny Marketing , the host of the Tiny Marketing Show and the creator of the Tiny Marketing Club , and if you are already a listener of my podcast , then you probably have already heard this . But this masterclass is stemming from episode 121 , where I talked about three different ways that you can generate leads without social media .

That you can generate leads without social media . First , before we get deep into the approach we're talking about today the approach that gave me an additional $100,000 in revenue last year let's get into all three of them and then we'll deep dive . So one referrals . The number one way to get new clients , new leads , without social media is referrals .

So having conversations with your past clients , with referral partners , and making sure that they are aware of the offers that you have going on right now and if you have referral bonuses or rev share . So that's number one . Number two is partnerships .

So making sure that you are building relationships with people who have the same audience as you but aren't direct competitors . And these partners can look like bundles , where you bundle your offers together and you co-facilitate whatever you're creating . It can look like newsletter swaps or webinar guesting , but let's get into number three .

So number three to get leads and generate new revenue and new clients without social media is niche communities , and that is what we're digging into today . I am going to share real quick the invite . So everybody who is live here today , which I promised you , will get access to this workbook that I'm going to talk through today . So it's in the chat now .

You also get access to a tool that I created where it generates your 30-day biz dev blitz , so it gives you 30 days of tasks to do to bring in new leads and new clients , and you can even add it directly to your Google Calendar . So yay for that . So you can grab that right there . It's free and let's get into the meat of it .

Can everybody just check in real quick , since I can't see your faces , I can only see the numbers on my screen . Say hi in the comments and let me know what your biggest question is that you would love to have answered today . I will stick around for a few minutes after this quick and dirty masterclass to answer any questions that come up , so don't be shy .

All right , I'm gonna make myself smaller so you can see this better . All right , hi , okay . So the first thing we're going to talk about when we're talking about leveraging niche communities is what the hell is it ? What is a niche community ? Niche communities are often created by solo creators , hello , and they can sometimes be paid .

Sometimes they are free , but they're usually . Oh , that's the first thing we're talking about , kristen how to find the right communities . The thing is they are usually pretty hidden . They're usually big secrets . So the thing is , you have to ask , and often they're invite only .

So let's get into finding the right communities , which is the first thing I want to talk about . So niche communities are those communities that you find that are catered to a specific audience , and they usually live in tools like Disco , to a specific audience , and they usually live in tools like Disco , heartbeat , circle , slack , discord .

That's usually where they live . So how do you find the right communities ? Hi , carol , katie , alex , good crowd today . First , this is how I do it right away . This is how I found my very favorite niche communities is asking my network .

So if you guys aren't doing connection calls , which are 15-minute conversations with people like networking calls , start doing it , because the first thing that I ask when someone says how can I help you after I've answered a question for them , is what communities are you part of , and I have gotten such amazing ones .

In fact , most of my income last year came from niche communities . Year came from niche communities , and they were ones that I found out about through these connection calls and networking conversations .

So super important to just ask when you're on sales calls , make sure to ask what communities are you part of so you can be part of it , because if one ideal client is part of that community , there are probably a lot more just like them in that community . Another way to find niche communities is to leverage sales calls .

So one thing that I always do is record my sales calls and I take that transcript , throw it into ChatGPT transcript , throw it into ChatGPT and I can extract all of the information that I need . I just ask ChatGPT questions based off of the transcript , use this transcript and answer these questions what communities are they part of ? Who are their trusted advisors ?

Where do they go first when they're coming across a problem at work ? All of those types of questions will help guide what would make sense for your lead generation going forward . Another way to find niche communities is exploring the Discord server , because they have a directory which Slack doesn't .

I wish it did , but Discord has a directory so you can find niche communities in there , and you can also find LinkedIn groups , facebook groups . You can search those directories and I'm in the works of creating a directory of all of these hidden gem niche communities that I've come across , because , oh , it should exist already .

So , since it doesn't exist , I'll create that . Check industry forums and Reddit is another way . So if you are part of any paid communities that you regularly go in , you go to their events they always have forums as part of it and in those forums , start asking what other communities people are part of and Reddit is .

I just slept on it for a really long time , but Reddit has some great little niche conversations happening that will help you find those invite-only communities that are really just underground and hard to find . And last , look at membership-based communities , so paid communities .

You can look for community managers or community creators on LinkedIn and find out what communities they are part of . There are also people who specialize in communities and they are going to have a list of them . Now I've got the biggest treasure trove of niche communities when I just posted on LinkedIn and asked what secret communities are you guys part of ?

That I should be part of , and a whole list came out that were really exciting . So these are some ways that you can find niche communities , and their secret is the problem . So you have to actually seek them out and start asking people about them . I'm in four communities right now and every single one of them I needed an invitation to join .

So ask around and ask for that invite . So we're not going . This is a quick and dirty . This is not a workshop , so we're not going to do the activities today , but I wanted them here for you for afterwards . So , when this is over , I want you to start listing some communities that you can start exploring .

Today , I work with a lot of consultants and fractionals , so I'm constantly seeking out communities that cater to fractionals and solo consultants , so that's something that you can research too . What communities exist for your specific niche ?

Hey , and if anybody in the chat over here knows of any amazing communities for fractionals or solo consultants , lay it out there , tell me . And if you guys are in any , why not while we're here ? If you guys are in any communities that you guys really love that are secretive , put them in the chat so we know .

Okay , so how do you , once you have entered these niche communities , how do you turn that experience into a lead generating experience ? Let's get into that . Step one is review the directory and start connecting one-on-one , without sales pitches , with people that would fall within your dream client category .

So every single paid community I am part of also has a membership directory . Even some of the free ones has membership directories . Go through the membership directory , use the search bar , search for key triggers and traits that your dream client has and start connecting with those people and start a conversation . Oh thanks , alex , join Alignable .

So what I want you to do is send a thoughtful message , introducing yourself , complimenting them and talking about maybe a shared interest or a question that they answered . Focus on starting the conversation , not pitching , because that's not going to get you anywhere .

It's relationship first , and your goal is to eventually get to a place where you're booking a 15-minute connection or networking call to explore how you can help each other . 15-minute connection or networking call to explore how you can help each other .

So my favorite go-to DM is after someone has asked a question in the community , which is a mini hand raise saying that they need support . I will answer their question and then I'll follow up in a DM and ask do you want any ? Do you want to dig into this deeper ? Do you want to brainstorm on this ?

And that will usually entice some sort of one-on-one conversation with them . So that's a great way is add value . First answer the question that they had in the community and then reach out to them privately to go in a little bit deeper on your answer . Two is set up keyword alerts for immediate engagement .

This will save you in those Slack forums that you're in . I am in 10 Slack groups and if I had my alerts set up for all of them , they would be useless . I'm going to cut it off right there because I'm a tease and it's juicy . So if you want the end of this masterclass , head to the show notes page .

I have the invite right there and you can find out how I set up keyword alerts and how I'm the first person to answer questions and how I turn those conversations , those answers , into sales conversations later . So it's juicy . People really loved it .

We had a 74% live show up rate on a free masterclass , so that's killer If you're listening to this right now and you were at that masterclass . Thank you so much for being such an amazing audience member . The chat was blowing up . You guys had amazing questions and I had so much fun with you .

And if you're listening to this and you did not see it , it's not too late to catch the replay . Find it down below and grab it there to get the last three steps to build your sales pipeline with niche communities and a little introduction to the Tiny Marketing Club and how that program

can help you build a thriving sales pipeline . That's really easy to close . If you enjoyed this episode , please comment , subscribe and tell your friends about it . The more people who know about the Tiny Marketing Show , the more people will listen . All right , goodbye , thank you . You love all things tiny marketing .

Head down to the show notes page and sign up for the wait list to join the tiny marketing club , where you get to work one-on-one with me with trainings , feedback and pop-up coaching that will help you scale your marketing as a B2B service business . So I'll see you over in the club .