JC: Christina, I would love for you to share a little bit about how you got started in the online space. You’ve been in this game for quite some time!

CJ: It’s been a few years! I was working in finance and corporate and had all the boxes checked. I had a husband, I had a baby on the way, I had a house, money in the bank, and a successful career. From the outside looking in, I had all the pieces that you think you would want, yet there was still a piece of me that was searching and wondering if this is all there is. I was having this knowing that I was meant to do something else, something MORE, but I didn’t know what that looked like.

When my daughter was born, I remember looking at her beautiful, gray eyes staring back at me and just wanting the world for her and wanting her to have every possibility. Then it really hit me that I absolutely wasn’t living that myself. Who was I to expect her to step into her greatness and go after what she wants when she grows up if I wasn’t willing to do that myself? We learn so much more from modeling behavior of people versus what they actually say, especially as parents. Your kids are going to pay more attention to what you’re modeling for them more than what you say, so I made a commitment to her in that moment that I was going to figure out what that was going to be, pave the way of possibility for her, and demonstrate what it’s like to go after your dreams.

And I had NO idea what that was.

I would love to say instantly things changed and everything took off, but let’s face it… that’s not what happened. It wasn’t until I had my second baby that I start realizing that I was done with the corporate space. I don’t want to be building someone else’s dreams. I want to be building my own. I decided that I wanted to focus on helping support people in business.

I’ve been in the financial space for some time, so I started going to Meet Up groups. I’d collect these little business cards and be like, “Whoohoo! I’ve got a few cards!” With two little ones at home and the amount of time that I would take getting dolled up and being a massive introvert myself, it was exhausting. There’s got to be a better way.

I started diving into the online space realizing that you have access to all of these people at your fingertips and you don’t have to see them if you don’t want to! You could do it virtually, you could do it from the comfort of your home, and you could be in your jammies.

As I started building out in the online space, things happened a lot slower than I expected, thinking it’d be just like all these rags to riches stories. 

JC: I always joke around about that. I had this illusion that it was going to be this easy quick thing. What was your first attempt at marketing yourself online?

CJ: So this is actually quite embarrassing. I was doing a course and set up this free gift. Somehow in my mind I had this belief that I would put this opt-in page on the Internet and out of nowhere people would magically appear on this page, enter their information, and I would build my email list. As you can imagine, that didn’t quite happen. 

JC: Before I even got online, I didn’t know how to use social media. I literally went on Microsoft Word, found the cheesiest pic art, hung it all over my college campus, and I took my scissors and I cut the bottom with my phone number. I got ONE email response and went back the next day and all of the flyers were taken down because they were in violation of campus policy. I was devaaastated that I had spent two hours and it didn’t work! 

CJ: I actually had a flyer story, too! As I was sharing, I was doing some offline marketing and then started online. I had this course idea and it was going to be 90 days to getting booked and getting paid. I was like, “People are going to need this! I can serve everybody! This could be for ANYBODY that is in a sales profession or a business.” I put together this one page flyer and I stuck it up in multiple locations where there was bulletin boards. I thought, “Oh, people are going to call me!” It’s rather embarrassing but it’s funny how we have these ideas that somehow people are going to magically show up. 

JC: Yup! So then you went through this phase of kind of stumbling through some of the marketing and you were building your own funnels. How did you get to the place where things actually started taking off? 

CJ: I put together a summit and interviewed a number of experts. That made me feel like wow, okay… there’s people actually listening to me past my 20 people and my mom, my dog, and husband. I did a webinar at the end and made an offer and expected, again, that this was going to work and sell out.

Nothing!!

I remember being in the moment thinking, “Is this really worth it? Can I do this? Is this possible?” Then I went back to that conversation with my daughter thinking of how I would explain to her that I just gave up? That’s not a possibility, so what is it that I’m missing? What is it that’s not working? I started looking back at where I had created success previously in my corporate space and in life. I started realizing that the thing I felt like I was missing was the relationship and connection piece with people. That’s when I came into Facebook groups (& they were a new thing then). What a perfect opportunity to be able to create that connection and build relationships in the online space.

After struggling to hit my first five figure month, in that first month I started my Facebook group, I did 30,000 cash monaay in the bank received, which completely blew my mind! I knew I was onto something. 

JC: You went from trying to get to 5,000 to shooting up to 30,000 all from adding in your Facebook group?! 

CJ: All within a month of starting a Facebook group. 

JC: How many people did you have in your Facebook group in that first month? 

CJ: 865 people. I had an itty bitty list. I didn’t have more than a few hundred people on my list at the time I don’t think. 

JC: One of the biggest things that I hear from people around creating a Facebook group is that they think it has to be hundreds or thousands of people. The truth is, if it’s the right people, it doesn’t have to be thousands of people. Since then, now you train other people on how to grow and scale their businesses using their Facebook groups. 

CJ: Exactly. Using it as a tool to build out their business and to be able to have that connection and relationship piece. It’s way more real-time feedback than any other platform might be. 

JC: When live video came out, it was like a re-emergence of Facebook groups. This was back in 2016, but that was when it was like, ohhhhh… there’s something really special here! I don’t really see that many people doing live videos or anything like that directly into their Facebook groups anymore. I’m seeing a lot of cookie-cutter stuff happening now.

What are some of the biggest mistakes you’re seeing other entrepreneurs and coaches making that are causing them to not have successful groups? 

CJ: One is not being clear as to who they’re serving in their group and the vibe that they want to create in their group. Sometimes, in the beginning, we get attached to these ego metrics and we want the numbers. I know I felt that way in the beginning. I don’t want to have five people in my group and be the person that is leading a group of five. That wasn’t an option.

If it’s just focused on growth without being strategic with the growth that’s in there, you’re going to get a lot of people that aren’t aligned, there’s going to be people that are very different, and it’s going to kill engagement and the vibe of the group.

It’s not really going to be a great representation of your business and the transformation that you’re offering people. So being clear on who’s coming into it is a big one.

The second mistake that people make getting stuck in the engagement bubble. Again, some of these ego metrics that we get stuck on is how many likes and comments we have. If people aren’t liking and commenting on our stuff, we think our stuff is garbage, people don’t want, and we’re not good enough. People aren’t paying attention or everyone’s disappearing. What happens is we go on this perpetual treadmill of creating content trying to boost engagement. Thinking about how can I add more value? How can I give more in order to earn trust with my tribe? How can I give more in order to feel more valued?

What happens when you’re stuck in the engagement bubble is you’re talking about things that are completely irrelevant, like what do you like to take your coffee and how do you order coffee at Starbucks? Things that are completely irrelevant that’s not leading anywhere. It’s just a dead end road.

Or on the flip side is trying to get engagement by adding a lot of value and it ends up being a lot of how-to posts. Sharing 10 steps to this and five steps to this. Your followers end up having a boatload of content and steps to do and they’re more overwhelmed than ever thinking, “Okay, well what do I do and where do I start?” They don’t want to continue working with you or whatever your services are to help them move to that transition because they already feel like you’ve given them a lot and they have enough to work on. They’re totally stuck as to what they are going to do next. It’s keeping them stuck and what your people are craving is actual clarity. They don’t want a gazillion steps. They want a path and the quickest, fastest, and easiest way of being able to get there.

You’re overwhelming them with steps and how to’s and it kills engagement because it just gets ‘saved’.

…Do you think they ever come back to it later? 

JC: We all do the same thing. I always joke around about freemiums. For a long time, my entire inbox was a freebie graveyard of marketing email that I would open some day and just never did. A lot of people are probably sitting here going, “Yep, I’ve seen the ‘who loves coffee’ or ‘what’s your favorite wine’ posts.” These posts that have nothing to do with what you’re actually selling and the problem that you solve. The other side of the spectrum is the how-to content and giving too much or all of it away that you’re creating overwhelm. Is there a happy medium? 

CJ: Absolutely. There’s really only three types of post that you need to have inside of your Facebook group. One is engagement, two is leads, and three is sales.

With engagement as an example, the purpose of engagement is knowing that you want to connect with your audience and get inside their head. It’s not about speaking at them, giving them more things to do, and asking them about completely senseless things that have nothing to do with what it is that you do. Instead it’s about finding out what’s going on in their minds and planting seeds in order to move people forward. That’s what engagement is about, so that they’re not stuck in a bubble, but you’re actually using engagement to evoke that desire to go to that next step.

One great example of this is, “If I could just ___, then I would ___.” I posted this in my Facebook group with the intention of, “If I could just make ___ dollars, then I would ___.” What that allowed me to do is find out the number that the people in my group are trying to hit. I could assume that they’re all wanting to create six figures or I could assume that they all want to make their first thousand, but I don’t know unless I ask them. So that would give me a clear indication as to what it is that they’re looking for and looking to create.

On the flip side, why do they want to use that money? It’s an easy answer for them to go in to create engagement, but now it’s giving me tons of great content languaging that I get to use later on in my marketing so that it lands and speaks to people. Let’s say, for example, that when I did this post a lot of people that responded wanted to make 5,000 dollars a month. If I was speaking to making your first 5,000 dollars per month, it lands. Like oh…that’s EXACTLY what I wanted to do.

Or let’s say that they were talking about so they can pay off their debt and finally go on that family trip that they’ve been looking for, be able to take their kids, and not have to worry about it whether or not they can afford it. You can use that in your languaging. It doesn’t matter what niche or area you are in, whether it has to do with your health or your love life. Whatever it is that you’re doing for people, if you use engagement purposely to be able to get inside their head, now you’ve got all this content plus your audience feels heard and they feel understood and they’re happy to engage that way. It’s not forced. 

JC: It really becomes a market research hotspot of all your people giving you exactly what you need. They’re writing your sales page for you! One big objection that I hear from a lot of people in my audience around creating a Facebook group is, “I’m trying to grow Instagram and my Facebook and my Facebook page and I’m thinking of doing YouTube and I’d love to write a podcast, you also now want me to create a Facebook group?” It doesn’t have to be that hard.

What do you say to that person that is like, “Well, maybe I’ll wait because I’m working on other things,” but let’s say they don’t even have an email list because a lot of my audience is in network marketing and so they really are just kind of spinning their wheels on Instagram and Facebook. 

CJ: I think the biggest thing is that there is no other social media platform that creates a sense of community. Instagram is showing every moment of the things that you have going on in your life, ultimately. It’s really about kind of sharing the play by play things that are going on through stories, but there’s no other social media platform that really gives you the opportunity to create community and also to be able to orchestrate their journey from lead into buyer. So Facebook group is kind of the resource that allows you to build an audience and build your email list for free. You have the opportunity (if you don’t have an email list) to start by building your audience because we all know to have a business you need to have people and something to sell. That’s it. Without an audience, you don’t have a business.

It gives you the center hub of where you get to direct people to. You get to orchestrate their journey from raising their hand in interest and move them towards becoming a buyer or qualifying them to take that next step with you. It gives you the opportunity to create that environment and allows you to do it in the leveraged way.

Think about your business page as a comparison of a Facebook group. Your business page is kind of like a storefront. If people are going to Google you, they’re going to see if a person is legit and ask themselves if they want to follow you or not. Then it’s a stop. Where do they go from there? Your Facebook group is like, “Come on inside! Come into the store! Let’s have an experience together! Come in my digital living room.” It’s bringing the conversation and the connection point forward.

It’s also a place that’s safe. Not the whole world can see what people are sharing. Especially if you’re speaking to people about intimate details of things. If it’s about business, people don’t want to share that things might not be working very well for them, publicly. Maybe they’re struggling with their weight and really having a hard time with yo-yo dieting and they just want to have some place where they feel like they’re part of a community, where it’s safe to share, and where they can get support and be a cheerleader for others.

You can’t really create that environment on any other social platform. As much as I absolutely believe that you need to be building your list because it is an asset that you own, it’s a one-sided conversation. You’re speaking to them and they’re not able to see what’s going on. Within your Facebook group as you’re building community and serving your audience, other people get to experience what that’s like in you serving other people and how you’re showing up and having people feel like they’re part of something.

THAT is what allows you to build a raving fan base. 

JC: When I’m talking to my clients, I say the same thing about creating a safe space. A lot of them are in health and wellness and they’re trying to do posts like you were talking about earlier and doing some of that engagement market research stuff. People don’t want to say, “I’ve been really struggling to lose 50 pounds for the last three years.” They don’t want to necessarily announce that on Instagram or Facebook, so when it is in that safe space you’ll get more honest answers from people.

You mentioned that a lot of different niches do well with Facebook groups. Have you seen with your students across the board that it really does work for just about anything? 

CJ: Yes. We’ve had probably 30 different industries as students, from helping people with thriving after domestic abuse to dog training to hunting for truffles! We’ve even had authors building out communities for their book launches. I definitely think that there’s a lot of opportunity there. I mean, if you don’t want to be engaging with your tribe and interacting with them on a regular basis, then Facebook groups are probably not for you. 

JC: A big chunk of my audience is online coaches who are in health, wellness, relationships, manifestation, or network marketing. Are there any challenges you see coming up for network marketers positioning themselves in this way or do you recommend that they don’t really talk about their products? 

CJ: We’ve had several students through network marketing and I think what often isn’t being shared is this idea that everything is getting built around the product. It’s not about the product. People are going to buy from you because of their connection with you. How many other people are offering the same thing that you’re offering to other people? With the Internet and the ability to Google, everyone has access to the same marketing strategies. They can buy the same courses and they can learn the same tactics.

If people are selling the same thing as you and people have the ability to market the same thing in the same way as you, why is someone going to buy from you over anybody else?

That really comes down to their connection with you.

Your Facebook group isn’t built based on the product. That’s where the downfall is with network marketing – seeing people building Facebook groups based on the product or just their buyers list. Instead, it’s about a community of people that you’re serving.

Who is it that you’re serving?

Who are they now or whom do they want to become?

Your Facebook group is based on that. A byproduct of that is what your offer is going to do to help serve those people, but your group is not based on your offer per say. It’s aligned with your offer, but it’s more speaking into the people that you’re serving. 

JC: A-freaking-mennn. They’ve got their customer groups or their team groups, but they’re not building that free continuity group where they’re going to nurture those leads and then turn them into buyers or team members. When people do put those out there, they are really focusing them on a specific program or product. Like you’re saying, that’s for people who are already buyers or who already work for the company. That’s not going to bring those people who are new buyers in. So when people ask how they build a cold audience, a free Facebook group can be so powerful. 

CJ: Absolutely. It creates the opportunity to create conversation around engagement and having people be heard. Sometimes we put all this pressure on ourselves that you need to say the smart enough thing, need to have the right answers, and say something that hasn’t been said before.

Ultimately, the biggest piece of advice here is that you just make it about THEM. When you make it about them, it takes all the pressure off of you being you and you get to make it about them. Your audience feels seen, they feel heard, they feel acknowledged, they feel and recognized, and they feel fully supported.

When you have the opportunity to give that experience to your tribe, who do you think that they’re going to come to you when it’s time to make a purchase? 

JC: So true. Especially for a free continuity group… it’s a community group! It’s not a group coaching program, so you’re not responsible to answer every single question. Let your community answer it! Let them jump in and support each other.

I know in the beginning that can be a really scary thing of, “What if I don’t know the answer?” The Imposter Syndrome comes out. It really just comes with time when you start realizing no one’s sitting there taking notes of everything that you don’t know. 

CJ: When you get to zone in on your zone of genius and what you know inside and out, you don’t need to know anything else. You don’t need to know all the other pieces.

One of the things that allows you to create a deeper connection with your audience is vulnerability…

When you don’t have the answer for something or if it’s not something that you’re aware of, by even sharing that with people or inviting others to be part of the conversation, you’re humanizing yourself. You’re making yourself a real person, which actually goes to create a stronger and deeper connection with your audience.