Today we have Kirsten Oliphant on the podcast to talk about collaborations. She is an author and blogger. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and is the leader of the CreateIfWriting podcast, website and online community. She is the author of 5 books, including her latest Creative Collaborations: How to Form Lasting and Lucrative Partnerships without Being Smarmy.

Episode Highlights:

• Kirsten has built a number of online communities. The first community she built was before Facebook communities were prevalent. From a call out on Twitter, she started a support group of women writers to talk weekly about what they were writing and what their struggles were. Kirsten feels the Facebook Groups platform lends itself well to growing communities and moderates several groups. Kirsten’s two most active groups include CreateIfWriting and The Profitable Blogging Summit. She also maintains about 30 other private and pop-up communities.
• What are some of the top tips you have for building a strong community? Kirsten talks about the most important note, being present and active in the group as the leader and moderator.
• What is the ideal group size? For Kirsten, she likes to stay between 5,000 and 10,000 people to serve her audience and remain hands-on. Above those numbers, people don’t know each other, it’s difficult to maintain the quality of the group and it’s hard to keep spam under control.
• How do you approach selling to your community without being smarmy? You have to build a community in which you authentically engage and create value. Different income streams determine how you can sell to your group. Kirsten has products, coaching, courses, books, and affiliates. When doing large promotions, be mindful of scheduling. Be upfront and honest with your community about selling and promoting. Find your sales voice, plan and build a trust with your community.
• Have you collaborated with others to build your community? Kirsten discusses her different levels of collaboration in her communities. She emphasizes that there has to be value and trust in collaborative relationships to make it work because it’s a commitment. Keeping the lines of communication open, aligning your time and ensuring you have similar goals is also important for collaborative success.

Links, Tools and Apps Mentioned:

Profitable Blogging Summit

Matt McCarrick, One Verse Devotional Podcast

Paula Rollo

Bryan Cohen, Author

Create If Writing Website

Book: Creative Collaborations: How to Form Lasting and Lucrative Partnerships without Being Smarmy

Free Training Giveaway: Best Practices for Facebook Groups

Call-To-Action:

Your call-to-action for this episode is to get Kirsten’s book: Creative Collaborations: How to Form Lasting and Lucrative Partnerships without Being Smarmy. For a limited time, she has lowered the price to $0.99 on Amazon for our community! Also check out the free training Kirsten gave us. Tweet to us @madalynsklar and @kamichat or visit our Facebook page, Communities That Convert, and let us know what you think of Kirsten’s book.

How to reach Kami:
If you’d like to learn more about Kami Huyse, visit her website at www.zoeticamedia.com. You can contact her by email at [email protected] or tweet to @kamichat.

How to reach Madalyn:
If you’d like to learn more about Madalyn Sklar, visit her website at www.madalynsklar.com. You can contact her by email at [email protected] or tweet to @MadalynSklar.