There’s a difference between building an audience and establishing a community. When starting your own business, both are good — but one is better than the other.
When you build an audience, it means people are listening to you and are interested in your product or service. But that’s just it: they’re just interested.
Sure, maybe they’ve opted into receiving your emails or texts, but what good is that if they aren’t actually opening, reading, and engaging with them?
Think of building an audience as producing a TV or radio ad, or even a billboard. All of those things are simply blasting your message to a mass group of people out there without strategic targeting to ensure you’re connecting with specific people with a specific message.
When you begin to build a community, however, things start to change. There’s an increased level of participation, engagement, and followers. It creates a much greater level of connection, authenticity, and trust — which as a result, makes your presence stronger and more known.
That’s not to say that having an audience is a bad thing. We all have to start somewhere and try to hit targets when and where we can. But once you cross that threshold and begin building a community instead, you’ll notice a difference almost immediately.
When you think of a community outside of business terms, what comes to mind? A strong, tight-knit group of people who share common interests, right? A community actively engages, supports, and believes in the same things, so building that connection is extremely important.
By playing an active role in your community, you can begin to build one of your own surrounding your law firm. Show your impact and that what you’re doing is so powerful that people will recognize you and want to become a part of your brand.
That’s when you get the support that your brand needs to move from mass messaging to connected community.
