How to create community with Lyndsi Weise | Ep. 10 Content Magic with Lindsay Smith

In this episode of Content Magic, guest Lyndsi Weise shares her journey from the corporate world to becoming a successful Facebook group strategist and business coach.  Lyndsi and I chat about what it means to create genuine community in the online space and the importance of being authentic and relatable to your audience. 


00:00 Long, uncertain commute in cold, demanding city.

03:55 Questioning work-life balance, considering career flexibility.

08:35 Adding value, building trust, expanding market.

11:03 Teaching community building and marketing through system.

14:32 I don't teach sales or promo groups.

18:17 Building community, sharing, and connecting to sell.

21:45 Create energy and engagement in your community.

23:51 Professional image not necessary, engaging content key.


CONNECT WITH LYNDSI!
Instagram: lyndsiweiseofficial
Free Facebook group: Successful Business Women
Feebie: Five ways to increase engagement in your Facebook group. 

Lindsay [00:00:03]:
If you have an online business, you're creating content. And the way you create content is more important than ever. It's really noisy out there, and learning to stand out is the only way. Hey, I'm Lindsay, and I'm the host of the content Magic podcast, all about being an entrepreneur and creating kick ass content to market yourself and your business. Hi. Have a not so secret superpower for copywriting, marketing, and content. And I've helped hundreds of folks just like you show up with a ton of confidence in the online space. I've been doing this content thing for 20 years, and I believe the real magic is a combo of intuition, creativity, and strategy.

Lindsay [00:00:44]:
You can create content for your business without losing your mind, I promise. So tune in every week for tangible content, tips, inspiring guests, and some real spicy opinions. Probably mine. Ready to dive in?

Lindsay [00:00:57]:
Let's go. Hi, friends. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm super excited to have another guest and another Lindsay. So welcome, Lindsay. We're super happy to have you here. Lindsay is a Facebook group strategist. She's also a business coach.

Lyndsi [00:01:15]:
Hi. Hi. Happy to be here.

Lindsay [00:01:19]:
Thanks for coming. So, we know what you do, but why don't you tell the people who you are, where you are, and who you.

Lyndsi [00:01:32]:
Am? My name is Lindsay Weiss, and I go back, my story goes back nearly 13, almost 14 years, which is just crazy to say, but simply put, I was in the corporate space. I did the college thing. I went to school. I was on a mission to climb that ladder. I was the girl who was like, okay, either doctor, lawyer, or CEO. It's one of those three. I don't know which one, but it's one of those three. I want the big thing.

Lyndsi [00:02:07]:
I always dreamed really big. And so I did the thing. I went to college, and I got into the corporate world, and I was like, all right, we got to climb this ladder. And there were so many obstacles and doors that were shutting on me as I was navigating moving up in the corporate world. And, I mean, I could barely make it past. I was in a marketing assistant space, and it was like the next level would be a management space and the next level would be, I think at the time, it was like senior management or something. And I was like, I couldn't even get past that space. And the time that I put in and the hours that I spent in the car commuting, nothing was adding up for me.

Lyndsi [00:03:00]:
My drive was an hour to and from. At the time, I was living in Chicago, which is a really cold place, especially this time of year, it's like ice, snow, and you have to drive even earlier because you need to get there on time. And it was such an interesting experience because I never knew who and what kind of environment I was driving into, whether the boss was going to be upset if we were late by a couple of minutes or whether she was going to be in a great mood. I never knew what was going on. And it would. Looking back, my poor nervous system was all over the place, just trying to keep this woman smiling and climb this ladder, which they weren't really opening the door for me to do that. They were just not giving me that opportunity. Even after saying, you need a degree, right? So that's kind of where it all began.

Lyndsi [00:03:55]:
And I remember thinking to myself, I was engaged, so I didn't have children or anything at the time. And I remember thinking, like, how do people do this with kids? Because I am gone till almost six, seven o'clock at night, and I leave six, seven o'clock in the morning. So how do people do this? And I started thinking about this and I started looking around at other jobs and I was like, okay, maybe they work closer to home. Maybe they do this flexible type of thing. Maybe they're just salespeople and they're not glued to a desk. And I remember being like, I'm willing to be one of the salespeople just so I can get out and do the thing. And that was a big part of, I was one of those who was like, I embrace this. Most people are like, oh, I don't want to do that.

Lyndsi [00:04:45]:
But I was embracing it. And so anyways, that's where it all began. And for whatever reason, they closed the doors and moved that company to Ohio. And I remember thinking like, wow, this is a bittersweet moment because out goes the pay. But I'm breaking free from what has felt so uncomfortable has had me so stressed out. And they were like, do you want to come with us to Ohio? And I was like, no, I sure don't. And I still didn't know what to do or anything yet. But I just knew, like, okay, I was willing to do a lot of work for these guys.

Lyndsi [00:05:27]:
I was willing to climb the ladder that they were not presenting, even though I was offered that as I was finishing up school. And I remember looking around at other jobs and I was like, everything is so far and nothing was making. I was, you know, on the road to getting was, it was all happening at once. Like, I was getting married and they were closing the doors. It was so much happening. And so I got married. And I was on Facebook one day and I saw a post or, no, I had seen a page. It was a post on a page and like, those business pages.

Lyndsi [00:06:10]:
And it was this workout program. And I got a message from somebody because I had been told by my personal trainer. He was like, go do this workout program when you're not with me. Anyway, so long story short, I get this huge, crazy long hey girl message. Remember those hey, girl? I was like, is this a robot?

Lindsay [00:06:34]:
What is this?

Lyndsi [00:06:35]:
Literally, because it was so long. Anyways, I started following her because I was like, well, this is interesting. And every single week, she would tell the same story about how she was working on her health and how she was getting paid and how she was getting ready to go shopping. And then she was working the schedule around the kids. And I remember thinking to myself, yes, whatever this is is something that I'm intrigued by. But I was super skeptical. So I watched for a long time, and every single week, she told the same story. Same story, same week or week after week after week for months.

Lyndsi [00:07:16]:
And I finally was like, all right. She had been privately telling me, like, you should do this thing with me. And I'm like, I have no idea. I'm so clueless. But I was starting to ask questions. And finally I was like, okay, if she's talked about it for this long, this has to be legit. There has to be something to this. I'm going to check this thing out.

Lyndsi [00:07:34]:
And I signed up and started my first direct sales business that I'm still in today. So that was like almost 13 years ago. And the first thing they tell you is they're like, you need to message everybody, and everybody needs to know. And I get that.

Lindsay [00:07:53]:
Make your 100 person list, right?

Lyndsi [00:07:57]:
And it's fair. People do need to know. It's a fair ask to tell us. But I was like, I'm still kind of navigating this whole thing, and I really would like this to work out, but what if I looked at this differently? And so I launched a Facebook group, and that was, like, one of the only things back then at the time. Now we have so much more to look at. But I launched it, and instead of messaging everybody, I added them all to it. I was one of those girls. And it was so long ago that I don't recommend that today.

Lyndsi [00:08:35]:
But I digress. We did that. And I just remember saying, if this isn't your thing, you can hit the leave button, it's totally fine. But I looked at it like, okay, what if I add value and serve them so they can know, like, and trust me through building this community, and then I can sell to them. So that was my first thought process, and I started to take action on this, and then I slowly was able to. That was a bit of a warm market move at the time, but I really knew, like, hey, but we also need to talk to people we don't know to expand and really build a large organization business. And so I started bringing cold market in, and it was such a great way for them to be like, who is this girl? What is she about? Do I like working with her? Is she my style? Is she not? And as I did that, I was starting to bring people on to my team, and what was super cool was they were able to start duplicating what I was doing. They were able to create a community.

Lyndsi [00:09:43]:
They were able to make it their own, speak to what they want to speak to. So we fast forward. We're doing great. Things are going well. I had given birth to twin boys in all of this craziness, and the system was working so nicely. My team was doing their thing. I was able to focus on motherhood for a bit and not be stressed out with messages because they had a solid system in place. I moved to Arizona, and I hired my first business coach, who was like, what are you doing? Because I was pretty high up in the company at the time.

Lyndsi [00:10:23]:
I was being asked to speak on stuff because I was seeing such great results. And she was literally like, why do you need me? What are we doing here? And I'm like, well, I'm trying to get to. In my mind, I didn't know I had created the system. I didn't know. I knew we were moving and things were fun and it was going well and people were seeing success, but I was so in it that I didn't realize what I had created. And so she was like, what are you doing? What are you doing? And I'm like, I have no idea what I'm doing over here. This is fun. And I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing.

Lyndsi [00:11:03]:
And she was like, no, you know what you're doing. You're doing something because things are going. And she's like, so what is it? And I stopped for a minute and I'm like, oh, well, I teach them to create a community through groups and brand it to themselves and what feels good to them. And then I teach them how to grow it, and I teach them what to do inside of it and then how to sell and build a team from there. And it all clicked that I had created a method in a system. And she was like, yes, this needs to continue. This is what you're doing. And so from there she was like, you need to really like, this is a thing you can teach to others outside of your network marketing business.

Lyndsi [00:11:51]:
And I remember being like, yeah, no, that's okay. And that was in 2015. So long story short, in May of 2023 this year, I finally took that method and I put it into a program and I launched it. And now today I'm helping not only network marketers, I've been able to help coaches and course creators and realtors create community through Facebook groups. It's been really fun year to navigate expansion beyond direct sales because I know it's a great stepping stone for many entrepreneurs, but many do want to expand into their own things. So here we are. Yeah.

Lindsay [00:12:36]:
A few things stuck out from what you explained. So one, that you had a process in a system and you didn't even realize you had a process in a system. I think so many people can relate to that, right? Myself included. And I was just talking about this, like earlier this week on my own community call. I was like, so much of the way I help my content clients is so intuitive. Like, how do I package that? And it took somebody else to be like, well, this is what you do. You do Xyzp 92. That's your system.

Lindsay [00:13:11]:
I was like, oh, I do have a system. So one that stuck out for me. And I feel like a lot of people will relate to that. Like, they're doing something that's successful and they're just kind of like, how did I get here? And being like that third party or like that fly on the wall that's like, oh, this is how you did it. And this is the path. And also, you're really good at it. Maybe you can help other people do it. The other thing I was going to think about, I was going to say about what you were talking about is this idea of community.

Lindsay [00:13:47]:
I think that's where people get hung up, creating a Facebook group. And I know you and I already talked about this, right? Like Facebook group. Sometimes Facebook, they think it's for old people. It's not. It's just right. And I know you said this earlier this week, you're like, Instagram's like the Wild, wild West. I could just stick to my Facebook groups. So this idea of, and I think that's lost on a lot of people because you think like, oh, I'm going to start this group and I'm going to sell to everyone.

Lindsay [00:14:21]:
So what is the difference between having a group where you're just like promoting and spamming and actually building a sense of community? Where's the nuance there?

Lyndsi [00:14:32]:
Oh yes, let me make that clear. I do not teach that. I have really learned over these past six months since launching is a lot of people associate what I teach. They think I'm referring to a sales info promo type of group and they call them their vip groups. And I'm like, and this is very big in the network marketing space and I've seen it in the coaching space as well where it's like promote and it's do this and you have to pay to post and all this craziness that has been eye opening to me and I'm like, okay, who came up with this idea? Because I've been around for a long time and this was not how I did it. So first of all, not how I do it. However, there is a period of or a point where an info sales type of group can serve its purpose once somebody's really interested. Sure, it can be an info hub, if you will, for people to come in and look over stuff once they're interested.

Lyndsi [00:15:39]:
Not cold market, not once they're still kind of figuring things out, getting to know you. No, that is the worst thing you can do. So don't recommend that right out the gate at all. So what I do is I want you to be a human in the community and I want you to show your authority in whatever it is that you want to teach and sell. Right. So what I mean by that is in the case of, let's say you're a gut health coach, or you're an intermittent fasting coach, or in my case, like business coaching. These are three different things that people are going to be attracted to based on what they are. So if I'm like, okay, I need to understand gut health and I'm in my forty s and it's very specific and I'm like, I'm not going to relate to someone who's in their 20s talking about gut health.

Lyndsi [00:16:38]:
No, thank you. We're not going to connect. So right away if I find a community where it's like gut health in your away, I'm like, yes, this is my people. I'm coming in here and then I come in and I want to get to know who's teaching in there. Is it somebody that I feel connected to? I love their energy. I can learn from. So that's like the business side of it, where you're going to come in and you're going to show that side of you. But also I want to get to know you as a human because we want to do business with people we know, like and trust, and we want to laugh with people.

Lyndsi [00:17:13]:
It doesn't need to be all business all the time. So currently we're in a holiday season, and a lot of what I'm doing right now is asking questions around the holiday. So I'm asking like, are you ready? Are you okay? Are you good? How are you? Right now we're getting pretty close, and it gets really stressful because there's so much to do. I'm asking questions like, are you done working or are you still working? It's so simple to just be a human with these guys. And here's the thing that's so important about that because it's so funny. They'll say, we're just looking for engagement to do something like that. But no, that actually will create conversation and build relationships because you'll connect to people who are feeling the way you're feeling or who may have a different insight and are like, this is how I get the wrapping done. And you're like, oh, my gosh, that's a great idea.

Lyndsi [00:18:17]:
I'm going to take it and run with it. And it builds community because it's not just you in a DM privately talking with this person, but the whole group gets to read and feel connected. If you're like a postpartum community or a twin mom community, right? Like, these are all different communities. If you've ever looked inside those type of communities, you can see how engaged they are because they are asking questions. They are figuring out what products, what stroller should I be buying, or what are you getting your kiddos for Christmas? I have no idea. Right? Like, we're at that stage where it's like, I don't know what they want. And all of this is what you're going to normally do, even if you go have coffee with someone in person. So we're taking it, we're putting it inside of a community, and we're allowing the members to connect with each other, which should take a lot of pressure off you to sell.

Lyndsi [00:19:13]:
And we can talk about what that looks like, too. But anyways, that is where, when I was creating this years ago, that's what I wanted it to look like. I wanted a little bit of both because I wanted to feel. I wanted to connect with them. I wanted them to trust me. But I also wanted them to see me in my authority, in what was that I offer and the tips that I share.

Lindsay [00:19:40]:
I love so much of that. And I think I agree with you. Right. Like, I'm in your group and yeah, those posts are. It's not about getting something from somebody, it's not about like, oh my God, how many replies can I get to this meme? I shared about whatever, right. And it's a feeling, I think, which is hard to capture and it's hard to, I think, duplicate sometimes. Right. And I like what you said about, since you've launched this course, there's some people who want to do it exactly like you.

Lindsay [00:20:21]:
And so I think sometimes it's a little bit about brand voice and sort of figuring out the way you speak with people and not talking at people, like speaking with people. I think that's kind of the difference. Right, yeah. And what I love about your group that I'm in is that, yeah, you do share, like, you have a couple master classes in there, you've got a couple of things here that you're talking about your course, you're talking about what you're good at. But for the most part, it's like a lot of chitchatting amongst other people and they're probably like minded people. They're all mostly women, I'm going to assume, right? Yeah. And there is this sense of community rather than being spoken. So, and I'm sure this is like your number one question, so you know it's coming.

Lindsay [00:21:23]:
So someone who's like creating a Facebook group or whatever, and they're like, oh, my God, I have no engagement. Nobody talks, nobody does anything. And I say it in that whiny making. I'm not mocking anybody. I feel like that's a number one question. How do I get engagement? So what do you say to those people?

Lyndsi [00:21:45]:
Yeah, I went as far as to even create a mini course on this because it was such a popular question that I just put out. So there's that. But first of all, what you need to know is that you created this community and you are the facilitator of this community. And if you're not bringing energy to the community, why do you expect them to? Right. When I say bring an energy, I don't mean sitting on your phone, glued to your phone thing that where I do kind of stand out and be like, it takes a long time to create a reel and get it all out and get the hook and do the thing which we talked about on the last podcast we did together in a community in a group. We don't have to worry about all of that. We can just prompt with a very simple question, comment post if we're doing a business. If you do indeed want to sell something right now and you want people to, you've got new people coming in and you want them to get your guide or whatever it is we're talking about.

Lyndsi [00:23:00]:
One or two posts that are no big deal. You can even schedule them out. But at the end of the day, you need to bring the energy first and they will match it. Now, overall engagement is definitely not going to fully come from when you're putting out your offer. That's normal. But you will likely get people who will send you messages as they get to know you when they're ready for the offer, which is why you still want to be talking about it and you still want to be offering, going live in there and doing things like that here and there. So they remember because we still want to sell what we're offering. But for just getting them engaged, I get this a lot where it's like there's 300 people and it's crickets and I'm like, okay, when was the last time you went live in there and just connected with.

Lyndsi [00:23:51]:
It doesn't have to be like us right here looking nice and doing this in a professional way. You could have just worked out, be all sweaty and have a word for them. Or you could be like, it's almost Christmas. How are you feeling? Are you ready? That is enough right there. And that takes you no time. There's no pressure. You're in and out. I always talk about, how did you do this with twins? And it's like, well, it wasn't hard to put up a quote or to put up some kind of engaging question and start conversation.

Lyndsi [00:24:30]:
That doesn't take you hours.

Lindsay [00:24:34]:
Yeah. And I think the other thing to remember is it's a long game. Like, it doesn't happen overnight. Building a community. Right? And think about that. I think people want this instant gratification of like, oh, my God, I made a group four days ago, nothing's happening. Well, hold on a minute. And I agree, like, showing up, people will match your energy and agree.

Lindsay [00:25:04]:
Mix it up. Have you gone live? Have you posted a selfie of your sweaty face or whatever? Right? Like, nobody's looking for perfection. And I think that makes you more relatable. Right? That's been my experience anyway. The more real you are, the more people are like, oh, I like you because I don't feel alone. Because this is also, my hair is a mess. Lindsay, you're lovely. Other Lindsay, thank you for sharing all this smartitude with us.

Lindsay [00:25:33]:
Where can the people find you?

Lyndsi [00:25:37]:
Yeah, so I do have a Facebook group. It's called successful business women. So you can come and I can send that link over to you. And then also, I am on Instagram. It's under Lindsay Weiss official, which I can link over as well. I'm kind of all over the place. And it's Lindsay. L-Y-N-D-S-I.

Lyndsi [00:26:03]:
So it's spelled very differently, and that makes it easy to find me.

Lindsay [00:26:09]:
Yeah. Okay. We'll put all that info in the show notes. Thank you for coming and hanging out with us, and enjoy your holiday time.

Lyndsi [00:26:19]:
You too. Thanks for having me.

Lindsay [00:26:21]:
Toodleoo.

Lindsay [00:26:23]:
Thank you so much for listening. If you loved what you heard, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share this episode on social media. And don't forget to tag me on Instagram at Lindsay Smith Creative. And if you do all three, I'll be your best friend forever and invite you to all my birthday parties. That's it for today, and I'll see you next time. Bye.