#198 - Grow Faster on Social Media

Progress moves faster if you’re in the right group and this week's podcast episode breaks down exactly why. 

When you watch someone at your level pull off a transition, a vlog, a UGC video they'd never tried before, it closes the gap between "I should do that" and "I can do that too."

That's the real engine behind community, and it's the thing I’ve built the studio around from day one.

It's also why we have decided to launch the Muthership Studio app - launching in the App Store and Google Play mid-August! 

Tune in to hear how the studio evolved from an email-alert platform with weekly lessons into your daily content engine!  You’ll also learn what community building actually teaches you about listening to your members and why personal branding remains so important especially during growth periods! 

🚨IMPORTANT NOTE:  When the app launches, all existing members will remain in the studio at their current monthly rate. JOIN NOW to lock your monthly rate at $36 before the price increase in August. No long term commitment - leave any time. 

What is Muthership Creator Strategy?

Twice weekly show providing social media updates, trend alerts, original content ideas, strategy session, industry guests, tutorials and more!

Helen: 00:00

Why does progress happen more quickly in a group? Welcome to the Muthership Creator Strategy. Let us start with the first part, which is why it drives quicker results. And I have related this to exercise a lot where I talk about if you're doing a class by yourself online versus going in a group, you push yourself more, all of that. But when it comes to social media particularly, when you see other people hitting the things and doing the types of videos that you might wanna do, and then you say to yourself, oh, you know, they they're not, like, so much more experienced than me.

Helen: 00:36

I they've just then this just like me, they're learning just like me, and they weren't able to do this before, and now they're doing it now. It makes it more attainable for people because you could sit there and think, okay, you're teaching me, Helen. You're teaching me, but you've been doing production for forty years in your career. So it's very easy for you to say, to show how easy it is to do this. But for someone who hasn't had that background, maybe it's a bit of a leap.

Helen: 01:03

But if you're in a group and you're seeing other people like yourself, new creators just starting out, people who haven't done, let's say transitions, people who haven't done vlogs and now all of a sudden they're taking it on. It definitely makes it more you can see that you can make the leap a little quicker, it makes it more achievable and it closes the gap between I should do that and I can do that. So I want you to really think about, I guess I should turn off my alerts because it's going bing bang boom here. But anyway, so apologies for that. Let's silence the phones.

Helen: 01:36

It's the first thing I should do when I record. But I think the part that we need to realize about community is when you're watching someone at your level succeed, it just shortens the distance between where you think you are and where you want to go. And you'll get there quicker. It is just a fact. When I started the community, and as you maybe know, I don't know if a lot of you know, but we were on another platform.

Helen: 02:01

And that platform was not a good fit because it was more suited for just selling digital products versus having having the group be able to have a conversation, to have a group chat, to be able to post lessons where people could comment on the lessons. So moving over to Mighty was a really, really good move. We did it fairly early on in the big scheme of things. It didn't seem like it at the time, but I mean, even that was stressful. So the first thing I'll say, if you are considering doing something like this, really do the research and make sure you're choosing the right platform for what you want.

Helen: 02:37

Think about all the things you might possibly want in a community. I would urge you to join a community for a brief time and just see what they're doing and what they offer because you'll get a sense of, I want this, I don't need that, I want something more like this. You'll really have a better sense of it because my group in particular, our studio, it it really has changed over time. I initially I can even laugh about it now. I was more concerned about people being able to get email alerts on the things so that they would be able to keep up with what was happening.

Helen: 03:09

And now I'm way more dependent on the app and the platform itself and making sure people have their notifications on or they know where to go for things. So I'm gonna segue into why I want to talk about this topic in particular because we are launching our own app. We are going for it. The Mothership Studio app will be available in the App Store and the Google Play Store in looks like mid August and at the very latest, early September. I mean, it's probably gonna be mid August.

Helen: 03:40

And with that, there is going to be a price increase on new members who join. But the members who are already in will stay always at the rate they joined. And this goes this has held true since the beginning. I have members who's joined with the very first platform, and when we moved them over to the new platform, we kept their same the member rate that they joined at. There was a discounted rate for the first 100 members, our founding members, and then we had some promotions going on that were ongoing promotions.

Helen: 04:10

All of those are still in place. So those members who joined us from the beginning still have the same rate that they joined. And the same thing is gonna happen to anybody who's in the studio now. Your monthly rate will not change. But the core theme here is that this community is not the same as it was when we started.

Helen: 04:30

It has grown way more robustly, and it's gotten more it's gotten that way because of the members. I've seen what the members have wanted, have needed, and I have created things that reacted to that to be able to deliver those things. I have we have tutorials that were requested by members now. So now I'm having lessons specifically because members are requesting certain things. When I saw that a lot of my the members wanted UGC, understanding UGC, there's a whole we made a whole section, a whole challenge around creating UGC.

Helen: 05:05

The daily updates are way more frequent now. The trends are posted every week and additional trends. So even if you're getting the newsletter with the trends and we're keeping those housed in the studio, aside from that, you're getting every other day, I'm in the daily news and I'm saying, oh, here's another hot trend. So when you are at a loss for content, you can always go to the daily news feed or the trend link and you can find something to do so you're not stuck. So it has become the studio itself has become way more of an assistant on so many levels between ideas for content, between the small business center.

Helen: 05:44

So if you have a small business and you want ideas every week, we have ideas ready for you every week in that section. And I think each section, the way we've created it, has answered a need from members directly. And I think that's the important part of understanding when you're building community, you wanna listen to the thoughts. And one of the members in our community has said that one of her favorite things that she likes is that I take advice from the members who are in there. And I'm like, I do.

Helen: 06:13

I wanna know what people don't like, what they do like, what they would like more of. If there's problems, I like to hear about it. If some people were on Android, they weren't able to make the videos bigger. Absolutely. I'm gonna dig that and figure out and solve that.

Helen: 06:26

You know, there was another member who was saying, she needed some help with, I think, shop videos. And I was like, well, let's get a group of people who know how to do the shop content and let me weigh in with them and so I can get better advice. So we're answering and serving the community as it grows. With new members coming in, we're answering the call. We read the questions when new members join, what are the questions that they want to solve in their content journey.

Helen: 06:54

So all of this has become so much more curated and so much more valuable on a day to day basis that even from my time standpoint, I'm in the community chat. I'm answering everybody's messages. Whoever DMs me, they get a message from me. It's not a bot. It's not an auto response.

Helen: 07:13

The one thing that I toyed with this a lot was really even the name of the studio because what does that mean, Mothership Studio? And that alone, I know that a lot of community builder experts will say your community should reflect it should right away in the name say what you're doing in it. But I have to say that's the one area I am staying put and I'm not trying to even when it was called the Muthership Creator Studio, that doesn't really still tell you what what it is inside the studio. So I'm not opting to try and change the name and make it longer and more targeted, I'm actually going to use the Muthership brand and lean on it more because my videos are known for teaching. And so the Muthership has meaning.

Helen: 08:06

Like, come on into the mothership, I will take care of you. I will make sure you're seen. I will make sure you're heard. I'll make sure you get the lessons you need. And if you're the right fit and you love it, you are going to flourish because I won't have it any other way.

Helen: 08:22

I want everyone to feel to be successful, to have their best experience, level up and do their and achieve the goals that they're trying to meet. And everybody's goals may be different, but they're all somewhat aligned. We're on social media for a purpose, whatever that purpose is, whether it's to find like minded people, to sell products, to promote our promote a coaching business, to promote to be an affiliate. Everybody has a purpose. And as long as you are getting the help, which is to make better content so that your videos are successful in helping you achieve your goals.

Helen: 09:02

And I think there's so many, and I've talked about this before too, there's so many gurus out there that are just giving you templates that they give to every single other person. And I pride myself on not leaning on that. I think, yes, should we do trends? Do I suggest do the trend and do it in your niche? Of course, because that gets more views.

Helen: 09:20

I want to help you do things that will bring success to your page, but I also know that you as an individual are different than the next person. And so what might work for, you know, one member doing vlogs or doing speaking content might not work for another member who doesn't really wanna be on camera, is more comfortable being behind the camera or doing more, posts with more heavier on the text and more, fun potentially fun transitions. The different techniques on the videos that give them comfort and are more aligned with what they would like to present on camera. So I lean on the person's desires, goals. Even when members were coming in and I'm do I was doing the audits, it was really helpful to do those audits because I could see right away this member's gonna flourish, they need this lesson, they should go lean here more, they should go watch these tutorials.

Helen: 10:14

And I just think that getting to know the members has made the experience of running a community so much more rewarding. And I'm gonna stop and say, as a student of community, and when I tell you, when I take something on, I don't mess around. I'm listening to master classes. I've listened to podcasts. I go to Mighty Networks is amazing because it offers tons of workshops.

Helen: 10:42

Kind of like the studio offers you workshops, Mighty offers workshops to community builders who are trying to learn. And I go to all of the meetings and I if I can't make them, I listen to the replays and I learn, okay, here's the way to use automations. Here's how to get your members to be more invested in each other. I am a student of it, and I'm so committed. I am facilitating the discussion.

Helen: 11:05

So I love when people suggest things, and I will be happy to say, great suggestion. Be careful when you do that because if you put music on this kind of video or whatever, whatever. I will always read and curate and facilitate and make sure that the information that's in there is validated. Whether I know the answer, I don't know everything. I love when other people come in and they have things that they tell me.

Helen: 11:29

I love it. I love to learn. But I also will then I'll go do the homework. I'll check with people I know. I'll check with other creators who have done such a thing.

Helen: 11:38

I wanna make sure that if you're coming into my space Myspace, remember that? But if you're coming into my community and my studio, what I love more than anything, oh my god, is when my members are helping each other and they're contacting each other and they're you know, we have some that do a lot of TikTok shop videos, some that do a lot of u UGC. They've gotten to know each other. I see them in each other's video video comments. I love it.

Helen: 12:07

I encourage people to reach out to each other. I don't mind if there's communication happening and I'm not involved in it. And if you need me, I'm there. I'm the Muthership. I'm here for you if you need something.

Helen: 12:20

So it's evolving. I know that I have a long way to go. By no means do I have this figured out. I'm gonna admit it. And I'm happy to talk about the things I don't know because that's how you grow, that's how you learn, not being afraid to try something, not being afraid to fail at something and, you know, know that in the beginning, oh my god, I had too many categories.

Helen: 12:42

And it was a mistake. And by the way, Julie has such good instincts. Let's give her a shout out for a second because she'll she'll see it before I see it a lot of times and I I have to live it and then, oh, you were right. And that's just how I roll. I dive into the deep end and I'm floundering, but then I'm like, oop, yep, coulda had a coulda had a life jacket on or something, you know.

Helen: 13:06

Like that's just more of a personality thing and she's very analytical and she sees systems so much better than I do. So having someone that's with you in that is so helpful because you're you're the personalities are great for certain roles. And I am so excited and joyful at every meeting. I can't wait to go to the meetings. I can't wait to see who's coming, what we're talking about today, the suggestions I have that we're gonna cover, and then what people bring up.

Helen: 13:38

I love to pivot a meeting if we if people need this information more than what I was gonna share, I'm happy to pivot a meeting. So I've I've learned, I think part of my personality has been to welcome, to hear, to make everybody feel a part of it and not be shy to contribute. So all of this to say, the Mothership Studio app will be in the App Store and the Google Play Store in mid August. We'll be announcing the launch date. I am flipping excited because I've been thinking about having an app for a long time, and it's finally happening.

Helen: 14:14

So I'm excited. And then we are doing the retreat. So if those of you who are still on the fence about the retreat, mid August, that price also goes up, so you wanna get into the the retreat sooner. Mid August is big. I don't know.

Helen: 14:27

I didn't think it was gonna be so, epic because usually August is a quiet month for summer and vacationing. But for for the Muthership Studio, it's a big month. So I will be talking more about it in the newsletter. I'll be sending you updates as to when the deadlines are coming, but please keep alerted. And if you have any questions about community, if you are even thinking about it, like, I think that we I've talked about this on another episode fully, but I think we undervalue owning our own audience.

Helen: 15:00

And I mean that and not in a proprietary way. I mean that the TikTok app isn't in control of who sees your videos. Your email list controls who sees your content, and therefore, your community also does that for you. These are the two areas where as a creator, you can have more control of your destiny. So if that's something that's appealing, even if it's something you do, that's a free community just to get people where you can always reach them.

Helen: 15:33

You can just send me a message, and I'll be happy to talk to you about it or help you with it. And potentially, if community members are interested in doing that, I would put a lesson in the community about that. But I think right now, the community members are really focused on having their social media success from the help and the support and the sense of community and the lessons. Alright. That's it for today.

Helen: 15:58

Have a wonderful week, and thanks for listening. And, you know, yay to what's coming. I'm proud of myself. I'm proud of Julie and I for making this happen. We're gonna have a little celebration in October when we do the big in person events.

Helen: 16:15

So who's ever gonna be there is gonna get to celebrate with us in real life. It's been a fun journey thus far, and I know we have so many exciting things coming. Alright. Have a good week. Thanks as always for listening.

Helen: 16:32

Gonna have guests coming up soon, so wink wink. Be looking forward to that. Bye.