Who’s in your tribe?
In 2009 marketing guru Seth Godin shared a TED Talk about finding your tribe. The concept is simple: find people who are like you with the same type of value system as you who want to travel with you down the path of life.
Over the past few weeks of New Week, New You, we’ve talked about the Side Hustle and about building a Life Team. It’s Sunday night again and you’re dreading the alarm clock shrieking awake in a few short hours. Wouldn’t it be easier to start your work week, even at a job you hate, knowing that you have a whole tribe of people cheering you on with each new day? Your tribe can be that cheering section.
Having a tribe of people in your corner is crucial towards your dream’s success. I started building my tribe back in 2010 when I first started blogging. I had no clue what I was doing, but I was passionate, consistent, and honest. These three qualities helped open so many doors of conversation over the past five years. My platform’s changed a lot in the past few months and I’m learning more about a new side of my tribe.
What makes someone part of your tribe
The idea sounds easy enough: find people like you who believe in what you do with shared values and ideas. The truth is, it can be a lot harder than it seems.
One of the myths about tribes is that they need to be thousands upon thousands of people. A great tribe can be anywhere between 80-100 people. The quality of the tribe’s support and commitment to seeing your platform succeed is more of a determining factor than sheer numbers. I’d rather have 100 fully committed tribe members than 10,000 half-hearted, indifferent “members”.
What makes someone part of your tribe is that they believe in you and your message. You will have nay-sayers, but they’re not part of your tribe. Critics can be a part of your tribe as long as those critics truly want to see you grow and succeed. Your tribe will defend your message, sometimes before you even have to do it yourself, and challenge you to keep pushing and learning with your platform.
I currently have over 2,500 people in my blogging tribe, but not all of them are fully engaged. I’m not nearly as interested as doubling those numbers as much as raising the engagement level of the ones already in my tribe.
I started my business Keynote Content in 2013 with significant support from my tribe. I can’t imagine trying to launch my dreams without my tribe. Your support is invaluable to me and I want to say thank you for your role in helping my dreams become reality.
How to find your tribe
Finding your tribe can take time, especially if you’re just getting started. Whether you’re starting your own business, launching a new venture, cause, or movement, or building a platform to share your voice, it starts with being honest and focused. Know your purpose, share that purpose clearly, repeat. This will attract the right people with the right interest to the messages that they need or want to hear.
Your tribe will respect your dreams. Your tribe will challenge your thinking. Your tribe will share your aspirations and messages with their friends, family, co-workers, weird neighbor cat lady, anyone they think will benefit from what you share. Your tribe is a community to kickstart your dreams.
When you find your tribe, it’s like coming home. It’s a safe community, but not a placating society. People you know, like, and trust are responding to you, “Yes, that’s exactly what I needed to hear! Keep sharing!” That’s when you know you’ve found your niche, that’s when you know you’ve found your tribe.
New Week, New You
Each week I’m posting a “New Week, New You” blog post on Sunday afternoons/evenings to give you inspiration, challenges, questions, and ideas to help kickstart your new venture. It’s a new week and you’re building a new you.
- Share your ideas, frustrations, wins, and unexpected discoveries with me via social media. Tag @writetojoncook on Twitter orInstagram and add the hashtag #NewWeekNewYou.
- Invite other people to join you with their own journey towards a better tomorrow. There’s something powerful about creating extraordinary futures together.