LUYC 124: Pivot Strategies & Community Building with Alex Hillman

Level Up Your Course Podcast with Janelle Allen: Create Online Courses that Change Lives

Hey family! This week brings you a special episode. Alex Hillman and I teamed up for a live podcast interview and Q&A as COVID-19 was starting to take a toll on business owners.

This is a tough time for most of us. Some online entrepreneurs are seeing a decline in revenue while several industries have been shut down completely. What do we do when we're facing uncertainty, struggling to figure out our next move, and are trying to avoid thoughts of giving up completely?

We pivot. We lean into our communities. We get resourceful.

Alex is the founder of Indy Hall, a coworking community in Philadelphia, and the co-founder of Stacking the Bricks along with Amy Hoy. He joined me to dig into practical pivot strategies, tips for building online communities, and effective sales strategies for a down economy.

Our live audience brought some great questions, so stick around after the interview for some more great advice about marketing during a pandemic, free vs. paid communities, and creating free content when your business is struggling.

Episode Quotes

"If we wait, there may be nothing... so let's be resourceful."

"The difference between a group of people and a community is the direction that the support flows."

"The value of the community gets bigger if the more people are in it and contributing."

"The value of a community is the resiliency of your customers in their businesses."

"Short term thinking is the thing that will kill a lot of businesses."

Listen to Learn

04:45 - Getting to know Alex Hillman, Rapid 5 Questions

11:52 - Challenges small business owners are facing due to COVID-19

18:06 - Marketing and pivot strategies

26:40 - Product sales strategy in a down economy

31:30 - Community building and management essentials

40:07 - Community building during COVID-19 crisis

43:59 - Q&A on finding the right marketing tone

47:28 - Q&A on free content

53:02 - Q&A on free vs. paid communities

1:00:05 - Tools for online community building

1:06:02 - Practical advice for business owners

Connect with Alex

DangerouslyAwesome.com

IndyHall.org

StackingtheBricks.com

Follow Alex on Twitter!

Looking for the Transcript?

Episode 124