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Tribes are everywhere, and it’s up to you which ones you want to be a part of – not only to benefit from, but also to contribute. In today’s episode, Nate Woodbury and Valerie Morris talk about the importance of having a tribe.
We’ve heard about the power of a tribe. What does that really mean when we’re talking about building influence. How do we build a tribe? How do we use that for power? That’s we’re going to talk about in this episode. So, this is Valerie Morris. Good friend of mine. She is the author of the book on influence. I’ll talk about this at the end. Let’s start with what is a tribe and what is the power of a tribe? -Wow. So, tribes are super powerful. I think a tribe really can look so many different ways. I mean and you can have tribes within a family, of tribes within work, kind of tribes within school. Tribes have in your neighborhood. But a tribe is essentially a group of people that come together and they’re all… Not they may not all be doing the exact same thing. But they all can come around and walk together. -So, what does that look like for like a coach a speaker and author? -You know, so professionally speaking, I found that tribes can be extremely effective as you’re trying to build up some sort of speaking or coaching career. And you might have other people in your tribe who might be other speakers and coaches but they coach in a slightly different arena. Or you might have other people that are serving the same types of clients but offer different services. So, it’s not necessarily that you’re working directly with your competitor. (You might.) Most the time, you don’t. Most of the time, your tribe is consisted of other people who have the ability to refer business your way and be able to speak into how you might be able to do your business a little bit more effectively. -Maybe like a circle of peers or like a mastermind group? -Yeah, yeah. I think masterminds tend to have different definitions no matter where you go. But you know, a mastermind can be a tribe. I’ve got a few that I’ve been a part of that I would consider tribes. Tribe is a pretty loose term and honestly, you can build it to be whatever you need it to be. But tribes bringing numbers behind you as you’re going out and building your brand. Be extremely effective. -So, that’s a cool definition. Because usually, I look at a tribe a little bit different. I really like that definition because I have… I have people that would fit into my tribe. But then there’s also kind of the the tribe of the masses the people that are following you. You have a million subscribers. Say on YouTube. -Yep. -That might have a little bit different definition. -Yeah, you know, when I think in terms of business and build brand building, I tend to think of that more as my audience or my followers. They might try I tend to think of more as my closer inner circle. These are people who are almost on the same level. They’re my peers. We’re walking together. We each have different goals but they’re not necessarily looking to me to be the only expert. We’re all experts in our own right. And we’re looking to each other. So, I think it’s just a different you know, what depth where are you gonna put on that definition. You know. -So, I guess the first step is if you want to build a tribe, you know what the definition is first. -For sure. Figure out what you’re looking for. But yeah. You know, find those people that are going to help you grow and build your brand. -So, once you’ve built the tribe, I know you’ve got a list of 5 benefits of having that tribe. -Right. -Let’s jump into those. -Okay. So, the first benefit is really social proof. When it comes to building your brand online, one of the best things you can do is have people around you who are endorsing what you’re doing. And an endorsement can be as simple as just hitting like on a post. You know, by hitting like on a post, it’s signaling to the rest of the world that, “Hey, this might be a posting you want to hit like on or a post you might want to read or dive into.” It’s giving someone that… That proof that someone else found this valuable. And so if you have a tribe that you have built up rapport with, they are going to support what you’re doing and that’s naturally going to give you social proof to people who don’t follow you as deeply. -I like that. -So, the second benefit is really expanded reach. So, a tribe is really beneficial because they are going to help you get the message out. So, you know, when I launched my book, I had a whole tribe around me. I actually had a book launch team that I put together. They were my tribe for my book launch. And I knew that they were going to help me get the word out about my book. And they did that a couple of different ways. They shared about it on social media, they emailed their friends and family. They bought the book which helps me rank better in the online… Online bookstores and then they also gave me online reviews. Which is also social proof, right? So, but they all those little things that they helped with. Didn’t really cost them much money. Didn’t cost them a ton of time. And they did it because they care about me. They care about me and the message of my book. And without that tribe, I don’t think I could have hit bestseller with my book. It really wouldn’t have happened. But you needed the numbers behind you. And so, you know anytime you can do that whether. It’s a book launch or just your business at large. Maybe you’ve got a product launch coming up. Get people around you who are willing to come alongside you and help you out. -Now, in a video that we filmed yesterday, we are talking about how to deal with critics. Kind of brought up this concept of when you go to your tribe, it can provide you some encouragement. Or give you kind of like the positive feedback so that you don’t have to get so affected by the critics. So, that… That sounds like another benefit. Is that one of your 5? -Oh, It totally is. Yeah, getting support from other people is really beneficial. You know, there’s not a lot of people out there who are successful at building of a brand. Building up a business from scratch. It’s a lot of work. So, if you have people around you who are able to speak into that and encourage you and just remind you that you’re not alone in this, it’s really helpful. It’s also helpful to have people around you when you do have those critics come along. Because you have someone that sounding-board. You know, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called up friends from different tribes. And I’ve got multiple different tribes that I’m a part of. But you know, I build friendships with people to the point that I can call them up and say, “Hey, I might have faced here. Such-and-such is happening. and this is how I’m feeling.” In my have face, do I need to just cool off? Do I need to do something? You can get advice from other people who are walking a similar path. -I like that. Thanks. Alright. What’s your fourth one? -Okay. So, the fourth benefit is that you really can influence each other. And I can’t tell you how many times I have learned from other people in my tribe. -Yes, I consider that a peer but I consider them to be an expert in something else that really is not my strong point. So, you really have the ability to get to know people on a really deep level. And honestly, I have found that by being part of smaller groups and tribes I’ve actually been able to grow my business in deeper ways. Because other people get to know who I am and what I offer to people on that deeper level. It’s a really great way to really influence each other but also help build each other up. So, as you’re saying that I recognize that they’re then different types of friends. There are people that are friends maybe because of proximity. -Sure. -There are people that are friends maybe because of a hobby or an interest. But then there’s people that are friends because of their profession and their expertise and they become a part of that tribe. Because I’ve got some friends… A lot of my friends I wouldn’t go to for business advice. But I have… I have several friends that they’re there for me. They… They offer to help me in different… Different things. In fact, I’ve got a great friend who’s helping me in 2 days, outline my whole course. And I wouldn’t go to another regular friend for that. But anyway… I appreciate you pointing that out. Because that clarifies things for me. -Yeah. -So, number 5? -Number 5 is a… A tribe keeps you sharp. -Okay, what do you mean by that? -And I… So, when you think about tribes, one of the most effective things a tribe can do is be consistent and actually meet together. So, by meeting up together whether that’s once a year or once a month, you…Or it every day on social media. You can… You can see and bounce off of each other. And I found that being part of tribes actually gives me this subconscious nudge to level up. Because if I see that other people in my tribe are out building online courses and making great income from it and helping great people with it, maybe I should make an online course or maybe I should be doing things that are making a better impact for my audience. So, just seeing that other people are out doing things. Whether it’s something I want to do similarly or not, it gives me that just nudge to keep moving. And it keeps me sharp. I also know that my tribes are places where I can go to ask hard questions or ask questions that no one else online knows yet. So, you know. Facebook or Instagram releases a new feature, I can go to my tribe there are all social media managers. And say, “Hey, what are you doing with this? There are no articles out about this yet. There’s no one that’s an expert in this yet. What are you seeing? What are you testing?” So, it allows me to stay on the cutting edge because I’ve got people that I can go to to ask those hard questions. -Okay. So now, I think we all understand that there is great power in the tribe. There’s huge benefits. Let’s… Let’s finish with the question of “How do we build a tribe?” Is it… Is that we have a sign-up list hey do you want to join my tribe? -Sure. Well, sometimes it is. I think some tribes are more formal. Some tribes are more informal. I mean you don’t always have a sign-up list for you. -I don’t… I’m not a part of any of those tribes. -Yeah. -Sometimes actually have a lot of strict rules. And depending upon a scenario, that’s really helpful. Especially if it’s a larger group. There have to be some so of norms. But I think you want to look for, you know… Is there a need? You know? Do I… Do I want this group? What kinds of a… -Question then. Because I’m a part of the National Speakers Association. -Yep. -And now that I’m thinking about it. That probably is one of my tribes. And that does require a fee. We are… There are specific rules to be a part of that. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah. -It’s your tribe. Yeah. But I’m also part of a mastermind that has some loose rules about how often you show up. But it’s not something that I’m going to get you know demerits if I don’t show up. They’re just… It’s just going to be a natural understanding of, “If you want to be part of this group, you have to show up to participate and build relationship.” And you know, some… Some tribes have more formal rules, some don’t. I think they all depending upon what your goal is to get out of that tribe. You can determine how strict you want to be or not and if that group is the right fit. So, you know I think tribes are really great because sometimes there are tribes already set up. You know, necklace speakers association was probably already there ready humming along with with or without you. And you could join in and be part of that. There’s also some times where there are needs that need to be met. So you know, that 5 or 6 years ago, we started Colorado women in social media. Which was a grassroots group of people that had businesses based in social media and that we’re trying to navigate this new industry and we needed people that we could go to to ask those questions of, “Hey, Facebook just change this. Or Facebook isn’t letting me do that. Are you having issues too?” And a lot of us were also building our business. So, it wasn’t just talking about social media. It was, “Hey, you know, what are you doing when you deal with client that doesn’t pay?”What are you doing with a client that does this?” You know, you get to kind of bounce those ideas off of other business owners and that group, we just had to figure it out as we went. You know, there wasn’t any set rules or guidelines built up. And we we could make it what we wanted it to be. So, tribes can look very different but I think the important thing is that you have people around you who are helping support you in the direction you’re going. -So, I’m actually curious to know of our viewers what different tribes they’re a part of. So, as we’ve described in Valerie’s talked about different tribes, I’m sure some things that come to mind. Leave them in the comments below. Of course definitely check out Valerie’s book, We’re All Ears, Valerie Morris. It’s on Amazon. And if you’re not a subscriber, become one and we’ll see you tomorrow.