Invest in Relationships Not Content

Summary

People Magic: How to Build a $1M Community Episode Summary: Invest in Relationships Not Content Release Date: October 17, 2024
Host/Author: Mighty Networks & Pod People
Guest: Gina Bianchini, Founder and CEO of Mighty Networks

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Introduction

In the latest episode of People Magic: How to Build a $1M Community, Gina Bianchini dives deep into the transformative power of relationships over content in building a successful digital community. She challenges conventional wisdom that emphasizes content creation, advocating instead for fostering genuine connections as the cornerstone of a thriving community.

Building for the Future: The Primacy of Relationships

Gina opens the discussion by posing a fundamental question: "Are you building for today or are you building for the future?" (00:00) She asserts that the future lies in relationships, stating, "The future is relationships. The past is relationships." (00:00). According to Gina, sustainable success is rooted in cultivating strong, supportive networks rather than merely producing content.

The Content Conundrum

Addressing a listener’s concern about the overwhelming focus on content, Gina contends that the obsession with content can be counterproductive. When asked, "How do I not focus on content when it's all I see as value?", she responds by renaming content to "relationship content" and emphasizing its role in facilitating connections (01:06). Gina challenges the traditional content-driven approach, suggesting that minimal content designed to spark meaningful interactions is far more effective.

Practical Strategies for Relationship Building

Gina outlines several actionable strategies for shifting the focus from content to relationships:

1. Replace Content with Relationships: She advises replacing the term "content" with "relationships" to reorient efforts towards human connections (01:06).

2. Leverage Software for Events: Gina anticipates future advancements in software that will simplify organizing events and parties, making relationship-building more seamless (01:06).

3. Dedicated Time for Connections: She recommends carving out time each week to engage with contacts, meet new people, and build relationships through direct messages and other personal interactions (01:06).

4. Minimal Content for Maximum Relationships: Instead of producing large volumes of content, Gina suggests creating just enough to facilitate and nurture relationships (01:06).

The Give Ask Day Framework

A centerpiece of Gina’s strategy is the Give Ask Day—a weekly practice where community members share one thing they can give and one thing they ask for (01:06). She elaborates:

• Give First: "What is something that you can authentically give to somebody else?" This could be gratitude, a kind word, or genuine support, rather than promotional material or giveaways.

• Ask Next: After establishing a foundation of giving, members can make requests, fostering a reciprocal and supportive environment.

Redefining Success in Community Building

Gina challenges the conventional metrics of success, which often prioritize content reach and audience size. Instead, she emphasizes:

• Supporting Each Other: Success comes from being part of a network where members actively support and elevate one another (01:06).

• Hosting Over Participating: By hosting events and facilitating connections within the community, leaders can create a more impactful and engaged network than by solely participating or creating content (01:06).

The Future of People Magic

Looking ahead, Gina envisions a landscape where software plays a pivotal role in enhancing relationship-building:

• Automated Event Management: Tools that automate reminders and event planning will make it easier to organize gatherings and foster connections.

• Enhanced Matching Algorithms: Software will aid in matching the most relevant people within the community, creating valuable interactions effortlessly.

Live a Rich and Fulfilling Life

Gina concludes by encouraging listeners to focus on living a fulfilling life enriched by relationships:

• "Go live your life with amazing people. Dance, sing, debate, explore, be curious, laugh, make things." (01:06)

• She emphasizes that a well-lived life, centered around meaningful relationships, is the true measure of success, far surpassing the superficial metrics of content creation (01:06).

Notable Quotes

• On Building for the Future:
  "The future is relationships. The past is relationships." — Gina Bianchini (00:00)

• On Relationships Over Content:
  "It's not about content, it's about relationships." — Gina Bianchini (01:06)

• On the Power of Giving:
  "What is something that you can authentically give to somebody else?" — Gina Bianchini (01:06)

Conclusion

Gina Bianchini's insights in this episode of People Magic challenge the traditional focus on content creation, advocating instead for a relationship-centric approach to building a lucrative and fulfilling digital community. By prioritizing genuine connections, leveraging technology for relationship-building, and redefining success through the lens of supportive networks, Gina provides a roadmap for entrepreneurs and community builders aspiring to create impactful and sustainable digital businesses.

For a deeper dive into these concepts and to explore the People Magic framework, visit the Mighty Networks website linked in the show notes. Listeners are encouraged to submit their questions and continue engaging with the community to further harness the power of relationships in their entrepreneurial journeys.

Transcript

[A]

Are you building for today or are you building for the future? And what I would say is, if you start work today, you want to be building towards the future. And the future is relationships. The past is relationships. And even today, the people that are getting the most done, the people that are having the most success, even on social media, it's not because they have the best content. It's because they are in a network of other creators via dms that they're all actually supporting each other. Hey, I'm Gina Bianchini, and this is People Magic, how to build a $1 million community that you can be proud of.

[B]

Hey, Gina, I love your take on not creating more content, but. But it feels absolutely impossible. I'm meeting so many people and they look me up and they see that I have no following or that my photo isn't as professional as my peers. How do I not focus on content when it's all I see as value?

[A]

I am so glad you asked this question, because I know how controversial my take is in terms of do what you can to not focus on content. It's about content. It's about content. You cannot spend five minutes on any social media platform without being told that it is about content. And here I am saying, hey, what you really want to do is create people magic. And people magic's amazing. And you're asking, well, what do I do to be able to get those first 10 people? And because 10 people will evolve into 20 people and 20 people will evolve into 50 people, it is the way that relationships work. And so here's where I've come out on content number one. I have sought to remove the word content from my lexicon. So I've replaced it with something, and it kind of actually hangs together, which is the word relationships. So if you think about you as a business owner and as a community designer, as a person in the world, we as human beings are made for relationships. What do you want? What do you need? How do you put another human being first? That is relationship content is. I'm going to tell you what to do. So investing more heavily in relationships, investing more heavily even in having a party. Even though today it is far too much work to have a party because you have to actually send, like, 20 reminders to everybody. That's going to be taken care of with software. Software is going to be able to help us build parties and events like nobody's business. And I cannot wait for the day we at Mighty Networks are building more and more of these kinds of software dynamics into our platform. And I think it's just going to become the future of what's possible with relationship building, with creating people magic. So looking at and thinking about relationships, looking at, thinking about even just who's in your contacts, you know, instead of spending time on social media where it's about consuming other people's content and in a lot of cases, consuming strangers content, thinking about how do you carve out 30 minutes every week to think about who's in, who's in your contacts and how could you meet two more people this week? How do you use DMS on social media to meet and build relationships with new people? Now, in terms of they go, check me out, here would be a frame on that that I would offer, which is what content could I build and specifically, what is the minimal amount of content I could build every week so that I can facilitate relationships with people? I know this is nuanced. What's the difference between build relationships with people than what's out there right now from gurus that are like, you want to build your personal brand and you want to have a big audience so that you can generate leads for your funnel and be able to get people to buy stuff from you. So much of the content industrial complex is about that I would encourage you to think about it differently, which is what's the minimum amount of content that's going to create the most interesting relationships? And how could I invest more and more of my time in bringing people together, organizing a dinner, going to a conference, and actually planning something around the conference. The ability to reach out to somebody with something that is valuable to them, which is not whatever it is you're selling. So one of the things, for example, I love to offer as a weekly calendar item, that's our fifth step in people magic. Profit is the give ask day. And so this is once a week. It's an open call to your community of one thing they can give and one ask they have in that order. Why is give first? And by the way, give is not. I've got this great program that I'm going to give you. That's your thing, kind of like swag. Like, it's like, thanks for the mug with your brand on it. Like, I like, don't get it. So what you want to do is what is something that you can authentically give to somebody else? And maybe that's just your gratitude. Maybe that's a kind word about what they're doing and how they're doing it. Maybe that is something that is. I see you and I see what you're doing, and I like it, that's a give. And being able to do that before you ever make an ask is really, really powerful, especially as you're building relationships. And then the other thing is think about building relationships as not just the relationship one on one that you're having with someone, but also the relationships that you can facilitate with a group of people. So if you're leading with relationships and you're leading with value that you are creating by bringing people together, by definition, you will find that the content that you want to create or need to create is different than if you are playing that content industrial complex game. And one of the things I think is really important is to be in environments where I'm different and I'm controversial and I'm challenging the status quo. And for a lot of people, the status quo works. And what somebody has definitely said to me is, but it works. And I get that, but it works today. And are you building for today or are you building for the future? And what I would say is if you start work today, you want to be building towards the future. And the future is relationships. The past is relationships. And even today, the people that are getting the most done, the people that are having the most success, even on social media, it's not because they have the best content, it's because they are, they are in a network of other creators via dms, that they're all actually supporting each other, they're all commenting on each other's posts. So even when you think about, and I think this is, you know, one of the biggest fake outs of social media is that the largest accounts are not the largest accounts because of their content. They're the largest accounts because they are a part of a network working behind the scenes, a part of relationships that are working behind the scenes to pump each other up. And so if I could offer one thing as you think about relationships versus content, content versus relationships, I'm not saying no content ever. I'm saying start with relationships. Your people, your people's people, and ultimately your community's people get really curious and good at building relationships, and not just one on one relationships, but relationships among people. And be a host, not just a participant, and certainly not just the hero of your own content. Invest in relationships, invest in people. And whatever content needs to be an ingredient into those investments, make it. Because increasingly, where the world is going, especially as people magic becomes easier and easier to do such that software is playing the role of helping the most relevant people to each other find each other. And create value for each other. If you are the host of those kinds of communities powered by People Magic, you will win over blowing yourself out on content creation any day of the week. So build for the future. Start with relationships, invest in relationships, use content only to the extent that they help facilitate relationships. And then go live your life. Go live your life with amazing people. Dance, sing, debate, explore, be curious, laugh, make things. Live a rich and fulfilling life outside the content creation grind. It is why we are here on earth, is why we as human beings are fundamentally different than any other primate and it's the reason any of us should be striving for success and what success looks like. It looks like a well lived life and helping more and more people live a well lived life. It's not about content, it's about relationships. I'm Gina Bianchini. Thanks for tuning in. This is People Magic. Thank you for being a part of People Magic. If you want more of a deep dive in any of these topics, but certainly having the framework of People Magic profit, head on over to the website. The link is in the show notes. Have your own burning question about creating People Magic? Well, I want to answer it. So here's what you're going to do. You're going to just drop your question in the review section, wherever you're listening to this podcast and keep tuning in.