Balancing a Membership and Being a Momma with Heather Crabtree of The Savvy Community
Episode 129: Show Notes
Today on the podcast, we have our friend and our mentor, the lovely Mamma Heather Crabtree from The Savvy Community. If you are not familiar with this woman, what rock have you been hiding under? Her Facebook community and her community in general that she has built over the last few years is phenomenal and literally the online space where we first met. Sparkles and all the confetti for that! We talk a bit about the legendary Savvy Community where we met online, and how it’s transitioned over the years.
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In this episode, Heather shares with us how she has grown just a couple hundred members to over 13,000 and how that evolved into her bringing on a membership community where she hosts female entrepreneurs from all over the world and helps train and coach them. We also go into the programs she has brought along with her and even how she has been able to walk with her daughter as she has gone through stage four cancer, what it’s like balancing a business and a chronic illness like cancer and how that has affected her as a person and really made her stronger for the better. This is a little bit of a rollercoaster episode, but know that it comes from a good place and we are so excited to have her on.
The Idea and Purpose of The Savvy Community
For Heather, her desire was that she just wanted a place to be where she felt like there were others like her. Every career she’s had and every industry she’s been in, she just felt like she was always an outsider. She did not like that. Heather was always the gal bringing people together and always been about community, so this feel just did not fit with who she was at the core. She always found herself wanting to bring people together, uniting people from all aspects of her life. That is exactly where the whole idea and the whole purpose of the Savvy Community began. The Savvy Community provided a space for members to come in and blow their businesses out of the water! Heather’s favorite part of being the leader of the group is to watch her Savvy’s really take off and do well in whatever they take on, and the support they get from the group.
The Evolution of Facebook Group Strategies
Figuring out what’s working and what’s not and being able to move forward from that is Heather’s motto. What worked when she first started the Savvy Facebook group three and a half years ago, does not work now. The strategies Heather used back then don’t work the same today. However, the foundation is always going to be the same; it is all about connecting with people, being real, showing your true self, giving freely and just letting the light shine on the members, focusing less on yourself. Shining the light on others is what’s going to make your group be better.
Staying True to the Mission of Your Facebook Group
One of the biggest challenges with running a Facebook community is when people say “don’t focus on the numbers”. As you grow your group, it becomes a lot harder to really stay true to the mission and the reason why you started the group in the first place. Because when you started and had only 300 people, you were connected, it was your girl gang and you knew everything about them. However, when you get to thousands and thousands of people, knowing everyone almost becomes impossible. Managing the group can become super overwhelming and out of control. This has led many people to shut their groups down. In the time when everyone one was shutting down their groups, Heather kept hers open and pushed through simply because she knew it was not about her and simply about staying true to the mission and purpose of the group.
Balancing a Membership Site with a Facebook Group
As the leader and the owner of a Facebook group, there are things to keep in mind. First, is the group feeding into your business or is it taking away more than it’s feeding into it? For Heather, all her students, members, and program gals are from the group. The Facebook group started her business, so closing it down simply was not an option. Shutting it down would be like turning her back on everyone who has been a part of the journey. That’s not to say the group will always be there, but there are definitely challenges that come with having both a membership site and a Facebook group. The key is finding the balance between having a paid program while still giving away so much valuable free content within the Facebook community.
Transitioning to a Membership Site Despite Challenging Circumstances
To say the membership site has been easy, would be a far stretch from the truth. A month after launching the membership community, Heather’s daughter was diagnosed with stage four cancer. That affected her business BIG time. She has always been really involved and engaged and really knows her members. When the news hit, her momma instincts took over. The amazing thing is that Heather has an incredible team behind her. She built her team up over the past two years, and so she was able to keep the membership site going, which honestly saved her business. At that time, Heather had stopped all of her passive income streams because she simply had no time to launch them. But the membership site was ticking along. So as hard as it was, it was as if the stars had aligned and it was absolutely meant to happen at that moment.
Lessons Learned from Launching a Membership Site
One of the main things that happened after launching the membership site was that people were so used to heading to the Facebook community to engage with other members. No one was using the forums on the membership site. The key is to really find what’s working and what’s not. Once you have that down, make the change! There is no need to keep going with something that simply is not working for you. It seems like people just don’t understand how to use the forum, or they just simply aren’t hanging out on there. So instead, just adjust to assure people are going onto the membership site for all the trainings and for the masterminds without worrying about trying to force something to work.
The Savvy Accelerator; Taking Your Business to the Next Level
As time went on, Heather paid attention to what was happening inside her Savvy Business Circle coaching program. All the gals were coming out and being rock stars, but they were still solopreneurs. All the stuff they learned and knew to do, they couldn’t physically do themselves. They didn’t have the resources to really scale their business so in comes the Savvy Accelerator. It’s a 10-week intensive where Heather comes in and assesses your business and brings in her team to create all of your content, graphics, and more. It is their premium offering so it’s not for the newbies! It’s a full-on intensive program to come up with a plan, do the work for you and get your business rockin’ and rollin’.
Quote This
Your business has to fit within your life. You can’t try to fit your life in your business.
—Heather Crabtree
Highlights
How the Savvy Community came to be and its original purpose as a group. [0:05:29.1]
Understanding the importance of shining the light on your Facebook group members. [0:10:24.1]
Finding the balance between a free Facebook community and a paid membership site. [0:15:16.1]
How Heather transitioned to a membership site, despite incredibly challenging circumstances. [0:16:51.1]
Lessons learned from launching a membership site. [0:19:14.1]
The purpose behind the Savvy Accelerator and how it helps take business to the next level. [0:28:38.1]
#TalkStrategyToMe [0:45:43.6]
Realize that not everyone connects the same way.
As an extrovert, make it more about others, and less about you.
As an introvert, connect with people online first before connecting in person.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to other people.
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Heather Crabtree
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Heather is your friendly business mentor and founder of The Savvy Community. With a law degree in hand, she started her first post-law firm business hours at age 24, gained a business partner at 28 and sold the business 6 years later to start her current business. Now she mentors and speaks to lady entrepreneurs around the globe each year, encouraging and teaching women to create and grow a savvy business that combines their smarts and heart. She also believes your business should fit in your life and you should not be forced to fit your life in your business.
Business aside, Heather is also a proud mom to her littles, London and Lane, and wife of 12 years to her husband, Cole. She believes life should not be taken for granted and we should cherish each morsel of every day. She loves to encourage, motivate and share her knowledge with others, but also believes we can learn something from every person we meet.
KEY TOPICS
Savvy Facebook Community, Facebook group strategies, Paid membership sites, Lessons for launching a membership site, The Savvy Accelerator
