Every business aims to get more customers (which is VERY important to keep the lights on) and most businesses seek to create raving fans. However, marketing in this new economy is actually about creating a “community” for ideal clients.

This episode is about community and we talk with Katie Krimitsos about her journey to create communities around her business. Katie has been working for over seven years on her community for entrepreneurs and now is doing it again with her podcast.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• What does being in the trenches mean to her?
• What’s the number one rule in podcasting?
• Why did she build her podcast?
• What’s a micro niche and why do you need one?
• How to get clients who are “super active” with you, according to Katie.
• What was her “Come to Jesus” moment regarding her podcast?
• What’s the difference between an audience and a community?
• Which is most vital to your business – an audience or a community?

Katie’s Target Audience: Katie’s target market is the 2 types of women who listen to her podcast. The first group is women who are currently working a day job, and building their business after hours. The second group is women who are in the throes of their business but just not where they want to be.

Katie is the host of the women-centered podcast “Business Women Who Rock”. It airs three times a week with interviews and highlights of the stories of really amazing business women from all over the world. They tell the stories of why they built great companies, what has propelled them forward as well as the ups, the downs, and the how to’s.

She and her husband also run a local entrepreneurs organization, the Tampa Bay Business Owners. For their 310 members, they provide education, connection, and relationships that members leverage to grow their businesses.

One of the most important things Katie has learned while growing her podcasting audience is the value of community. She sees a consistent 25-30% engagement on her podcast’s Facebook page, some of whom haven’t even listened to the show! But they keep coming back for the value her community provides on the page.

And Katie’s community continues to thrive because she knows them so well. The reason? She IS her audience! In podcasting, like in any other business, it’s vital to know your target market. And her target market for her podcast is women just like her. Women who are in the trenches of building their businesses and looking for inspiration, guidance and connection – all things she provides with her podcast.

But there was a process and a journey of self-discovery for Katie while creating this podcast and building the community. She says she had to understand who she is and who she wanted to be within her niche. She really had to know what she wanted her personal brand and her personality to be within this podcast and within this community.

Katie certainly seems to have found it! The success of her podcast and her community speak to that and she’s paving the way for others.

Practical & Actionable:

Katie’s practical and actionable recommendations are, in her words, “old school”. She says to decide how you want your day to be and then design it. The real ways on how to do that? Structure your day, chunk out times in your calendar to do whatever you need to do. And rather than making a To Do list or a checklist, create the times in your calendar when you’re actually going to do those things you would’ve listed on your checklist.