Last week my brand photographer, Dani Corbett from Lake City Photos, taught a Lab Workshop on creating member-focused content.
The premise is that as you make members shine, you also shine. As Dani said, “Show them your community. Don’t just tell them about it. Because the community is the most compelling thing.”
She shared great tips and insights, and I want to amplify what she said about member profiles. Because for many years, I’ve watched the same generic style of member profiles get pushed out on social media and, to be honest, generic profiles don’t help your members and they don’t help you.
So I was thrilled when Dani shared some practical strategies to create great member profiles and decided to share them here, as well.
Don’t overthink it. Ask one member to sit down for one 5-10 minute video session (or even email).
Get the light right for the video or member photo. Stand near a window. If you don’t have good natural light in your space, go outside and stand in the shade.
You’re asking the wrong questions. Here are the questions that we see everywhere and frankly don’t work very well:
“How long have you been a member?”
“What’s your favorite thing about our space?”
“What do you do for work?”
“Would you recommend us to others?”
“Any advice for new members?”
And here are some much more compelling and engaging questions that help everyone shine and your profiles get much more traction. (Spoiler: Make your member the most interesting part of the profile):
“What are you building right now?”
“What do you wish more people knew about what you do?”
“Who is your ideal client?”
“What is exciting in your business right now?”
“Who would you love to connect with?”
These types of member profiles are very shareable because they make your members (and their work) shine.
And you can get infinite content from them. You can break the questions up into separate videos; create quote graphics; share them as photo posts; use the photos for member portraits and headshots; share on Instagram Reels and Stories; create LinkedIn content; write newsletter blurbs; do website features, etc.
So get proactive and creative with your member profiles and distribution strategy. Because, as Dani pointed out, “You can get a lot more mileage from your content.”
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