HOW I CAN HELP

WHY BUILDING COMMUNITY MATTERS

Because building your business matters. That means spreading the word about your products and services, creating excitement, advocacy, and identification with your brand, and swelling the ranks of your fan base. And the more fanatic your fans, the more fantastic your business outcomes.

Build loyalty, advocacy, referrals and repeat business
Make people more likely to spend money with you more often
Offset support costs thanks to peer-to-peer support
Increase product use frequency
Give your customers what they want most—connection, identity, and a deep sense of belonging

WHY BUILDING COMMUNITY MATTERS

Build loyalty, advocacy, referrals and repeat business
Make people more likely to spend money with you more often
Offset support costs thanks to peer-to-peer support
Increase product use frequency
Give your customers what they want most—connection, identity, and a deep sense of belonging

COMMUNITY BUILDING 101

After nearly three decades of building online communities for some of the world’s most successful, recognizable brands, I’m more convinced than ever that the most engaging, financially rewarding and emotionally satisfying way to connect with your customers is through your customer community. The only question is, what’s the best way to do it?

That’s what I’m here for. I help companies design, construct, and run vibrant, active, impactful communities in three foundational ways.

Community Driven Product Development

I help product development and product marketing teams integrate the Community Voice (real live customers) into the product development journey. I approach each project as an overall program meant to create enduring product advocacy, working with your product team to ensure value is being added at each step of the lifecycle.

Community Building Strategies

After an internal community audit and competitive research and analysis, I devise a step-by-step playbook with accountable milestones for implementing a fan-building program design. Whether for major projects or quick adhoc support, I’m your Community Guy.

Building an Impactful Community

I get hands-on with tactical, day-to-day operations, targeting and engaging your audience, and using ongoing community analysis, optimization, and management training to create deeper engagement and loyalty.

EVERYBODY GOES HOME HAPPY

That’s my philosophy for building communities, and it has never failed to build a satisfying experience for everyone involved. It means that for an online community to be truly rewarding, both the company and its customers must work in unison to achieve something special for everyone involved. It isn’t about throwing money at members to make them happy. It’s about recognizing each other for who they are and what they truly desire. If you can achieve a mutually beneficial symbiosis, the community will deliver exceptional value and build an army of advocates who will advance your brand as far as you want it to go.

CONFESSIONS OF A SUPER FAN

I have a real enthusiasm for working with and supporting Super Fans, those passionate, devoted people in your community who love your brand so much, it becomes part of their identity. Because Super Fans are the most active and loyal members of your community, they represent the heart and soul of your business. You can go to them for insights and opinions that reflect the entire community.

Here’s my take on what Super Fans what you to know!

JAKE SPEAKS!

As a field-tested veteran of countless community engagement campaigns, I am available to share what I’ve learned as a speaker, trainer, and coach in a variety of formats.

Speaking Engagements

I speak at conferences, panel discussions, and corporate headquarters around the world, focusing on topics related to community building and management, fan group interaction strategy, and generally everything related to how you can create impactful communities.

Workshops

I design and deliver half-day to two-day onsite sessions centered around advancing your online community. Every workshop I do is customized to the audience, whether a tight-knit team, a large group of executives, a collection of community members and employees, or a combination of the above.

Presentation Coaching and Development

I help people shape their content, organize their message, and work on their delivery to build practice and confidence. This helps them become better speakers who can communicate effectively about their products, services, and value propositions to make the biggest possible impact on their audience.

Results that speak for themselves

Jake understands not only how a community should work – he knows how to make it work, for real. He knows what it takes to make a community successful. There are not many individuals out there who understand community from a practical as well as a theoretical standpoint – but Jake is one of those rare individuals, and I recommend his work highly.

My team had the pleasure of working with Jake to help develop and execute our Online Community Strategy. He started by helping us develop the mission statement of our Community, and execute a SWOT and competitive analysis, We then created a 12-month plan to help us hit our goals. Jake also worked with our community team to create our first playbook to help communicate the strategy and processes for Calix employees to engage with our Community and Customer Advocates.

"Ridiculously efficient" is the phrase that comes to mind when I reflect on my experience with Jake as a Community Consultant. He is the consummate business professional that is diligent about listening, conducting a thorough discovery phase and making insight-driven recommendations. Jake digests large amounts of information, makes quick decisions, and disseminates clear communications to the project sponsor and Executive team members.

Jake is a rare find if you're looking for expertise in the area of Online Communities. He has a diverse background ranging from consulting to brand work (at some of the largest brands in the world) and has proven success in building strategies that resonate with senior leaders. I would highly recommend Jake if you are looking for expert talent to help you take your online community to the next level.