The secret sauce that turned my free content into a cash machine

By creating free content for my community, i discovered a key that might SURPRISE you: more engagement is not always better (based on what i've saw!!!!)

this is a HUUGE realization for a lot of community builders and business owners

Instead of feeling pressure to do more, more, more what if you focused on being more intentional with what you already have? that’s where the real magic happens.

MY NUMBER I is :the myth of more is better

i recently had new coaches, personal brands & community owners clients in my system and for them, the more is better approach makes sense because they're working in environments where volume and scale drive decisions.

But for small business owners, creators, and passionate community builders? that approach doesn’t work.

I wasn't here to chase vanity metrics.

I was here to build a sustainable, thriving community that truly matters....

SO let’s talk about what actually moves the needle.

MY NUMBER II is: the key to a sustainable community

I learnt that success isn't about sheer numbers. It's about guiding my members along a meaningful journey what i call the community commitment curve.

This means moving people from discovering your community to joining, engaging, and eventually becoming leaders. Not everyone will take on leadership roles, and that’s okay!!!!

But you do need a small, committed group to step up if you want long-term sustainability.

NOW what should you measure? My 3 essential metrics :

1. participation: quality over quantity but...

forget the idea that 100% of your members should be actively engaging all the time!!! It won’t happen and it doesn’t need to,

Instead, aim for the 80/20 (Pareto) rule: About 20% of your members should be actively participating: These are your engaged contributors

Within that 20%, a smaller core (about 4% of your total members) will be the true heart of your community!!

Nurture these relationships. They are the ones who will keep the energy alive!!!! (THAT'S WHAT WE WANT!!!)

2. retention: keeping the right people

Retention looks different depending on whether you have a paid or free community.

- for paid communities: you want at least 80% retention month over month, anything lower signals a problem people are coming in but not sticking around

- for free communities: retention is less about people leaving (because they usually don’t) and more about tracking who stays active . If engagement is dropping, it’s time for a re-engagement strategy

if you're not already tracking retention, now’s the time to start!!!!

Personally, i manually track our retention metrics every month, and yes, it’s tedious.... but it’s also incredibly valuable (i’m working with an expert to automate this, and i’ll share insights as i go!)

3. sustainability: balancing your effort

This is a big one: are your members contributing as much as YOU are?

A sustainable community isn’t one where you, as the leader, are doing all the work

If you’re the one constantly creating content, starting conversations, and driving engagement, that's not scalable........

MY FINAL THOUGHTS: focus on what matters

instead of stressing about more engagement, shift your focus to:

- guiding members through the commitment curve

- nurturing your top 20% of active contributors

- ensuring long-term retention (especially if you're running a paid community)

- building a sustainable structure where members contribute not just you

this mindset shift is freeing. it takes the pressure off and helps you build a thriving, engaged, and truly impactful community <3

hope this post helped you!!!! (Thank you for your comments + positive feedbacks!!! I'm so happy that this kind of posts help the community!!!)