Yep, I closed a 75k member Facebook group.
When people hear that their first reaction is to ask me why. Second to requesting that I PLEASE keep it open, or let someone else take it over.
I still chose to close it down. Yes, I could have kept it open, as it really ran itself. Or I could have sold it to someone to make their own. But neither of those would have been in integrity to what I know about running communities well, and how I wanted to continue to facilitate and grow the BossMom community and brand.
If you’re still scratching your head, like WHY Dana, why? Let’s discuss.
1. The BossMom group was grown very intentionally and strategically.
It did not grow to 75,000 on it’s own. But more than that it didn’t keep it’s reputation of one of the highest engaged Facebook groups around that people actually stayed on Facebook for by accident.
We believe there is a very specific way to grow communities. And it starts with teaching community members how to connect, collaborate and network with each other.
2. BossMom was never just a Facebook group.
BossMom is and always will be a community of moms raising businesses and their families at the same time. Facebook was just our temporary home.
Over time it became clear that to grow BossMom to new levels, we had to break away from ‘good enough’ and the status quo, and take a risk toward something extraordinary.
We’ve heard it time and time again, that “it takes a village”. We know that’s true, and we know that due to the online nature of our world, we needed more than a village, so we’re building a city.
Imagine BossMom+ as a digital city where entrepreneurial mothers can support and hire each other, nurturing six-figure ventures through sincere cooperation. It’s an entrepreneurial ecosystem that encourages growth, not just in business but within ourselves.
With a vision that big, we needed to live somewhere better than Facebook. And it didn’t make sense to keep that space open any more. It wouldn’t be BossMom if we abandoned it, so we invited you all to come with us.
Consider this…
Most online entrepreneurs dream of having a group or following that large. One that grows on it’s own and is essentially self sustaining.
I admit, even to myself at times it sounded crazy. But we wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t believe that we are the best there is at facilitating community and growth among fellow BossMoms.
And we wouldn’t feel right about abandoning a group where real moms like you felt valued, valuable and seen. We know that if we let someone else run it for us while we moved on it would be messy and complicated, and we just didn’t want to do that.
So we made the difficult decision for the sake of something better for us all.
It was hard. I wrestled with the decision for years actually. But once it felt right, it was easy to move forward. It seems like that’s usually how it goes in motherhood, life and entrepreneurship right?
What is one big scary decision you’ve been hesitant to make that you know will move you toward something better?
Here are some thought joggers to get you going….
What are you doing now that you are starting to avoid, or maybe even resent?
What are some things you want to be doing that you can’t?
What can you let go of that will clear space for the things you do want?
When you think about your decision does the end result have a net positive? Meaning if you made the hard decision would you gain and grow a lot more than if you don’t make the decision?
Those are some of the questions I sat with and think they might help you with whatever it is you are contemplating right now.
May 23, 2024
