In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the author of Unio: The Art of Intentional Community Building, Bess Auer. Bess and Josh explore the power of community and how powerful it can be. Bess has a lot of experience developing and engaging with communities, and Josh and Bess connected in the Central Florida area for that exact reason. 2022 is the year of human connection, Josh says. Now more than ever, community is an extremely important element that business leaders need to focus more on now than ever before. Bess shares that when you find your community, you’ll find your client base. The people who engage with you online are your audience. Organic reach isn’t dead, which is the common misconception. If you actually find out what your community wants and needs from you and you act on that information, you don’t have an issue with organic reach. When you know who your audience is and what their needs are, it’s incredibly easy to stay relevant to them.Listen with empathy and critical thinking, Bess shares. Meet your community members and interview them. Talk to your target demographic and actually determine what they want in a product or service. Don’t assume you know what your community wants – make your community love and trust you by actually asking them. Bess says that sometimes in the hustle and bustle of running a business, it’s easy to forget that your community is your business. If you aren’t fostering and caring for your community, you’re not caring for your client base. You need both the support of your community but also the data they provide. Yes, have those one on one interviews, but also engage with your community online to give everyone an opportunity to connect and exchange more ideas. Facilitating engagement between your community members only strengthens it. In order to bolster and support your community, you need to make your website and online community hubs are “grandma proof”, Bess shares. This means you need to make sure things are as easy and streamlined as possible. You need to simplify your website and make it accessible, regardless of your audience’s age, native language, or location on the globe. Bess has extensive experience when it comes to community building and engagement. According to Unio’s website, Bess has trained over 2,000 community leaders, marketers, and influencers, hosted a nationally syndicated TV show on growing your tribe, and is a seasoned speaker who focuses on turning your audience into a meaningful community.Want to learn more? Check out Unio’s website at https://buildwithunio.com/. Order Unio: The Art of Intentional Community Building at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GCF6YYM. Check out Unio on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/buildwithunio/. Check out Bess Auer on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bessauer/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.