S4E5 | Jessica Ays and Robert Bencivenga

“I felt like I had my Facebook page and an Instagram account. And I just…felt like I was shouting into the void.” -Jessica Ays, on why she created her Facebook group.

I was so excited to have Jessica Ays and Robert Bencivenga on this episode! Both have been in my Engaged and Profitable Groups Program for the past few months. 

Jessica is a knitting and crochet designer with a group she uses to connect with her customers. She wanted to differentiate her community from the thousands of other knitting and crocheting groups. Someone suggested my group, she took my free Facebook 101 Course, participated in one of my challenges, and joined my membership. Jessica was able to DOUBLE the amount of members in her group in just a year! 

Robert teaches about ancient Eastern spiritual practices, transformational psychology, the mind-body connection, and brain science. He joined the Engaged Groups Program after tuning into this podcast, and after spending money on Facebook Ads that weren’t getting him the results that he was hoping for. Robert’s Facebook page had about 8,000 followers, but he wanted a community where people could really be engaged and have deeper conversations. 

He decided to create a Facebook group, joined one of my challenges, and increased the engagement in his group by 135%! In our Engaged Groups Program Robert was able to get his questions answered, and was able to learn more about methods to engage his audience. He said: “I actually have a roadmap and the tools to now really take it to the next step.” 

I asked them both what they loved the most about their communities, and what led them to create their groups. 

Jessica said that before her Facebook group she felt like she was shouting into the void, and that she could only get back to a few people so many times in one day. With a community, she was able to get to know her members well and know what they were looking for. She had market research at her fingertips when she wanted to try something new, she just had to go into her group and ask them what they wanted to see next to get instant feedback. 

With her community, Jessica was able to explore new offerings. Instead of just selling PDFs of knitting patterns, she was able to hold a mini-workshop and earn revenue that way as well. She started to go live in her group—even as an introvert!—and was able to build that know, like, and trust factor with her audience. 

For Robert, his community gave him a forum to help others. He has a passion for teaching others practical living concepts, and it’s a joy for him to get to share his insights with his community. Being in the Engaged Groups Program gave Robert the courage he needed to go live in his group, and this was a strategy he was able to use over and over again to connect. 

I also wanted to know what Jessica and Robert accomplished in their group since they got started. 

Jessica was able to run her first paid workshop, and she’s planning on holding a second paid mini-workshop soon! She also had an awesome event supporting local yarn shops. Hundreds of knitters brought in thousands of dollars for small, independently owned yarn shops all around the world that were struggling. How cool is that?? She also had a founding member launch, and has been able to grow her new paid membership by 50%! 

Robert has grown his engagement, and has made connections with those looking to reach their goals. Some have even asked him when he’s planning on creating a course! He’s planning on doing that soon, and feels like he’s on the right track. He’s been able to facilitate some deeper conversations in his group than he has on his page. 

You can find Jessica’s group at doublethestitches.com/thegroup and can find Robert at anawakenedmind.com. 

I loved having Jessica and Robert on this episode, and I hope you found their stories inspirational! If you want to see results like Jessica and Robert did, consider joining my membership, or the next Engaged and Profitable Groups Program. 

Talk to you soon!