15. When to Keep Going or Let Go of Your Online Community with Salome Schillack

Brianna Leever
May 27
3 min read

In this episode, we’re hearing from Wavering But Hopeful. Our letter today deals with the very tough reality of deciding whether to continue putting in the effort to keep your community going or to close the doors when it feels like there’re more times when it isn’t working.

To better help Wavering But Hopeful, I invited Salome Schillack as my guest expert. She has been through over a decade of owning her craft and her expertise, and five years of running her own community membership, which she tastefully sunset after realizing it was no longer in alignment. Having been in Wavering’s shoes, her insights deeply resonate.

So, even if you’re not thinking of whether or not it’s time to shut down your community, make sure to tune in to this episode because you’ll discover what to anticipate, what to think about, and the questions you need to ask now in order to build a community for longevity and to decide if stopping or pivoting is the way to go.

Click to learn more about Heartbeat, Bri's favorite all-in-one community platform!

In this episode:

(03:03) The tale of how Bri and Salome first met

(05:49) The communitea: Wavering But Hopeful’s letter

(07:03) Salome’s own experience of building a membership and making the decision to close it

(15:14) What ultimately wasn’t working in Salome’s membership

(21:53) How Salome’s community journey translates into Bri’s matrix of communities

(24:40) Approaching the decision to close the doors or pivot as a marketer

(29:02) How to turn your community around if shutting it down is not the way to go

(31:04) What to ask yourself and keep in mind for a community that lasts and lights you up

(37:38) If you’re also wavering, know you’re not alone

Watch on YouTube:

Resources Mentioned:

🧑‍🏫 Check out the 4 Types of Communities Masterclass.

🎙️ Tune into Salome’s podcast, The Launch Lounge Podcast.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Noteworthy quotes

“If you had to build your business today, so that five years from now you're still leaping out of bed excited and it fills you with joy and with energy. What are you doing today?” - Salome Schillack

“It's giving you the freedom and liberation to find what serves you in your business, because if it's not, that will become incredibly clear and apparent to your members. They'll sniff that out and they won't stay for long.” - Bri Leever

Ready to hear the stories we almost kept to ourselves? Here's this week's EXTENDED CONVERSATION with Salome!

(00:09) What’s a moment in your community journey that made you stop and think, “Wait. Am I the problem?”

(00:39) What’s one belief about community-building you used to hold that you no longer believe is true?

(01:28) Tell us about a time when a member surprised you—in a good or bad way. What did it teach you?

(06:29) Now that your community is sunsetting, what will you focus your energy on instead?

(08:06) What’s one boundary you had to set in your community that felt hard—but ultimately created more trust?

Click on the banner to get to the conversation that didn't go public.

Salome Schillack

Salome is an advertising and online marketing expert, host of The Launch Lounge Podcast, and passionate about helping coaches and course creators turn their knowledge and expertise into predictably profitable, wealth-generating Freedom Empires.

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Bri Leever

Bri got her start building a community and growing it to a multi-million dollar revenue stream for a social enterprise in Portland, OR. Now, she supports folks used to running their business on content, coaching, and consulting to create their community offer. She's a Community Strategist by day and a Campervan host by night on the Big Island of Hawaii and you'll usually find her on, in, or under the water.

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