19. How Jac White Grew a Beta Test Into a Sustainable Online Community

Brianna Leever
Jun 24
3 min read

Updated: Jun 25

In this episode, we’re hearing from Community Creator at the Crossroads. Our letter today deals with someone who's proven the concept for their community but is overwhelmed with what comes next and how to build something truly sustainable and scalable.

To better help Community Creator at the Crossroads, I invited Jac White as my guest because she's in the same crossroads. She helps women sell with confidence and build a scalable sales system. She is the founder of Honeybees Group, which she recently launched as a membership community with a beta group that was a big success.

This episode is different as it is like a live coaching call. We focus on how to architect the programs in your community in a way that serves you and your business. We take a hard look at the different types of formats and structures that might require a lot of you and might not always bring the reward that you're looking for.

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

In this episode:

(02:40) How this episode's unique format came about

(04:20) The communitea: Community Creator at the Crossroads’s letter

(06:11) Jac's very own community-building conundrum

(07:58) The pros and cons of leveraging cohorts and memberships

(10:58) The different education-connection community models

(16:22) The strengths and challenges of a transformative community

(19:41) Lessons from Bri's journey to a membership with cohorts baked into it

(24:27) The solution to a common pain point around cohorts

(28:40) How to scale without losing the small community magic

(34:11) Figure out how to make your community valuable and sustainable long-term

(41:49) Just get started

Resources Mentioned:

🐝 Apply for the Honeybees Sales Circle.

📗 Learn more about The Mom Test.

❤️ 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

“ I was expecting everyone to come for the curriculum and come for me, but what ended up happening that I didn't expect was how much value everybody has been getting out of the community." - Jac White

“ There are challenges that come with an ongoing recurring revenue and membership. There are also distinct challenges that come with the cohort-based model, and so now you've signed up for the strengths for both of them, but you've also signed up for the challenges." - Bri Leever

Jac White

Jac helps women sell with confidence and build scalable sales systems. She has over 20 years of experience in sales and leadership roles and is the host of the Girls Make Bank podcast. She is also the founder of Honeybees Group and her very own membership community, the Honeybees Sales Circle.

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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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