Building a Facebook Group doesn’t always mean it will turn into a business. For most Facebook Group Admins, monetizing their community isn’t a sure thing. Not a lot of admins can say they know how to successfully monetize a Facebook Group.
There are exceptions to the norm though.
Meet Sonia.Sonia Agarwal Konjeti is the founder of PULA Pune Ladies. She built a community for women where she empowers thousands to build and grow their own business. Sonia envisioned the group to become the ‘second home’ for most of these women in Pune—and today, it’s safe to say that she has achieved that goal.
When she started in July 2015, to now—so many things have changed. Sonia shared all the details and golden nuggets in this episode.
Sonia is also a TEDx speaker (you can watch her TEDx talk here), so this Community Leader Spotlight was really something I personally looked forward to.
Now, I’m sharing with you some highlights from her talk. While I do recommend that you watch the full interview here; you can get some insights from these highlights if you’re pressed for time.
When PULA Pune Ladies Launched…
Sonia launched the community with 300 members on day one. She started with her friends and they had a good first week. Everyone was excited, everyone was friends—so there was an immediate connection between the members. Different needs were being fulfilled right off the bat.
5,000 Members In The First Month
With daily engagement, posts, and unique tips and support, the group grew fast. Their first offline event, they had 70 people show up. This is an amazing blend of growing an online community through offline community efforts.
High Standards For Approving New Members
When 1,000 people signup to join the group, only 180-200 get approved. Sonia has a strict approval process which ensures that only people who are serious can join the group. Sonia and her team scan the Facebook profile of these members to make sure they are quality members.
‘PULA is Everything To Me’
For Sonia, PULA is like her second child. Her passion in describing this piece is better off left in the video, but one thing I personally took from this is that the reason why PULA grew and became successful is that Sonia treats the community like it was her own child. There is no parent who wants nothing but the best for their child, right? No wonder PULA is where it is today.
Thoughts On Copy-Cat Facebook Groups
In the early days, Sonia was sad whenever there were copy-cats coming out. Eventually, she realized that it’s all normal, and she now even takes this as inspiration. She wants to support more women, and the fact that others are getting her ideas, she considers this as a way to ‘support’ them too. I was personally very impressed with Sonia’s answer here! Her abundance mindset is truly amazing and one of the main reason why PULA has grown so much. For her full thoughts on copy-cat groups and ‘stealing ideas’, listen to the full interview.
Facebook Group Monetization
Today, Sonia’s group is bringing in revenue through her Facebook Group. Although the full details are explained in the interview in terms of revenue, and investing money back into the community and the app, Sonia is one of the successful admins who have been able to turn their Facebook Group into an actual business.
Learn More In The Interview
There were more topics that was covered during the interview. From how Sonia created a system to verify sellers, to how she was able to monetize her Facebook Group.
The interview was almost an hour long, so you’re sure to get valuable golden nuggets.
If you enjoyed the video, do share it to another Facebook Admin in your network. The reason why we do these Facebook Live interviews with prominent community entrepreneurs is because we want to inspire as many community leaders as possible—showing that it is indeed possible to make money and earn with a Facebook Group.
Your passion as a Facebook Group Admin doesn’t need to be unrewarded. There are many ways of monetizing your Facebook Group, and our goal is to show you more and more of these stories and an inside look on how these Facebook Group Admins did it.
Watch the full interview with Sonia here.
Catch the first episode with Toni Trevillion here.
See you on the next episode! We have another exciting guest in store for you soon.
For now, you can visit our website to learn how you can get started on your journey to becoming a community entrepreneur by taking advantage of the tools and resources we provide to Facebook Group Admins for free.
Leads digital marketing and content at Convosight. I’m passionate about all things marketing and growth, e-learning, and community building. If you’re awesome and made it all the way here, could you do me a favor and share/tweet this post too? Forever grateful!