A large population of urban women in our country quit their jobs when they’re getting married or starting their own family.
It’s just a matter of time their desire to make a difference in their own lives or in society takes a back seat.
That’s exactly what happened with Sarika, except that she used the power of Facebook to turn her life around.
Today, she owns 5 vernacular Facebook groups, 3 Facebook Pages, a website, and a YouTube channel that have helped unite and empower over 850,000 Marathi women all over the world in the last 3 years.
“I have always been optimistic about doing something of my own and helping other women in any way possible,” tells Sarika.
Her first vernacular Facebook group, Lek Mahercha Katta, (created in September 2017) brings together 295,000+ Marathi women and encourages them to raise their inner voice and express themselves.
Not just that, it has helped 3000+ women to earn from home and become digital entrepreneurs.
LMK is focused on developing the skills and knowledge of women by means of different cultural activities, skill competitions, domestic trips and get-togethers, free health consultation, free business/personality development seminars, and more.
Believe me when I say this: All LMK operations are run and managed via mobile phone only.
Sarika’s tremendous work has been accoladed with:
- Me Padvidhar Awards by Shri Sarang Patil
- Social Media Influencer Award
- Padvidhar Hero Award
- Today Navshakti Strong & Inspiring Women Award by Happy club Mumbai
- Anathacha Krupa Chatra
- Adarsha Samajsevak 2020
- Hirkani Gaurav Purskar on Women’s day
Besides, her efforts have been highlighted in various regional newspapers including Navbharat Times and Thane Progress Magazine.
Sharing the best ever moments while building her Facebook communities, she says,
“I feel glad to get this recognition and most of all, help women. Once we organised an offline dance competition where a lot of women participated.
A woman who recovered from paralysis who’s a former dancer was a part of LMK. Members encouraged her to take part and she did. She danced on the stage after 8 years, shutting down all apprehensions and weaknesses. She cried tears of joy and thanked me.
It is these moments that make it all worth it.”
Sarika has also collaborated with brands like Dettol, Nestle, Emami, Emasol, Pediasure, and others for purpose-led marketing campaigns and earned through the collaboration.
As you scroll down, you’ll know all about:
- How Sarika is helping small businesses sustain in these difficult times
- How Sarika and her team keep their group members engaged and growing
- How they tackle spam in the community
- How they work together as a team and their responsibilities
But first, I’ll tell you all about how LMK was born and its core values.
LMK: Accidental Facebook page turned purposeful Facebook group
Graduated in Sociology from Mumbai University, Sarika has worked with Tata Motors as CRM (Customer Relationship Manager).
It was after she was blessed with her first child, Sarika felt the need to confide in someone. About baby-related issues, post pregnancy concerns, and her feelings that she could neither share with her husband nor with her family.
Since she had been part of a beauty and health Facebook group, she searched for groups relevant to her problem but had no luck.
“I wondered how many other women might be facing the same issues. And that’s when I thought to create my own Facebook group,” tells Sarika.
Not much hands-on with the platform, Sarika created a Facebook page, named LMK (Lek Mahrecha Katta) which when translated to English means:
- Lek: Daughter
- Mahercha: Maika or the house of parents for a daughter
- Katta: Platform
It gained over 60K followers in just 2 months. Thanks to the name!
People reached out over messenger seeking help for their problems and Sarika posted their concerns as anonymous on the page.
Seeing this, one of the followers then reached out to Sarika, suggested creating a Facebook group and guided her on it.
In September 2017, LMK Facebook group was born. She encouraged her page followers to join her private group and her group flooded with over 1 lac members in just 6 months.
Since then there has been no looking back!
Soon, members started talking about other things too. In order to keep the group focused, Sarika segmented them and went on to create different Facebook groups.
- Majhi Bharari – A gender neutral group where men can also participate in discussions
- LMK Buy and Sell – A buy and sell Facebook group to help small business owners
- LMK Khau Galli – A women-only Facebook group where they can share their cooking recipes
- Learn and Speak English – A public Facebook group for Marathi people who’d like to learn the language
Apart from that, she also manages two other Facebook pages Majhi Bharari and LMK Products with over 87K and 70K followers respectively.
LMK’s core values are based on these 5 E’s
Lek Maharecha Katta, meaning a platform like a daughter’s parents’ house has compassion and kindness as its core values.
It was formed on these 5 E’s:
- Encouragement
- Expression
- Empowerment
- Earning opportunities
- Entertainment
LMK is a judgement-free space where Marathi speaking women (18 years+ to 80 years) from all over the world listen to their inner voice and share their feelings with others.
The platform sure feels like a home to these women as they can share anything and everything. And the support they get from their co-members is nothing less than that from a sister or a mother.
Look at how when a woman shared that her sister is fit and has come back home, all others showered their support.
Another woman asked for suggestions for her daughter’s name and so many members shared some beautiful names.
It is these conversations that make up for an awesome engagement rate (928%) and activity rate (344) of LMK.
Engagement Rate refers to the number of actions done by a member per month in your Facebook group. An engagement rate of 928% means a member does 9.28 actions in a month in your group.
Activity Rate is the average number of comments and reactions a post gets in a month. An activity rate of 344 means that on an average, a post gets 344 reactions and comments in a month in your Facebook group.
If you’d like to understand more about engagement rate, activity rate, and why they increase. decrease, refer to this BLOG.
Before I go on to tell about those engagement generators, I’d like to share how Sarika helps small business owners through LMK.
How does Sarika help small business owners to earn from her Facebook group?
Members who express their interest in selling their products/services are added to a WhatsApp group where they are told all about the registration process.
Sellers have to fill up a form, submit their ID proofs (Aadhar Card and PAN card), and the registration fee.
The registration fee is fixed at INR 184 for 1 month. During this time, sellers can:
- Go live in the Facebook group thrice a week
- Post daily in the group about their products and services
Once they submit the required things, the sellers are given an ID card and an e-visiting card.
“Doing this ensures that we have all details of each and every seller. In case anyone tries to indulge in any fraudulent practices, we can reach them easily. However, till date there has not been a single case of fraud in my Facebook group and I’m really proud of it,” tells Sarika.
She also added that, “Members have been able to earn handsomely by posting on LMK. In fact, a few of them invested a few lacks in their products as they are confident of its sales in LMK.”
How does Sarika collaborate with brands and provide value to the members?
Through Convosight, Sarika has been able to partner with top brands like Dettol, Nestle, Pediasure for purpose-led marketing campaigns.
In a campaign for Nestle Nangrow on the heels of Children’s Day, Sarika shared how watching your kid grow is a special journey and an instance where she realised her daughter is actually growing.
She encouraged all mothers to share their kids’ growth moments too. And the response was fabulous! (534 reactions and 117 comments)
With this:
- The members felt happy while sharing their kids’ growth moments as we all know how special it is
- Since they used the hashtag #allgrowthallposibilities, the brand got massive exposure
- Sarika’s group got some amazing engagement and she was able to earn through the collaboration
3 Things that guarantee massive engagement in LMK
1. Live sessions
As mentioned above, the sellers go live in the group to showcase their products and services. When they do, the engagement on those posts is pretty high.
Like the one below. (840 reactions and 1.6K comments)
2. Member concerns or queries
When a woman posted in the group about her son’s surgery due to a heart problem and requested fellow members to pray for him, everyone joined in and shared their prayers.
Have a look at the response. (1K reactions and 801 comments)
3. Competitions
For the rangoli competition, members shared their rangoli designs in the group. Not only were they able to showcase their talent but they also got an outstanding response from the fellow members.
Have a look at this one. 15K comments and 1.6K reactions!
One simple way that has helped LMK grow
Word of Mouth.
It has worked like a charm.
Sarika encouraged members to invite their friends and family to the group.
For the same, members had to share LMK’s link on their respective timelines telling about why they like LMK. All those who found it relevant, joined.
Members had to tell the number of people who joined their community through that link.
The member with the highest count had their image as the group’s cover photo for a week or month.
An amazing way to grow and make your existing members feel valued, isn’t it?
Just FYI, all those who are getting some value from your Facebook group and like to be a part of it surely share it with the world.
If you’d like to know more about how to grow a Facebook group, this GUIDE will help you.
The foolproof way Sarika tackles SPAM in her Facebook group
She uses Convosight’s Keyword Alerts where she has marked keywords that are spam for her Facebook group.
She has also marked admin-related keywords in another cue so that whenever any member calls out any group admin, they are instantly notified and can jump in to help.
If you’d like to know more about Keyword Alerts and how you can use it, refer to this BLOG.
Sarika is grateful to her team for their constant support
She has a team of 9 moderators: Poonam Dusane, Varsha Nagare, Kavita Kondbhar, Kousar Shaikh, Rajshri Thorat, Saujanya Giri, Nilam Vispute, Sunanda Survase, Sneha Gaikwad.
Each of them are paid and handle their individual set of responsibilities that include:
- Approving and declining posts
- Enforcing rules
- Preparing LMK ID and visiting card of sellers
- Conveying registration information to the new sellers
- Handling business related queries in the group
“I owe it to my team without whom LMK would not have reached where it is today.
I have had the same moderators right from the time when the group started. All of them work very hard, are kind, and care about the group like I do. Now that we’re earning from the group, I’m glad I’m able to help them too,” smiles Sarika.
If you’d like to know how to find the right moderators for your Facebook group, check out this BLOG.
Sarika’s message for other Facebook group admins out there!
That’s some nice motivation!
We have our Facebook group, Growth and Monetisation for Facebook Group Admins where Sarika and thousands of other Facebook group admins are constantly motivating each other and discussing ways to grow, engage, and monetise their communities. If you wish to gain some valuable insights, feel free to be a part.
Besides, if you would also like to get your story featured on our platform, please fill this FORM and we will get back to you.
Creating value in the lives of others with my content, little by little.✨
Working at Convosight, I do more than just wrangle commas. I’m passionate about innovating new ways to create super valuable and actionable content about Communities and Community Marketing at large, and sharing it with the right audience.
I also happen to manage a global community of power admins on Facebook, and that’s where most of my learnings come from.
Do check out my latest blogs and feel free to share them! 💛