Growing up in a household that was always buzzing with some hustle, Sasha’s corner of calm was her grandmother’s knitting corner. The gentle clack of the needles, the feel of the yarn sliding through her fingers, the intricate patterns unfolding—it was therapeutic.
However, as years rolled by, her beloved grandmother passed away, leaving Sasha behind with yarns, patterns, and memories. In her busy adult life, knitting became her solace—a thread that connected her to cherished childhood memories.
But there was a void. She missed the heartwarming conversations she had with her grandmother—the discussion over which pattern to choose next, the excitement over a newly discovered type of yarn, or the pride in showing off a finished piece. She tried to share her projects with friends and family, but the responses were polite at best. They could not resonate with her passion.
Hoping to find like-minded souls, Sasha discovered an online knitting community. The members shared her passion and enthusiasm and, most importantly, helped her genuinely grow.
Sasha had found her tribe! And she happily paid $3 a month to access everything the community offered.
What was the magic behind this community? How did it become such an engaging and welcoming place?
This wasn’t just a lucky break. Behind every thriving community, there’s a structure and strategy.It was the result of careful curation, strategic planning, and the use of community-building platforms that allowed for seamless interaction.
Curious to know how successful community groups ace it? In this article, we’ll unpack seven exceptional online communities, all running seamlessly on Nas.io, to show you how it’s done. But first, let us explore why online communities represent such a valuable opportunity today.
The Power and Potential of Online Communities
Online communities are proving to be a powerhouse for creators. Consider these statistics:
- Over 4.8 billion social media users worldwide as of 2023, up over 490 million from 2021. The audience is massive.
- 71% of online adults use Facebook Groups, jam-packed with over 1.8 billion monthly active members.
- 54 monthly active Slack users are engaging in Slack channels.
- 2.7 billion users are on WhatsApp, projected to reach 3.14 billion in 2025.
Clearly, billions flock to online spaces to connect, discuss, learn, and bond over shared interests. For creators, the opportunity to build engaged user bases around niches is bigger than ever.
However, fostering that sought-after community culture requires strategy and finesse. And successful online communities have mastered exactly how to run a stellar online community that delivers and engages. As you will also see from the examples, most of these communities use community-building platforms like Nas.io that help them develop, moderate and engage their communities from one place.
Nas.io is a platform designed with modern community builders in mind. Before we explore the best online community group examples, let’s see how Nas.io helps them become successful:
Earning Dashboard: Ever wondered when your money’s coming in and when it’s not? With Nas.io’s earning dashboard, you get a clear picture. Whether it’s existing subscriptions, new ones, or that mid-month revenue dip signaling it’s time for a strategy tweak, everything’s at your fingertips. Plus, you can see your net income after all fees and even handle refund requests. No more guesswork, just clear financial insights.
Transparent Payouts: With Nas.io, what you see is what you get. Enjoy detailed, transparent payouts, ensuring you’re always in the know about your earnings.
Direct Communication: Nas.io understands the importance of staying connected with your community. Whether it’s sending unlimited emails, creating a feed post (bye-bye, unpredictable algorithms of Instagram and Facebook!), or reaching out directly via WhatsApp DM, communication is a breeze. And the best part? No more missing out on important updates due to pesky algorithms.
Content Creation, Simplified: Forget the complexities of other platforms. With Nas.io, content creation is intuitive. Whether you’re sharing a simple PDF, a slideshow, or building a course, Nas.io supports you. And hey, who said education needs to be a 3-hour course? Drip-feed content, and let learning be a continuous journey.
All-in-One Community Overview: Nas.io isn’t just a platform; it’s your community’s digital home. From events to courses to discussions, everything about your community is collated in one place. A member can get a holistic overview of your community with just a click. It’s well-structured, optimized, and designed for a seamless user experience.
Lead Collection & Magic Reach: Collecting leads? View forms and submissions directly in the app. And here’s some magic: With the ‘Magic Reach’ feature, if someone clicked on sign-up but didn’t complete it, you can reach out to them with just one click. It’s like the ultimate tool for abandoned cart conversion!
Audience Filtering: Know your audience better. Filter them based on whether they’re in a WhatsApp group, their age, gender, country, and more.
Now, let’s explore community group examples and their tactics to inspire your own thriving community, passion project, mastermind group or more.
Successful Examples of Online Community Groups
1. Indvstry Club
Indvstry Club provides exclusive insider access to the hottest events across industries in London.
Hosted entirely on WhatsApp, it seamlessly charges a $7 monthly membership that funds real-world member events.
Nas.io handles collecting subscription fees, hosting event details, sending announcements, and more – enabling Indvstry Club to focus on curating an unparalleled experience.
Members pay and manage their membership on Nas.io, and then participate in the club over WhatsApp. It’s the best of both worlds!
This integration shows how WhatsApp communities can leverage Nas.io for monetization and management infrastructure.
By charging memberships, Indvstry Club gains reliable financing to keep hosting amazing events – without any extra work managing payments and tools themselves.
For any creator running WhatsApp groups, Nas.io makes it simple to add structure and revenue. You continue engaging members day-to-day on WhatsApp, while Nas.io runs everything else in the background.
Indvstry Club reveals how combining Nas.io’s capabilities with the raw reach of WhatsApp groups can enable creators to sustain thriving communities.
2. Indian Women Dubai
Indian Women in Dubai is the UAE’s largest women-only community founded by Reema Mahajan.
Starting as a Facebook group to meet women for coffee, it now has 50,000+ members providing support, connections, and empowerment.
Reema grew the group by starting with her closed network then spreading the word online and offline. She leverages platforms like Nas.io for more efficient community management.
Nas.io helps Reema organize events and gatherings by handling ticketing, payments, RSVPs, and messaging members. This saves tremendous time and energy while adding monetization opportunities.
For example, an International Yoga Day event with 500+ attendees was promoted and ticketing powered by Nas.io.
Reema also uses Nas.io’s tools to segment her community for targeted communications. The platform brings structure and sustainability to scaling her community.
The Indian Women in Dubai example reveals how community builders can expand reach from core social channels while leveraging Nas.io for streamlined management and revenue.
Reema shows how strategic third-party platforms enable creators to focus on providing high-value experiences rather than logistics.
3. Geekout Pro
GeekOut Pro is a community of social media professionals and “geeks” founded by industry expert Matt Navarra.
Hosted on WhatsApp, the community allows members to engage in conversational discussions about the latest social media news, trends, and strategies.
Matt chose WhatsApp for its familiarity and native messaging experience. Being part of the casual chat makes members feel he’s an active participant rather than an aloof leader.
To manage the community, Matt leverages Nas.io for key capabilities like membership payments, announcements, and moderation.
This enables him to own the audience relationship while offloading management overhead.
For any creator debating tools, Matt highlights Nas.io’s value for bringing everything together in one place. The integration with WhatsApp provides the ideal balance.
His advice for community builders is to engage passionately with early adopters, deliver maximum value, and they’ll spread the word.
GeekOut Pro reveals how WhatsApp communities can monetize and scale their niche audiences using strategic platforms like Nas.io for infrastructure needs.
4. KN Affiliates
KN Affiliates is a thriving community created by online business coach and speaker Kenny Nwokoye to train high-performing affiliate marketers across Africa.
Kenny facilitates incredible value through weekly Zoom masterclass trainings on affiliate sales strategies along with an engaged WhatsApp community forum.
This dual approach has helped over 90 affiliates scale their earnings to 7-figures in local currency over the past two years – an amazing impact!
Kenny chose WhatsApp as the core community platform because user engagement on WhatsApp dominates the African market even more so than email in the West. This ensures meeting his audience where they already connect daily.
To grow and manage the community smoothly, Kenny leverages Nas.io for its robust capabilities like email marketing, analytics, and community management tools.
For example, he highlights how the Nas.io Magic Reach feature revolutionized his ability to reach members via email and other channels with just a click.
Kenny also leverages detailed Nas.io analytics on member activity so he can see who is engaged at any time and tailor his approach.
For fellow community builders seeking growth, Kenny offers three key tips:
- Focus on collaboration over competition – “Collaboration is the new competition.” Unite rather than compete.
- Embrace giving as a lifestyle – Be ready to provide value without expecting anything in return.
- Create unique experiences – Experiences drive referrals and organic growth more than ads ever could.
This allows Kenny to focus on training world-class affiliate marketers rather than community logistics. He leverages technology to maximize his expertise and time.
5. Nikist Hackers Club
Nikist Hacker Club is a thriving 115,000+ member community for ethical hackers focused on cybersecurity knowledge and skills.
It was founded by Amit Malasi, who provides daily updates and courses through the exclusive WhatsApp group.
Amit originally built a large following of over 1 million followers on Instagram. But one night, his entire Instagram account was suddenly deleted.
This loss of followers and community that took years to build could have destroyed Amit’s brand. However, he realized the risks of relying solely on social platforms.
Instead of giving up, Amit found a way to take back control by building his own community. He created valuable content, explored monetization opportunities, and showed how to take charge of an online presence.
Amit’s journey reveals an important lesson – followers on social media are not the same as an owned community. Algorithms can wipe out reach overnight.
But by cultivating a community on platforms he controlled, Amit ensured consistent access to followers no matter what. He took back power from algorithms.
His inspiring comeback demonstrates why creators need to build communities uniquely theirs, not dependent on any single platform.
For fellow creators and builders, Amit proves the importance of constructing your own space to engage and monetize audiences directly.
The Nikist Hacker Club community exemplifies taking control back from social platforms to serve your niche audience directly.
Amit overcame the loss of his Instagram empire by focusing on high-value experiences that attracted members regardless of reach algorithms.
His example inspires all of us to build resilient communities centered around delivering real value rather than chasing platform vanity metrics.
6. Money Secrets
Money Secrets is an exclusive WhatsApp community founded by Mamoon Khokar focused on Indian stock market research and investment ideas.
With over 200 members, Money Secrets provides invaluable resources like a weekly stocks newsletter, fundamental analysis research reports, potential multibagger stock tips, and updates on trending stocks.
The goal is to equip members with in-depth insights to maximize returns on investments in the Indian market.
Mamoon leverages Nas.io to easily manage the paid subscription community, including collecting membership fees, sending announcements, and moderating conversations.
This enables him to deliver premium research and market insights conveniently via WhatsApp while offloading the logistics of running a paid community to Nas.io.
For members, Nas.io provides a single destination to tap into Mamoon’s expertise and connect with other investors interested in profiting from the stock market.
The Money Secrets community demonstrates how creators can monetize niche expertise through a paid WhatsApp community while leveraging Nas.io for a streamlined experience.
7. Web3 Doers
The Web3Doers community brings together builders in the web3 space to collaborate, showcase projects, and grow their personal brands.
Led by founder Chris Koronovsky, Web3Doers hosts live Power Sessions with guest speakers and Mastermind Sessions where members solve problems.
Chris’ top tip for growing communities is the 99-1 rule – Focus on the 1% of members creating value and the 9% engaging, as they will give back and help the community thrive.
He launched on Nas.io because it provides an all-in-one hub for every community need, from events and messaging to courses and content creation.
Chris’ favorite feature is Magic Reach for easily connecting with members across email, Discord, and in-app notifications.
For web3 communities specifically, he recommends integrating Discord for chatting with Nas.io’s broader capabilities, like events, content, and data, to build a robust community hub.
With strategic community-building approaches combined with Nas.io’s purpose-built features, Web3Doers showcases how to create a thriving, high-value web3 community.
Conclusion: Lessons from Leading Communities
Creating a successful online community isn’t about luck; it’s a blend of strategy, passion, and the right tools. After diving deep into these seven community group examples, here are the key takeaways for anyone looking to build or grow their own:
- Meet Members Where They Are: Choose platforms your target audience already uses. Whether it’s WhatsApp, Discord, or any other, it’s about ease and familiarity.
- Deliver Value: From stock tips to knitting patterns, provide content that your members find useful and engaging.
- Engage Actively: Passive communities fade. Active involvement from leaders keeps the group alive and encourages member participation.
- Monetize Strategically: Whether it’s through subscriptions, courses, or events, think about sustainable ways to generate revenue without compromising member value.
- Use Reliable Tools: Nas.io, as showcased by our examples, provides a suite of tools that simplify community management, from membership fees to announcements.
- Resilience is Key: Platforms can change, and challenges can arise (like Amit’s Instagram setback). Having a resilient mindset and flexibility in approach ensures long-term success.
- Know Your Community: Tailor your content, engagement strategies, and monetization methods to the specific needs and preferences of your community members.
Ready to turn your niche interest into a vibrant community? Join Nas.io to unlock our robust set of community-building tools, and let’s chat!
