How to Build a Profitable Online Community (Even in 2025) with Michelle Vroom

I have to be honest — when I saw Michelle’s application to be a guest on the podcast, I was intrigued. I thought, “Facebook groups? I haven’t heard anyone talk about those in a long time.” Can you really build a profitable online community on Facebook in 2025?

And as someone who’s a blogger, and who’s been told “blogging is dead” more times than I can count, I was curious. So I thought, “Okay, tell me more.”

Today’s guest, Michelle Vroom, is living proof that this all still works — even if you’re starting your Facebook group in 2025.

For those who haven’t met her, Michelle is a marketing coach who believes every woman deserves to be in control of signing clients so she can create stability in her business. As a mom of three boys who’s built a multiple six-figure business working just 20 hours a week, Michelle knows that success doesn’t come from chasing shiny tactics. It comes from mastering practical, relationship-driven marketing that actually fits your life.

If you’ve been here for a while, you know that’s exactly what we talk about on this podcast.

One of the things I loved about this conversation is how it brings new energy and perspective to a marketing avenue you probably haven’t thought about in a while. Even if you’re not into Facebook groups, Michelle shares powerful insights about building and nurturing a community — however that looks for you.

Because this episode isn’t really about Facebook. It’s about how relationships build businesses that last.

We also talk about the power of one-to-one connection within a group setting — something I’m so inspired by that I plan to dedicate a whole future episode to it. I genuinely think this is a major differentiator between the businesses thriving in 2025 and those that aren’t.

Michelle shares how she creates that kind of personal connection in her groups, and why smaller, more engaged communities are outperforming the big ones right now.

So if you’ve been wondering whether it’s time to start something new, keep listening… what she shares might just convince you. I’m so excited to dive into this conversation. Let’s get into it.

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Who Is Michelle Vroom?

My name is Michelle Vroom, and I’m a marketing coach who helps women take control of signing clients. I help you attract and book clients from your audience every single month.

I truly believe that no matter the size of your audience, you’re sitting on a gold mine. If you’re not getting clients consistently from your community — whether that’s a Facebook group, your email list, or somewhere else — we need to talk. Because that means you’re not fully in control of your client flow, and you’re leaving money on the table. And I’m not okay with that.

I’m all about showing you how to sign clients organically — without ads, funnels, or overcomplicated strategies. We tend to make business growth so much harder than it needs to be. My mission is to simplify that and help you create steady, predictable results.

And I’ve done it myself: all organically, and primarily through my Facebook community.

I know we are going to talk about Facebook groups for a profitable online community… but do you think we are all too platform-focused?

Yes. When I first started my business almost ten years ago, I began as a service provider, working as a social media manager. I tried a lot of different things back then—some that I wouldn’t do again—but that’s what you do when you’re just starting out. You get scrappy and figure things out as you go.

At that time, Facebook groups weren’t part of my strategy at all. It wasn’t until about two years later, when I transitioned into coaching, that I started my group. I began by helping people build visibility and find clients on social media, and from there, things grew. Once I saw success with my own Facebook group, I started teaching others how to do the same.

Now that I’ve been doing this for years and have refined my system, my approach isn’t limited to Facebook anymore. It’s focused on your audience—wherever that audience happens to be. The strategies I teach can work on any platform, whether that’s your email list, Instagram, or something else.

That said, if you’re only using an email list, you might be missing opportunities for genuine, face-to-face connection. That’s a problem in today’s world, where trust is at an all-time low. It’s not that people aren’t buying; it’s that we, as business owners, need to do a better job of building relationships and earning trust.

This doesn’t have to happen on Facebook. You can absolutely create those connections elsewhere. But I want to challenge everyone listening to think about how you can go deeper—how you can strengthen the relationships you’re already building and create more trust with your audience.

If the platform you’re using right now doesn’t let you connect or build trust the way you want, it might be time to make a change.

What are your thoughts on “not wanting to be on Facebook” anymore?

People still pick up their phones in the morning and go straight to Facebook. I know everyone says, “No one uses Facebook anymore,” but that’s just not true. It’s still massive. That’s where people go.

Think about it—when Facebook goes down or crashes for a few hours, what happens? Everyone flocks to X to post about it. And then, as soon as it’s back up, they go right back to Facebook to talk about how it was down. It’s still such a big part of our everyday lives.

We really need to let go of the idea that Facebook is dead. It’s not accurate, and honestly, I think that belief is a kind of protective mechanism. It keeps people from going where their audience actually is.

What are some of the advantages to Facebook groups when building a profitable online community?

It’s definitely part of the strategy. Facebook groups still have a really strong sense of community.

I know people who’ve tried moving their groups to other platforms like Mighty Networks, Skool, or Circle. I haven’t personally tested those, so I can’t speak to them directly, but I’ve seen many people switch—and then end up coming back to Facebook. It’s just hard to get people to change platforms. As you said, Kara, people are used to Facebook. It’s part of their daily routine, so moving them somewhere else can be a challenge.

I also think Facebook groups have an advantage because they naturally feel like a community. On Instagram, it’s harder for members to connect with each other. With an email list, it’s mostly one-way communication unless people reply, so there’s not much back-and-forth. Facebook makes it easier to foster that kind of two-way connection.

That said, you can absolutely build relationships and community anywhere if you’re committed to it. I’m all about relationships and connection, no matter the platform. But Facebook does have a natural advantage simply because it’s Facebook.

Love it or hate it, there are days I think, “Ugh, I wish I didn’t have to be on here,” but the truth is, we get to use it to reach more people than business owners could 30 years ago. That’s a gift—if you choose to see it that way.

Your number one source of clients comes from your facebook group… can you share a little bit more about your journey?

My journey to starting a Facebook group was not strategic at all. I wish I could say it was, but it wasn’t.

About two years after I began my business as a service provider, I shifted into coaching. I created a Facebook group simply to host videos for a free five-day challenge I was running. My plan was to close it down afterward. I thought, “Okay, I’ll post the videos, run the challenge, and that’s it.” I had no long-term vision whatsoever.

Then I talked to my coach. I told her how much I loved showing up and talking to people because I’m such a people person. I loved being on video and connecting directly with my audience. She asked, “What if you left the group open?” and that idea hadn’t even occurred to me. But as soon as she said it, I thought, “Yes, I want to keep it open.”

So I did. I changed the name — it was originally something like “Know Your Target” from the challenge — and renamed it Market Like a Boss, which is still the name today.

Here’s the thing: when people say, “I can’t start a group until I have tons of content,” I tell them that’s just not true. I started with nothing. A couple of videos, that’s it. I didn’t have anything planned out. I just started having conversations. I sent messages to the hundred or so members who had joined and asked, “What’s your number one marketing challenge right now?”

Then I went live and talked about those topics. That’s how I created content — straight from what my members told me they needed. And that’s still how I operate today. When you listen to your members and build content around their feedback, it becomes more powerful and far more likely to convert.

Eventually, I turned that process into something I now teach called Destination Events. It’s where you host a live experience inside your community — something that gives people a reason to join. It makes your group a destination. Early on, that helps you grow because you’re saying, “Hey, this event is happening inside the group — come join us.”

Now that my group has grown, I use those same events to activate warm leads and turn my group into a sales system — one that’s built on relationships, not pressure.

The strategies you focus on really depend on where you are. In the early days, getting to your first hundred members can feel like pulling teeth. That’s when you want to create destination events or other reasons for people to join. They won’t join just because it’s free.

One thing that helped me grow faster at the beginning was marketing my group the same way I’d market an offer. I talked about what was inside, why it mattered, and why people should join.

So in those early stages, your focus should be on growth — connecting with your members, listening to them, and messaging them personally if needed. It might feel like you’re the only one talking at first, but those private conversations are where momentum begins.

Once your group passes a hundred members, you still want to spend time networking and bringing in new people, but you should also start creating authority and demand-driven content — content that not only engages but also positions you as an expert and builds trust.

From there, I got into a rhythm: every other month I’d host a destination event, and in between, I’d post authority-building content, start conversations in the DMs, and invite people to sales calls. It’s a rinse-and-repeat process that has evolved as my business has grown.

Do you have conversations with people in Facebook DMs?

We’ve had a lot of success getting people to send us a DM. From there, depending on the conversation, I’ll either invite them directly to a sales call or to a destination event.

If it’s a colder lead, I prefer to invite them to an event first so they can get to know me and build trust. That usually leads to a sales call afterward. But if it’s someone who’s been following me for a while, they often skip the event altogether — they just want to hop on a call and talk.

It really depends on the lead, which is why I always recommend tracking them. I give my clients a simple system for tracking leads so they know exactly where each person is in the buying process.

Here’s how it works: when someone joins your community, your first goal is to get them engaging with your content. You want them binging your videos, reading your posts, and getting to know your perspective. We always send an automated welcome message to start that process, which usually opens up a few conversations right away. From there, we can guide people to the resources or content that best fit what they’re looking for.

That’s what makes your community valuable and keeps people coming back. For me, success isn’t about how many people join — it’s about how many return. It doesn’t help if someone comes to your party once and never shows up again. The goal is to create a space where they keep coming back, keep engaging, and continue consuming your content.

That’s what builds trust. We need more touchpoints than we realize before people buy, and my community naturally provides those touchpoints in an organic, relationship-based way.

How often do you have a destination event in the group?

Honestly, for people who are just starting out, I’d recommend doing it as often as you can. In the beginning, I went live a lot — the goal was simply to have people see my face, build momentum, and create more opportunities for conversation.

Now that I have other marketing avenues, I’ve settled into a better rhythm, but if you’re early on, I’d even suggest aiming for once a month.

How often do you show up between destination events?

I didn’t have a very structured approach, and that has always worked well for me. I focus on documenting rather than creating.

That means I pay attention to the questions I get from clients and the conversations I have with group members. If someone brings up a topic that sparks an idea, I’ll think, “I should write about that,” or “That would make a great live.” I’m getting ideas in real time directly from my audience, and that has helped me so much.

Once I built up a library of content, it became easier to repurpose things and point people back to older posts or videos. Even now, I still create new content every week, but it doesn’t feel like creating. It feels like documenting who I am as a coach.

When someone asks a good question, I bring it into the community and talk about it. That keeps things simple and less overwhelming. I probably spend about 30 minutes a day doing that. The other 30 minutes are spent networking and inviting people into my community.

So that’s about an hour a day total. Once a week, I follow up with people I’ve connected with and invite them to a destination event or a sales call. Once a month, I host a destination event. That’s my rhythm.

It’s daily content, but it doesn’t have to be planned in advance unless you prefer it that way. You can create in the moment based on what you’re hearing and observing.

It works because it’s simple and efficient. When I started my business, I had a six-month-old baby. Now I have three young boys. Back then, I had maybe an hour a day while everyone was napping, so I needed my marketing to fit into that one-hour window—and this approach made that possible.

Then, most of the time I close through a sales call. I don’t always need one, but for your audience, I’d probably recommend starting there. You also get great feedback and ideas that way. I’ve gotten so many content and messaging ideas just from being willing to have more conversations.

If someone has an old Facebook group, do you recommend re-engaging them to build a profitable online community of starting from scratch?

Whenever possible, I recommend reusing the same group instead of starting from scratch. Here’s why. Unless you’ve completely changed directions and your old group is filled with people who would never be a good fit for your new focus, which is rare, there’s no reason to start over.

I’d probably even ask you to prove it to me before suggesting a fresh start. Usually, it makes more sense to build on what you already have. The group is already created, there are already people inside, and some of them could still be a great fit—or they might know someone who is.

That initial group isn’t your whole network, but it’s a foundation. Plus, you’ve likely already built some familiarity and have a few resources there.

If your focus or audience has shifted, that’s fine. You can change the group name or adjust the messaging inside. You don’t need to make a big announcement unless you’re formally archiving it. If it’s been inactive for a while, you can just pick it back up.

People aren’t paying as much attention to you as you think they are, so don’t overthink it.

I’ll give you an example. I had a client a few years ago who had a group that had been archived for two years. It was completely inactive, with about 400 members. She decided to reopen it by running a destination event. Within 30 to 60 days, she made $10,000 in one month from that group.

It’s cool, and if you’re going to reopen your group, I think it’s important to get really honest with yourself about what you want it to look like in this season of your business.

Ask yourself what level of commitment you actually have and whether that matches the results you want. A lot of people say they want big results from their group, but their level of commitment doesn’t line up with that.

That’s not a criticism—it’s completely fair. It’s just about being honest. If you’re going to take the time to reopen your group and put effort into it, be clear on what you’re willing to invest and what kind of results you’re truly going after.

How long does it take to see results with a Facebook group strategy?

When it comes to how long to stick with it before evaluating, I recommend checking in every 90 days—but not from the mindset of “I might shut it down.”

You have to be willing to invest in it until you get the result you want. If you go into it thinking, “I’ll give this six months and then see what happens,” you’re probably setting yourself up to quit early. Even if you start getting results, that mindset will make you second-guess yourself.

So yes, evaluate every 90 days, but know what you’re evaluating. That’s where having a coach can really help—someone who can guide you in setting clear goals and then looking at the numbers with you.

A lot of times, clients come to me and say, “Nothing’s working.” That’s a natural reaction. But as a coach, I’ll say, “Let’s look at your numbers—is that actually true?” Often, it’s not. We just tend to have unrealistic expectations about how fast things should happen or how much time we need to spend.

For me, I’ve always had about 60 minutes a day to work on this, and that hasn’t changed. What changes over time are the activities within that hour. In the beginning, I spent more time growing my group. Now, I spend more time having conversations and converting the people who are already inside.

So it depends on your stage and your goals. Early on, you might spend the full 60 minutes just growing your group and maybe an extra 30 minutes writing a piece of content. That’s fine.

But I don’t think it needs to take more than 90 minutes a day. If it does, you’re probably trying to do everything at once, rushing to get results. That leads to burnout.

This should be a sustainable system—something you can commit to for the long run. If you treat it like a sprint, you’ll burn out before you see the payoff. But if you approach it as a consistent daily practice, that’s what produces real results over time.

Can you share a little bit about big Facebook groups vs. small Facebook groups?

Yeah, mine is around 8,500 members divided over seven years. I did the math once—I think it works out to about three or four new members a day on average. When you look at it that way, it’s not a huge number.

But here’s the thing: our group converts at a much higher rate than most other groups. I remember reading about someone who had a Facebook group with over 21,000 members. She ended up closing it down because it wasn’t making any money. She even posted publicly about it, and I remember thinking, No, don’t do it!

The problem was that her group had become all about size, not connection. It didn’t feel like a real community anymore. She had invited anyone and everyone—people who just wanted to promote themselves because it was “free promotion.” But those people weren’t there to buy from her; they were there for themselves.

My group is different. It’s a true community, which means we actually turn people away if they’re not a good fit. We could easily have three times as many members right now, but I don’t want that. I want people in the group who align with what I do and who could genuinely benefit from being there.

Obviously, I’m not going to work with everyone in the group, but it’s built around one clear focus and attracts my ideal client.

And honestly, I’m seeing the same thing with my clients who have smaller groups. One client, for example, hasn’t even hit 100 members yet, and she made $20,000 in the first 90 days of working with me. A big portion of that came directly from her group.

She ran a destination event, followed the process I teach, and it worked because her group is very specific and very niche.

And it ties back to what you said earlier, Kara, about how people are craving real relationships, especially with the rise of AI and automation. That’s exactly what’s happening right now in business and marketing.

Smaller, more focused groups are making a comeback because people want connection and specificity. They don’t want to join some massive community where the purpose isn’t clear or they feel lost in the crowd.

So smaller groups are actually performing better than ever. Relationships have always mattered, but now they’re essential. People want depth, not volume. They want focused, not big.

If someone is starting a Facebook group in 2025 (or are reactivating an old Facebook group), what would you recommend?

That’s the power of a destination event. It’s not just a tool to bring people into your group and attract qualified leads—though it absolutely does that because the topic you choose naturally draws in the right people. It also creates engagement when it’s structured well.

That’s why I recommend this strategy for everyone, whether your group is brand new or you’re reactivating an old one. A destination event gets people talking and gives you a reason to engage with them, both inside the group and privately through Messenger.

I’ve seen it work over and over again. One client even sent me a side-by-side comparison of her analytics, and the numbers skyrocketed after she hosted her first destination event.

I’ve experienced the same thing myself. A couple of years ago, I noticed my group was feeling quiet—it was February, right after the holidays—and I wanted to shake things up. I decided to run a “30 Days to New Clients” challenge. I threw it together and launched it the very next day. Engagement went through the roof. People were commenting, joining conversations, and reaching out. I even signed a few new clients from that event, which wasn’t my goal at the time.

We later turned that challenge into a freebie that continues to bring people into our community. It just shows that you can wake up your group at any time. You don’t have to wait for people to engage—you go first. You lead by example, and that’s what a destination event helps you do.

There are other strategies too. For example, I have an engagement cheat sheet that walks through different ideas, and I’d be happy to share that with your listeners.

But here are a few simple things you can start with:

• Post short, focused questions that are about your audience, not about you.
• Do a quick content audit and ask yourself, “Is this something my people would actually care about, or is it more about me?”
• Reach out to members personally and ask, “Hey, how are you doing? How can I be serving you right now?”

You’d be surprised by the responses you’ll get. These small, intentional actions can make a big difference in re-engaging your community.

Where can people find you and learn from you?

You can find me inside the Market Like a Boss Facebook group. If you’re curious about the group I’ve been talking about and want to see how I run it, definitely come join the community. We have a lot of great resources and conversations happening there. And if you do join, tell me you came from the podcast. I’ll personally message you the Engagement Cheat Sheet so you can grab it for yourself.

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