š“256. Creating a community of clients feat. Alan Weiss (Weekend Rewind)


Today on Talk the Walk, I grabbed my coffee (Alan Weiss had his martini šø) and we dived into two big C-words: clients and community. It was a global hangoutāBrisbane spring for me, early fall for Alanāplus friends dialing in from Portugal, Seattle, Sydney, Italy, Montreal and Silicon Valley.
We unpacked how to create a community of buyers (not just followers), the difference between tribes vs communities, and why evergreen clients are built on breadth (multiple buyers inside one org), generosity, and staying visible in the right public squares.
My favourite bits:
- Evergreen clients = many doors. Donāt get stuck with a single buyerābuild relationships with their direct reports and (crucially) their assistants. When people move, opportunities move with them.
- Communities are inclusive and porous. People come and goāthatās healthy. What matters is a strong nucleus and clear norms (short posts, debate the idea not the person, beach-flag rules š¢š”š“).
- Evangelism beats ads. Bring your best clients together with your next-best clients and let the āchain reaction of attractionā do its thing.
- AI is a tool, not your identity. Tie AI to your lane. For me: āthe doās/donāts of using AI to build influence and long-term relationships inside organisations.ā
- Loneliness is a market. Soloists (and now remote workers) are ācollegially lonely.ā Offer connection in multiple formatsāaudio, video, text, live, remoteāso people can choose their own adventure.
- Be respected over being liked. Set the tone, enforce the norms, and donāt fear unsubscribes. Communities thrive on clarity, not appeasement.
Timestamps
- 00:00 ā Coffee vs martinis, Brisbane spring & top-down weather
- 03:10 ā Evergreen clients: why one buyer isnāt enough
- 07:45 ā Assistants, internal moves, and following the buyer train
- 11:20 ā Cracking global orgs: referrals + local-to-parent leap
- 15:05 ā When to be generous (and when to invoice)
- 18:40 ā Community ā tribe; inclusion, porosity, and norms
- 24:00 ā The teaching-hospital model & beach-flag moderation
- 28:15 ā Evangelism and the āchain reaction of attractionā
- 32:10 ā āIām burned out on communitiesā (and why formats matter)
- 36:00 ā Platforms: live, remote, newsletters, āA Minute with Alanā
- 40:05 ā Frequency without burnout: be the nucleus, set rules
- 44:20 ā Self-esteem, permission, and resisting conformity
- 48:50 ā Tech teams, responsiveness, and scaling content
- 53:30 ā Final takeaways + next session teaser
Pull quotes
- āDonāt just interact with your buyerāknow their direct reports and their assistant.ā
- āCommunities are inclusionary and porous. Tribes are not.ā
- āI care less about being liked, and more about being respected.ā
- āAI isnāt your brand. Itās a tool in your process.ā
Try this this week
- Map one client to 3+ internal relationships (buyer, two directs, assistant).
- Send a value-only note (no pitch) to a client you havenāt served in 90 days.
- Add one more format to your community (e.g., short audio, monthly live, or a light-hearted thread like āwhat to watchā). Variety increases stickiness.
Shout-outs & mentions
Lisbon/Portugal crew, Seattle, Sydney, Montreal, Silicon Valleyālove the global energy. Tools mentioned: newsletters, private podcasts, Zoom workshops, forums.
CTA
If this sparked ideas, hit reply and tell me: Whatās one move youāll make to widen your buyer map this month? And if youāre building an evergreen client base, Iām brewing something specialājump on my list to get first dibs.
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