AI helps these three independent entrepreneurs increase community support

Communities are dedicated spaces where customers connect with each other for ongoing support, learning, and a shared identity. For businesses, it’s a way to build loyalty, gather real-time insights, and deliver deeper value beyond products and services.

What differentiates communities from static knowledge bases is the personalized support that members receive. This level of service used to come with high operating costs, but for three independent entrepreneurs who spoke to Business Insider about running their own membership communities, AI has made it easier and more effective to provide service.

“I can be more present in my community,” said Gabriela Fiorentino, founder of Nest Earth, a community that helps parents incorporate sustainable options into family life. “It’s like hiring an assistant without paying them,” she added.

Learn how three independent community entrepreneurs use AI to reduce cognitive and operational load and create a stronger member experience.

Streamline personalized services with AI

Clara Marr, founder of Ask a Chief of Staff, a community for executives who serve as chief of staff, loves meeting one-on-one with members to answer personal questions, but her time is limited.

Previously, during calls, we often repeated common information already available within the community. Now, she asks members to share questions ahead of the call and asks for existing resources related to those questions, using Slack’s integrated AI where the community connects and has conversations.

“We can quickly pull out three to five resources and say, ‘Let’s take a look at this first. Then, if you still have questions that aren’t answered or you want to personalize the chat a little bit more, we can better help you because we’re all on the same page about what’s already available,'” Ma said.

She also used Slack workflows to build automated processes for member onboarding. Based on whether they’re an aspiring chief of staff, a current chief of staff, or a leader within the community, they’ll receive a slightly different personalized message welcoming them into the community and giving them next steps on how to get involved. This creates a curated experience from day one without Ma using heavy manual lifts. Onboarding now takes about an hour a week, compared to several hours a day before AI.

For Rhys Best, founder of Girls Club Collective, a community for influential leaders and entrepreneurs, the biggest value of using AI is the increased mental capacity to focus on what matters most to her.

“Rather than rewriting a series of emails for the 12th time, you can use your creative brain power for facilitation and one-on-one member support,” she said.

For example, she recently used ChatGPT to improve her website positioning and suggest email sequences to potential new members, allowing her to spend less time growing her community and more time engaging with it.

AI provides research-backed strategic recommendations

Beyond one-on-one interactions, community-based businesses also offer broader programs such as workshops, expert sessions, and opportunities to connect. Ideally, these services reflect what members actually want, and AI makes it much easier for solopreneurs to identify those needs at scale.

Before AI, Ma relied on intuition and hours of manual labor to understand her members’ preferences, reading months of community Slack conversations and trying to catalog themes in her head. Now, AI integrates data from member conversations, newsletter open rates, and workshop participation to inform decisions about which events and member services to prioritize.

“This will free up more information faster to make better decisions,” Marr said. “Before, we were thinking a lot about what kind of programming we should do. Now we have the data and we can talk to the AI ​​and discuss different strategies and topics. I think our members will respond well to it without it being counterintuitive.”

Best likes how AI allows her to confidently bring to the table ideas that were on her “maybe” list or requested by a few members. By uploading information from member surveys and member interviews transcribed with Otter AI Notetaker, she can ask ChatGPT to synthesize which services are most in demand and which are not worth the energy from a data perspective.

“As a person, I think, ‘I know four people who want this, so maybe I should do it anyway,'” Best said. AI’s more neutral perspective helps put personal feelings aside and choose programs that benefit the most members.

Fiorentino is using AI to support broader strategic research. For example, when trying to brainstorm new ways to monetize, she looked at AI and asked what options were available and what was working in other communities.

For example, she launched a new membership tier that gives service providers more visibility and access to potential customers through the community. She also plans to launch a marketplace for eco-friendly products later this year.

AI increases time spent on human touchpoints

In case it’s not clear, the goal of these solopreneurs is to use AI to maximize human potential, not replace it.

“I always say AI is for automation, not for replacing humans,” Ma says. She coaches small teams of contractors to try to use AI to automate any task they do five or more times. This ensures that she only uses her limited budget for things that require a human touch, rather than things that can be handled by a machine.

You can then use that extra time to work towards maximizing your members’ potential. “Every time we come back, we try to bring back into the community with some sort of human touchpoint so that our members feel really valued and supported,” Marr said. “AI will never replace the human aspect, which is what makes it so valuable to the community in the first place.”