Community Spotlight: The Upside
Erin Halper launched The Upside to help others find the freedom to work when and where they want. The community is made up of independent consultants, advisors, and coaches who work with businesses ranging from venture-backed startups to Fortune 500 companies.
Erin was inspired to start helping people during a personally challenging time when her young son was in the hospital for heart surgery. As an independent consultant, Erin was able to be in the hospital full time with her son but noticed many other parents struggled with getting time off from work to be with their child.
Many people think being an independent consultant is a dream job. But the journey can be challenging and lonely for those who have made the leap after years of having colleagues and a built-in network.
Having a community that understands those challenges and can offer guidance (or just an open ear) can mean the difference between surviving and thriving. Erin Halper created The Upside in December 2018 to do just this—help consultants build and scale flexible and fulfilling businesses that they love.
The community breakdown
📍 Community: The Upside
👋 Founder: Erin Halper
🗓️ Launched on Circle: November 2021
🌟 Size: Around 225 - 275
🎯 Purpose: To help consultants build and scale fulfilling and flexible businesses that they love.
💰Pricing model: Quarterly and annual memberships. Pricing is listed on their website and increases annually. The Upside also offers a two-part accelerator program for $1,200.
Core community offering
Joining The Upside means committing to learning and growing. Once approved, new members must make a three-month commitment, which Erin says gives them the time to form relationships and get the most out of The Upside’s content.
The community gives members access to:
- Group discussions: The Upside is built around community members having a place to ask questions, give advice, and find new opportunities.
- On-demand learning: Erin offers asynchronous, advanced expert sessions, resources and guides that community members can easily fit into their schedule.
- Special interest groups: Members interested in sustainability, community building, B2B tech, and other topics can participate in small group cohorts and discussions.
One of the first things you’ll see in The Upside’s navigation is a section for Community Guidelines. Erin says it’s very important to have this front and center so people know how to interact with each other respectfully. It’s also good to have in case there are questions about what can and cannot be done in a community.
“Members can only thrive inside a community if they’ve been given a clear pathway and structure for how to interact inside the community.” – Erin Halper, CEO and founder of The Upside
How it’s organized
Erin built The Upside around five buckets to help members quickly find the resources they need.
- Your Membership: Community Guidelines, FAQs, Refer a New Member, Upside Events, and Announcements.
- The Forum: ISO Advice, Wins & Gratitude, Referrals & Hiring, Links & Learnings, Humble Asks, Personal, Member Intros.
- Level-Up On Demand: Office Hours Replays, Resources & Guides, Expert Sessions, Member Offers, and Get Featured.
- Upside ROI: Upside Roadmaps, How do I…, and Upside Recipes for Success
- Upside In-Person: Dozens of geographical groups to facilitate in-person gatherings.
“Every community has something like wins, brags, or successes. Ours is specifically and intentionally ‘Wins & Gratitude’. Adding the word ‘gratitude’ is so important because it encourages our members to recognize and celebrate the role other members have played in their success. – Erin Halper, CEO and founder of The Upside
The Upside can only be accessed through a paid membership. To learn more about Erin’s business, explore The Upside’s website here!
And if you’re curious about creating your own online community, or reshaping an existing one—give Circle’s 14-day free trial a whirl! You’ll also gain access to our own thriving community of community builders, where you can ask questions, learn about how others have built their communities, explore exclusive resources, attend live workshops, and so much more.
How it’s monetized
Erin wants potential members to understand the pedigree of belonging to The Upside. Her website includes the logos of companies current members have come from, including Google, LinkedIn, HBO, and Nike.
- Membership: The Upside is a premium community. Memberships can be paid quarterly or annually and require a three-month commitment. Current pricing is always listed on their website.
- Accelerator: Separate from the community, Erin offers The Upside Accelerator program, a step-by-step plan to build a consultancy business. The program is available in two parts for $650 each or $1,200 for the complete program.
While there is no free membership tier or discounts, Erin does provide free content, including a Pricing Playbook, Lead Gen Made Simple guide and a “Supercharge Your Bio” guide.
“I'm not a fan of discounts. I'd rather give more value than a discount. For any member who refers a new member and joins, that member gets a one-on-one with me. They're happy because they value that time with me, and I love it because then I get to know that member and their business even better. The better I know our members, the better I understand what they need most from the community.” – Erin Halper, CEO and founder of The Upside
Growing through referrals
Erin treats referrals as a growth hack to replace members who graduate from the community.
Members can refer someone in The Upside, and Erin has access to a dashboard where she can review those potential members. Since her time is valuable, Erin hosts quarterly open houses where prospective members can learn more about the community to decide if it’s right for them. This saves her countless hours of one-on-one interviews to let her focus on the right candidates.
“A lot of people don't think to ask their members for referrals. With our membership, you can buy a quarterly or an annual membership. Every three months, I'm asking members, ‘Hey, if you know of anyone who wants to join The Upside, here's the best way to do that and here’s what I’ll give back to you in return as a thank you.” – Erin Halper, CEO and founder of The Upside
The community team
The Upside is run by Erin and three staff members. All of the team are independent consultants, and Erin says that true to The Upside’s mission, all three are independent consultants earning the equivalent of a full-time salary.
- COO: Erin’s “right-hand person,” the COO, started out as a virtual assistant who now handles the community's day-to-day operations and member communications.
- Content: Erin leans on her content expert to lead, inspire, and drive thought leadership throughout the community.
- Tech: From updating the website to building automations and dashboards, Erin’s tech person keeps the operation running from behind the curtain.
“Our team is made up of independent consultants who rarely have to look for work because they have so many Upside members who want to hire them—which is fine by me!” – Erin Halper, CEO and founder of The Upside
Erin’s top community building tips & tricks
💡 Make it easy to get high-quality referrals: Erin developed a referral program to grow her community by word of mouth. By setting up a “Refer a New Member” space in the community with instructions on nominating someone, Erin makes it easy for members to recommend new members who are a good fit for The Upside.
💡 Listen to what your community needs: To help the community's business consultants achieve big wins, The Upside offers strategic programming, including expert speaker sessions and mastermind groups. Members can build relationships through networking opportunities such as industry roundtables and shared interest groups led by fellow members.
💡 Set healthy boundaries around your time: Erin puts boundaries around her time to ensure she protects her bandwidth and doesn’t overextend herself. Instead of replying to inquiries posted in the community, Erin asks members to submit questions to be answered during her weekly office hours. Erin also hosts open house events instead of direct calls with potential members. And Erin set up an email auto-reply that addresses common requests, such as how to book a paid one-on-one call and the steps to exploring partnership opportunities.
