What does it really take to build a thriving eCommerce community?

In this episode of The eCom Growth Show, Danan Coleman talks with Matt Holman, Founder and CEO of Commerce Catalyst, about how he turned a small marketer meetup into a network of over 1,000 eCommerce professionals.

Matt shares why community should start with genuine relationships, not sales pitches, and how consistency, value-first events, and clear purpose can turn a simple gathering into a powerful growth engine.

You’ll learn why the best communities are built around real needs, how to keep people engaged long-term, and why helping first often creates stronger business opportunities later.

🔗 Connect with Matt Holman

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holman-matthew/

Commerce Catalyst LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/commerce-catalyst/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commerce_catalyst_co/

Newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/CommerceCatalyst

Slack Group: https://form.typeform.com/to/fKSJhbKs?utm_source=XL%20PR%20-%20Ecom%20Growth%20Show&utm_medium=XL%20PR%20-%20Ecom%20Growth%20Show&utm_campaign=XL%20PR%20Podcasts

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Welcome to The eCom Growth Show

00:35 – How Matt Holman got into community building

03:14 – Why building community matters

07:57 – The first steps to building a strong community

10:32 – Why value should come before selling

17:01 – How community builds trust and solves real problems

19:14 – What keeps people coming back

22:26 – Building a community vs. chasing an event business

31:24 – Events that serve the real needs of a community

36:11 – How to join the Commerce Catalyst Slack community

37:11 – Closing thoughts

#TheeComGrowthShow #CommerceCatalyst #eCommerceCommunity

KEEP IN TOUCH:

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danancoleman

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecomgrowthshow

👥 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheeComGrowthShow

🐦 X (Twitter): https://x.com/eComGrowthShow

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@eComGrowthShow

Danan Coleman is an expert in the Amazon field. He's been actively selling on Amazon since 2010 and in the SaaS and Service network for Amazon sellers since 2018. After helping companies like ManageByStats and Carbon6 scale and be sold, he started his eCom Triage [https://ecomtriage.com] to help sellers with solutions to complicated and seemingly impossible tasks like removing negative reviews and detecting critical and detrimental changes to your product detail pages. He also consults both brands and agencies in the Amazon space.