What others think
of the coaching, training and masterminds of
Maartje Blijleven & We love communities
I couldn’t have done this alone, even though I’m considered one of the most creative people here at Deloitte.
Together with Maartje, I developed the internal community strategy for Deloitte’s Best Managed Companies. Maartje’s preparation was exceptional—she created a booklet and approached it in a playful way that made the process enjoyable and allowed me to speak freely. She asks the right questions.
The VIP day with Maartje led to a well-thought-out strategy that surprised and impressed the partners. I highly recommend Maartje. She ensures you think through everything from A to Z. You might have the answers yourself, but working with someone experienced like Maartje leads to a much better plan.
We owe our success to a large extent to what Maartje did in telling the world, internal and external, what the role is of digital for Schiphol.
Maartje really contributed to a large extent in the adoption of digital within Schiphol. And also outside. Every day we find it so difficult to express what digital actually is. A lot of people are completely clueless. But we need them to understand the benefits of digital, in order to drive a successful digital transformation.
As Chief Digital Officer at Schiphol Airport, I’ve had the pleasure to work with Maartje for almost a year. She gave digital and the digital transformation a face. Not only her personal face because she was always there to present the digital airport program. But she also gave face to the program in what we did, where we stood, internally and externally. With success. Because so many people actually said ‘I want to work for the digital airport program because it’s great. It looks great, it has great ambition, it radiates energy, it radiates excitement. This is where we want to be a part of.’ We owe that to a large extent to what Maartje did in telling the world, internal and external, what the role is of digital for Schiphol.
Maartje is a true asset to any organisation which is going through a digital transformation and want to get people on board in order to drive change. She comes with my personal recommendation.
Maartje is a true asset to executives requiring a deeper understanding of the impact digital transformation and social media has on business today.
Most CEOs have overcrowded agendas with little additional time or energy to keep ahead of developments in the digital field – social media, digital marketing, website technology and other business opportunities. If you are also overburdened with digital developments and how they impact your business, then I recommend Maartje as a coach.
Maartje has been coaching me for over a year on tech innovation and its impact on my own business. She has been instrumental in teaching me how to add value with digital strategy, marketing and social media.
I am grateful for Maartje’s ability to explain innovative technology in a way which instantly makes sense for my own work. This has enabled me to truly develop a business focused digital mindset. Avoiding pretentious buzzwords and hipster nonsense, she has clearly guided me to understand the digital world, customized for our own products.
Maartje’s way of coaching is a pleasure. It provides both a quick inroad to core solutions, and lot of positive energy. Maartje is a true asset to executives requiring a deeper understanding of the impact digital transformation and social media has on business today. I can wholeheartedly recommend her.
Maartje guided us in our internal communication at the international level we needed.
Macaw has always been a great place to work with a great community spirit where engineers, consultants, creatives and data scientists connected to go the extra mile in making our clients successful. Due to our rapid international growth and Covid-19 we needed to convert our community spirit to the next level. Maartje stepped in and guided us in our internal communication at the international level we needed. She knows and delivers with impact.
Without Maartje, our start-up Winc Academy wouldn’t have the soul it has today.
Maartje showed us the importance of building relationships with customers and potential clients. She taught us to engage deeply with our students, across various levels.
She made us aware of the impact of social media and the time and energy it demands. Before meeting Maartje, I never posted on LinkedIn; I saw it merely as a database. Now, I’m much more active, and we can clearly see the impact. When Marijn and I post something, it reaches up to fifteen thousand people—such a reach was unimaginable to us before.
Maartje also guided us on how to effectively engage on social media, what to do, what to avoid, and how to navigate uncertainties. We still consult her regularly for advice.
In today’s increasingly digital world, Maartje emphasized the importance of personal contact, even when interacting online. She taught us that webinars and community building are powerful tools for maintaining that personal connection on a larger scale. This has made us more human as a company, and given our startup a recognizable face.
What I mean by “she gave us a soul” is that our company has become more personified, resonating with what people want in this era. We now understand that community building is not a short-term effort but a long-term strategy involving multiple team members.
I highly recommend Maartje to other startups, especially those unfamiliar with social media. Maartje’s vast experience across different companies and industries is invaluable, and she brings all that expertise to the table.
A personal talk that felt like she knew our community for years
Maartje’s keynote speech was truly inspiring. The audience resonated with her story, and her practical tips were extremely useful. She skillfully incorporated our pre-event discussion into her presentation, making it feel personal, as if she had known our community for years. Maartje is professional and experienced in delivering online sessions.
‘Communities are needed for the creative industry to stay relevant’. Of which deed, and that’s exactly why I would strongly recommend to ask Maartje as keynote speaker at your next event.
Maartje and I have been going back a long time. Around 2005 we got to know each other and I was very impressed by her qualities as Digital Producer. And as Digital Consultant nowadays, she was one of the keynote speakers at ‘Cannes aan de Schinkel’, the annual in-house event for all TBWA staff in Amsterdam. With Cannes on the Schinkel we mimic all aspects that people gain during a Cannes Festival of Creativity Week. Talks, rose, networking and DJs.
Maartje enriched the day with an interesting talk about the significance of communities in the world we live in today and the industry we are all working in.
She took us from Endemol’s Big Diet to KLM Club China, and from Women Talk Tech to Include Now – a community of 440 professionals from the creative industry to promote diversity and inclusion.
Maartje showed us why the time has never been better to leverage communities in order to achieve, maintain and grow our business. ‘Communities are needed for the creative industry to stay relevant’. Of which deed, and that’s exactly why I would strongly recommend to ask Maartje as keynote speaker at your next event.
She created a lot of interaction with the audience, managed the large room well, initiated conversations, and adhered to the briefing and schedule.
Maartje was a delight to work with! She was our host during the annual Digital Out Of Home event by Global Media & Entertainment and IAB, which saw around 100 industry professionals, including members of IAB Netherlands, digital agencies, and advertisers.
Her preparation was excellent! It was also a pleasure to collaborate with her during the event. Maartje has great energy and a welcoming presence. She ensured plenty of audience interaction, managed the large room effectively, sparked engaging discussions, and stayed on track with the briefing and timing.
If you’re looking for an excellent host, I highly recommend Maartje!
Maartje’s keynote was experienced as very valuable, especially because of the interaction with the audience, practical tips and appropriate examples.
For the first-ever Facebook Community Meetup Sustainability Edition in Amsterdam, we sought an inspiring speaker—someone who could inspire and inform nearly 100 founders of Facebook groups passionate about sustainability to create even more impact.
Thanks to Maartje, our Facebook event was an unforgettable experience! We were impressed by the positive energy and great feedback from attendees. Maartje’s contribution was invaluable, especially due to her interaction with the audience, practical tips, and relevant examples. She also intuitively highlighted individuals in the audience who had compelling stories to share—truly remarkable! By gifting her sustainably produced book to everyone afterward, attendees had a great resource to continue building their communities actively.
I highly recommend working with Maartje because she’s the expert in community building, a pleasure to work with, and has infectious enthusiasm.
Maartje not only is extremely knowledgeable in all things digital, she is able to simplify subjects depending on the audience, increasing knowledge fast and effectively for everyone.
Maartje has been an exceptional help on our digital journey, delivering quality, on time and above expectations. The digital team day we ran with Maartje and the Dyson Benelux team has opened up the door to develop valuable projects that will definitely take us into a bright digital future. Preparation for the day and execution was flawless and easy to integrate into our internal objectives. Tomás
She is very motivated and flexible to work with.
Maartje Blijleven worked together with me at KLM. The projects we where operating where online business clubs KLM Club China and KLM Club Africa. She conducted different aspects of these two communities such as, managing content, member support coordinating ofline events, etc, etc. She is very motivated and flexible to work with.
Inspiring and awesome!
That’s how I would describe our VIP day with Maartje in two words. It was incredibly inspiring because Maartje brought a fresh perspective to our community. In the morning, we took a deep dive into our community, uncovering new insights we had missed because we were too close to the situation. Discovering those insights was truly inspiring.
What made it amazing? Besides these new insights, we now have a strategy that everyone agrees on. Previously, our organization would often debate: should we do it this way or that? But now, thanks to the VIP day with Maartje, our team has written down a unified strategy, which provides a lot of guidance and certainty.
All in all, these insights and new strategies are incredibly reassuring.
Just a week later, we have already implemented several things. We are actively working on setting up community guidelines, and we’ve also taken immediate steps to improve our community’s visibility. Additionally, we are developing a content plan, though that naturally takes more than a week.
As a community manager, I notice that our team is now more united in our efforts, especially with the content planning, visibility, and other tips we discussed during the day.
Honestly, our community strategy used to be shaky—or rather, we didn’t have a clear plan at all: what exactly are we going to do? This made it difficult to execute any plan because if the plan isn’t clear or complete, how can you effectively carry it out? This caused our community to lose momentum, which is, of course, a huge shame.
We had just started our community, so it was crucial to get things right from the beginning. Without a solid strategy, the community’s development and growth took longer than it should have, leading to stagnation in community activity.
I had no doubts about Maartje because I had read her book and had a strategy call with her. I knew we had to do this because Maartje is an expert in her field. Her book proved that, as did her previous work in community building. I was fully confident in her abilities.
With the new strategy and clear plan, I expect us to grow.
We’ve already seen some growth, but there’s potential for much more. The main benefit will be an increase in activity, leading to a truly active community. Currently, we have a community with 1,000 members, but the activity level is relatively low. Our strategy is now focused on increasing that activity.
I would absolutely recommend a VIP day to other entrepreneurs who are building a community.
For any entrepreneur—with a community or planning to start one—it’s incredibly valuable to have an expert review your community (or plans) and offer a fresh perspective. Even just the morning, where we closely examined our community, provided me with so much value! Simply because someone outside our organization, who is knowledgeable about communities, took a look. That alone was highly valuable.
And that’s not even mentioning the new strategy, which is the most important outcome of the day. You leave with a clear plan—what more could you want?
The VIP strategy day with Maartje delivered a thoughtful strategy and action plan that we could immediately implement.
“In 2018, we launched our online community platform within three months. While we had a clear vision (to facilitate self-service), a well-founded long-term strategy was still missing.
Our (support) community proved to be successful after launch, but we were left with several questions: Are we really doing the right things? Are we missing opportunities? And how can we further strengthen our community and make it valuable for our customers?
One of the challenges of our community is our broad customer base, ranging from hospitals and care organizations to companies in the food sector. And not to forget, our Belgian customer group. They all use the same Infoland software, but of course, there may be different needs for each target group. How do you ensure that the community is valuable for everyone?
Additionally, we discussed with Maartje the current ‘health’ of our support community. We share a lot of content on our community, all aimed at increasing self-service: we want customers to quickly find answers to their questions on their own.
What you don’t want is a community where you’re only broadcasting as a company. Besides our own content flow, we want to activate members to share their knowledge as well. We believe that the knowledge of our customers is the most valuable.
During the VIP Day, Maartje held up a mirror to us. We have a business community, where it’s especially powerful to highlight the relevance of our community. This is the only platform where you can exchange practical experiences about the Infoland software and share your feedback with Infoland and other users.
And this is the place where you feel you are among like-minded people who understand how the software works in practice. Maartje made us realize that we need to emphasize this relevance. That’s a completely different perspective, and it made a big impact.
The day with Maartje was also great in the sense that we received confirmation that we are doing the right things. That was personally very reassuring for me because the community management field is relatively new. I also have few knowledgeable sparring partners around me, especially since there are few other B2B software communities in the Netherlands. Maartje’s broad experience gave me more than enough confidence that we are on the right track!
I highly recommend this day, without a doubt! Whether you’re starting a new community or looking to strengthen your existing one, Maartje really brings you back to the basics: your vision, context, and activation, your target audience. And all of this in just one day! Even our marketing manager and the service desk manager—who were present and are quite critical people—were impressed and very positive about the final result.
Maartje herself is incredibly enthusiastic, brings positive energy, and is super credible due to her knowledge and experience. As far as we’re concerned, Maartje is a true authority!”
In just three months, my revenue has doubled, and next month’s forecast looks even better.
“My biggest challenge was that I was working tirelessly, investing a lot of time in social media, flyers, paid ads, and training, but the results didn’t match my efforts. I knew my target audience, but in trying to help everyone, I struggled to make ends meet.
How could I convert my 1,800 Facebook followers into paying customers? This demotivated me, and I began to doubt—not the quality of my work, but how I could grow my client base to generate a sustainable income.
The biggest lesson from our collaboration was getting back to basics: clarifying my vision and dreams from scratch, and applying them step by step where my business was lacking, even if it meant pushing boundaries. This transformed my mindset, thanks to Maartje’s clear explanations, enthusiasm, and her own success journey, which she shared in the modules. No more hesitation—just action! I learned to continuously improve and to make choices, knowing that you can’t please everyone and that some people will never be satisfied.
The results were immediately measurable! I saw a huge influx of new clients, who, driven by my renewed enthusiasm, left glowing reviews for my business. This created a snowball effect that continues to this day.
In just three months, my revenue has doubled, and next month’s forecast looks even better.
I highly recommend joining the academy. I trusted Maartje’s approach from the start, and she delivers on her promises. The modules are clear, covering essential topics for every entrepreneur. The coaching calls with Maartje were invaluable—she listens, takes her time, and motivates you to keep pushing forward with enthusiasm.
If you commit fully and work through the modules as planned, you’ll achieve great results, just like I did. It really works!
I’m incredibly happy—it’s challenging, but if you give 100% effort, you’ll achieve maximum results.”
Sometimes, a firm nudge was needed to overcome hurdles and uncertainties, and it worked!
“My first encounter with Maartje was during the content day. I left feeling inspired and equipped with a month’s worth of content.
I knew then that if anyone could help me establish my community and pursue my mission of improving the image and welfare of donkeys, it was Maartje.
Choosing a VIP day to help me strategically build a community was a natural decision. I wanted to make a significant impact on my target audience and, of course, help many donkeys—without running myself ragged.
Sometimes, a firm nudge was needed to overcome hurdles and uncertainties, and it worked!
It was absolutely worth it. This insightful yet enjoyable day ended with a comprehensive plan—not just for a month, but for an entire year. I now know exactly what steps to take to ensure success, with a clear timeline for all action plans. If you see an amazing donkey community emerge in the coming weeks, it’s thanks to Maartje’s invaluable lessons and advice, and my dedication to putting them into practice.
And if, like me, you were swayed by those striking photos on social media, know that behind them is an incredible person!”
Would you also like to leave a testimonial?
and you are satisfied with the result of our collaboration? Would you please share your experience? Because of your story, someone else may decide to take the step to make his/her dreams come true and that would be great!
What was your biggest pain/problem when you came to me?
What is the biggest learning moment from our collaboration, what was the most valuable to you and do you really see as the result of my coaching?
Why would you recommend someone else to work with me in particular?
Thank you in advance!
What others say
about the bestseller We love communities
‘How nice that there is now a book about communities in which you learn to set up and expand a community through a number of steps. At the same time, it offers a lot of inspiration because of the many interviews with community experts from the field!’
‘Everything you need to know if you want to make a success of your online community or advise customers about this. A handbook that you can read in one sitting. Recommended!’
‘Handy step-by-step manual as guidance for setting up your own community. Smoothly written and packed with examples and tips from Maartje and the many experts she interviewed for this book.’
‘All contemporary marketing and communication facets that are important to create a community are extensively discussed. The book is pleasant to read and logically structured. This means you absorb the knowledge as a matter of course. The book offers a pleasant structure on how you can get started with a community yourself. It is clear that Maartje herself has years of experience in this field. That makes the book very credible. A must read for every marketing communications professional of our time!’
‘With this book, Maartje Blijleven lays a foundation for setting up and managing communities. The book is accessible because it uses appealing practical examples from both herself and other professionals. It is an interesting book, if you have yet to set up your community, but also if you have been working for years.’
“Real, recognizable and useful stories and examples of people who have successfully built communities.”
‘An extremely relevant book, written by a woman who knows what she is talking about.’
‘The step-by-step plan is well thought out and I will definitely use it! I think that the plan will also be even better prepared for experienced community managers.’
‘Everything, absolutely everything you need to know about communities. Whether you have one or are about to start, this book full of information, tips and templates is a must have and, above all, read!’
‘Do you want to start a community, but you don’t know how? Then read this book. With a concrete step-by-step plan and tips from many experienced experts who have gone before you. The perfect combination!’
‘As a community expert, I can say that this book is an absolute must if you want to build a successful community. It contains valuable and, above all, practical tips that you can start using immediately. The tips from people who have built large communities themselves make this book invaluable.’
‘A clear step-by-step plan without too much fuss and too many difficult models that you can no longer make sense of yourself. Clearly written and with background information and tips from experts in the field. A book that is interesting for a broad professional audience, because Maartje has spoken to a wide range of experts from her own community.’
‘Communities have become an important part of our digital world. It is good that Maartje specifically draws attention to it with this book.’
‘Maartje takes you into the world of online communities in a clear way. While reading you will become inspired and you can already imagine the possibilities for a possible community of your own. I think this book can also be a nice addition for students to know more about building communities.’
‘Pragmatic book with useful tips. Very easy to read! For the beginner who wants to get started with communities, but also for the expert who wants to learn from the tips and tricks of other experts.’
‘If you are even remotely interested in community management, then this book is mandatory reading!’
‘We love communities is a must read for anyone who is considering starting a community or breathing new life into an existing community. A hands-on method that makes your hands itch and which immediately put me to work on my own plans. Maartje alternates her pleasant writing style with interviews with various experts from the community business and does not shy away from different views. Highly recommended!’
‘Interesting, educational and inspiring book about the added value of online communities with a step-by-step plan for building your own community. Maartje combines her knowledge and passion about the subject with the success stories of others who believe in the power of communities. The practical approach in combination with all the stories full of passion make you super excited to start your own online community.’
‘A nice collection of authentic insights about organizing impact for and by people :)’
‘A pleasant, handy book with all the ins & outs about starting and expanding your own community. With a clear and complete step-by-step plan and many great anecdotes and tips from experts. Indispensable if you want to make your community a success!’
How can I help?
Build a successful (online) COMMUNITY and sustainable business
1:1
Consultancy & Mentoring
For CEOs and managers such as Marketing Directors and HR Directors: 1-1 consultancy to ensure that both the community strategy and its implementation are successful. Solve challenges such as low customer loyalty, poor internal communication and slow innovation. With our unique approach you can increase your customer engagement, attract talent, grow your reach among the right target group, increase your brand awareness and increase your turnover. In an authentic and sympathetic way.
At your event:
Inspirational speaker
Suitable for events for external relations and conferences, but also to inspire colleagues in the field of community building. Why are online communities the big secret behind the growth and success of many companies and social movements? Because of which trends do we need them to be and remain relevant? Book Maartje Blijleven as a speaker or chairman. (Dutch or English).
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The exclusive network for enterprising top women who not only dream of growth and impact, but who also make it happen. Join like-minded entrepreneurs, be inspired by leading CEOs, and create an inclusive future together. Our masterminds are sharp and goal-oriented, always with a good dose of enthusiasm and a wink. We believe in 'lift as you grow'. Together we make a difference.