4 Secrets of Community Building beyond typical advice
To bring people together for a common cause is not an easy thing to do. It's not just hard coz strangers don't trust you initially... but also because the internet is a confusing and overwhelming place.
In last few years I have worked with tens of companies in different capacities in this subject and some of them ended up making over a million with these 4 principles. So I know a little bit beyond "which platform to use".
In fact, platform is not even as important as we generally think. A community architect who knows what he is doing can build a community on Telegram as successfully as on Heartbeat.
But not if he or she doesn't know these 4 principles:
The New Blood: There are no stagnant communities. Communities either grow or die. I have built personal communities that no one bother to check. And have built client communities that people keep coming back to without owners posting anything. And the primary reason of that is, new people come to join. Without the new blood, even the old members stop coming. For some mysterious universal reasons, the new blood ensures that there is a constant flow of energy that keeps the spiral upwards. So when you are building a community, do not stop investing in growth while investing in engagement. In fact, engagement, often, is a result of Incentives. source
Principle of Incentives: I have been accused of writing for incentive; of 'being promotional. People often prefer those who do not 'sell'.
But the truth is, we are all driven by incentives. By not selling, you are trying to sell a 'noble human' or 'being on the right side' image of yourself. This is neither right or wrong. The important thing to understand is, we are all driven by incentives.
And you must realize the psychological incentives are often higher than monetary incentives. You must show the incentives clearly and directly of being part of your movement.
As long as incentives are clearly communicated, engagement happens naturally. You do not need to manufacture it.
Principle of Reproduction: I once learned from my mentor, the reward of hard work is, more hard work. You think building community will make you passive income. Instagram gurus are shilling this idea hard. It's a lie. At least as long as you do not want to s2ām others. Building community also means taking care of the community. And it comes with responsibility. However, as you grow you can delegate this responsibility and as a result you make more money by working less. But that doesn't mean the work itself is reduced.
Journey is the reward: Too cliché! But hear me out: Community is made for the sake of community. If you are launching it to sell a course, it is not a community. It is a lead database. Communities are built for ... for the sake of building a community.
And if done right, you will make money, you will have fun and more things... as a side effect of doing things right. But building a community for this specific purpose ends up failing often. Feel free to choose any platform you like. Skool, Kajabi, Circle, all are on table. Or even free ones like Discord or Facebook groups.