A Founder’s Guide to Community

-Internal communications

Success: Enable customers to teach each other how to better use your product and be more successful in their careers. Example: Salesforce’s Trailblazer program

-Optimizing the community journey and new-member onboarding

-Vetting and implementing new technology into the community stack

It’s a subtle but massive difference in mindset. Traditionally, businesses create all the value for the consumer. Community-driven businesses create spaces for consumers to create value for each other.

-Creating automations to reduce repetitive tasks

The number one thing I recommend looking for in your first community hire is a genuine curiosity for the topic that your community is built around. They don’t have to have a lot of experience in the topic of the community. I’ve seen many community professionals be successful at leading communities of engineers when they themselves weren’t engineers... See more

Your customers are going to join your community because of benefits, not belonging. Belonging comes after someone has been a part of a community and formed relationships. What’s going to get them in the door in the first place is a clear understanding of how the community will help them solve a problem or achieve a goal.

-Creating processes for common community programs like running an event or recruiting new leaders