Stop thinking about your community as just an audience. Instead, treat these people as collaborators.

The inescapable truth is that you’ll have to exceed expectations with your core activity if you want people to show up and keep showing up.

Scott Heiferman, co-founder of Meetup, told us during a workshop, “people show up for the meetup but they come back for the people.”

“It just became so clear that people felt the need for this. It was almost like I didn’t have to explain, because they understood immediately,”

You can find your team of allies by asking yourself a series of more targeted questions: 1. Who do I care about? 2. Who do I share an interest, identity, or place with? 3. Who do I want to help?

Focus on two criteria: 1. Who brings the energy—who are the people who already engage, contribute, or attend? Don’t try to conjure motivation out of thin air. Start with keen participants. 2. Assuming that the community flourishes, who will you stick with? Cultivating a community is a long-term

communities are simply groups of people who keep coming together over what they care about. The most vibrant communities offer members a chance to act on their passions with one another.

Harvard professor Robert D. Putnam describes the value of reciprocal relationships with the term “social capital.” He compares social capital to other well-known forms of capital: “Just as a screwdriver (physical capital) or a college education (human capital) can increase productivity (both individual and collective), so too social contacts affect

Although communities feel magical, they won’t come together by magic. In this early stage, there’s no substitute for a courageous leader (like you!) who takes the first step.