Increateable

Day 23 of 30: The Power of Delighting Members

Delighting your members (or audience) is more than a nice gesture—it's a powerful tool.  Every interaction, be it a note, a message, or a gift, can revolutionize your relationship with them.  Time is scarce, and how we use it shows our true priorities. Let's explore

Day 22 of 30: Physical Spaces as a Digital Community Framework

Community building is not just about ideas. It's about physical spaces too. Think about a gym. It's a perfect example of how different spaces cater to different communities.  Let's dive into how a gym teaches us about community building. Gyms: A Model for Community

Day 21 of 30: Minimum Viable Audience: A Key to Product Success

In the rush to develop products, it’s easy to overlook a crucial element—the audience.  Builders assume what the audience needs based on their experience or what they already know about the audience.  This is insufficient. The concept of the minimum viable audience (MVA) flips this script.  It puts

Day 20 of 30: Turning Ideas into Action: A Practical Guide for Communities

99% of online communities are stuck in "Idea Mode." Words, thoughts, typing...transmitted via devices...from indoor spaces...alone.  This is the definition of inaction.  Online communities have evolved to become marketplaces for ideas. But too often, they're just that—places for ideas, not action.  It&

Day 19 of 30: Daily, Weekly, Monthly: Building Community by Attendance

Community engagement is all about timing.  Too much interaction too soon, or too little spread too thin, can leave members feeling ovewhelmed or neglected.  The challenge is finding that 'Goldilocks' zone of engagement - not too frequent, not too sparse, but just right. 🤝 Understanding your community's

Day 18 of 30: Prompt, Response, Publish: A Community Content Flywheel

Content creation is staring at a blank page, cursor blinking, waiting for the next groundbreaking idea.  It's a common trap for community leaders: believing that they must constantly produce value bombs to keep their members engaged.  This one-sided approach not only places immense pressure on the leader but

Day 17 of 30: Community is Nothing More than a Series of Small Actions Repeated Over Time, Together

There's a pervasive myth that the foundation of a strong community lies in its architecture — the elaborate platforms, the intricate systems, the expensive tools. As humans we mistake what we see now as how things started. Evolution isn't obvious.  This mistake leads many builders to pour

Day 16 of 30: Community Doesn't Sell

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is the idea of selling a community as a product.  People don't wake up with a desire to buy into a community. What they're really after is value — information, expertise, access — tangible benefits that enrich their professional or

Day 15 of 30: Maximizing Community Feedback Beyond Problem-Solving

Community management has a major crossroads: how to handle member feedback.  The common route is to use this feedback to fix what's broken, to patch up the visible cracks. This approach barely scratches the surface of what feedback can truly offer. It's like using a powerful

Day 14 of 30: Conversion and Balance in Freemium Communities [#3 of 3]

Day 14 of 30: Conversion and Balance in Freemium Communities [#3 of 3] In the final installment on freemium communities, I want to talk about managing both free and paid versions within a freemium community (yes, that happens). I'll also cover strategies for converting freemium members into paid

Day 13 of 30: Cultivation and Top of Funnel Optimization in Freemium Communities [#2 of 3]

The real power of cultivating a freemium community is using it as a lead generation tool.  Top-of-funnel optimization is key, and it all starts with delivering value to your users and encouraging them to take action together. The goal is not to find the one perfect activity. The goal is

Day 12 of 30: Intro to Freemium Communities [1/3]

Are you looking to build a strong, engaged community around a specific topic or activity? Look no further than the concept of a freemium community. In this three-part series, I want to delve into what exactly a freemium community is and why it's such a powerful concept.  A

Day 11 of 30: Guiding Principles for Scaling Your Community Effectively

As community builders, it’s vital to understand that effective scaling is not about increasing numbers or revenue.  It's not Community Go Up...it's Community Doubles Down.  It’s about deepening the impact and maintaining the core values that define your community. Here's how

Day 10 of 30: The Critical Art of Setting Boundaries in Community Building

One of the most challenging and important things you will do is determine what will not happen inside your community. Our digital lives are often overshadowed by the negative aspects of the world around us. This is evident in our news feeds and the content that grabs our instinctual attention.

Day 8 of 30: The Role of Curation in Building Lasting Communities

While community is often seen as an act of discovery, it's important to recognize that discovery alone is not the element that will scale a community.  The true differentiator between a community that merely starts and one that endures is curation. Curation Beyond Basic Needs Curation in a

Day 9 of 30: The Important Role of Small Actions in Community Building

When I first embarked on the journey of building communities, I made a critical mistake. I thought that having a clear and strong vision was all it took to set my community apart. I quickly learned that this was only part of the equation. What truly sets a community apart

Day 7 of 30: Minimum Effective Dose for Community Building

When building a community, it's not just about bringing people together, but also about solving a problem for them. This problem could be a connection issue, an educational need, or a behavioral challenge. It's important to consider how much work the members of your community need

Day 6 of 30: Specifics Matter When You Launch Your Community

When you're trying to attract new members, it's crucial to make promises that you can actually deliver on, without overwhelming people or making unrealistic claims. One common mistake that community builders make is focusing too much on the end goal, without considering the practical steps that

Day 5 of 30: Three Unscalable Things to Start a Community

Today I am sharing some thoughts on building a community from the ground up.  Think of it like launching a rocket - it takes a lot of effort to break through the initial resistance, but once you do, the momentum will carry you forward. I've found that the

Day 4 of 30: Value Alignment at Sign Up

Getting people to sign up for your online community can be a real challenge, whether it's a paid or free community.  One way to make it easier is to ensure that they are getting value from the moment they join. This could be in the form of a

Day 3 of 30: Community Monetization

Running a community platform involves certain costs. Whether it's for necessary upgrades or basic operations, investment is often inevitable. This leads to a crucial decision: should you charge for membership? The answer largely depends on the value proposition of your community. The Free Community Model No Initial Cost:

Day 2 of 30-Day Community Problems: Ensuring Return Visits and Tackling One-Time Logins

One of the most complicated challenges that new community builders have is getting members to come back. There's no single change you can make that will work unless you have the four key components in place. Level One: Your community has to be focused on 1️⃣ a current

Choosing the Right Platform for Your Community

As an experienced community builder for over 20 years, I can tell you that there is no one-size-fits-all platform for building a community. I've used more than 25 different platforms and still haven't found the perfect one.  There are as many platform options as there are

Earning Your Right to Community

Starting and launching a thriving online community is sooo much more than just expertise. Forget about traditional qualifications like transcripts or diplomas hanging on the wall. Or badges on your LinkedIn profile. Nobody cares about your "flair." Social media success depends on what you do, how you do

Shortcuts Shortchange Your Members (In the Long Term)

In this issue, we're exploring a fundamental aspect of community building and member engagement: the power of challenges. Drawing insights from recent discussions, let's delve into how challenges offer value and serve as crucial tools for learning and growth in our communities.