Welcome to the Community Coach newsletter, a value packed read
for community builders who have had enough of the AI generated comments and are sitting back to watch the fallout from a safe distance.

In this packed like sardines newsletter…

• 📚 Community 101: Onboard new members (properly) 
  

• 🤖 Build better 1-1 connections that are automated 
  

• 🎱 An icebreaker game to connect people offline/IRL connections
  

• 🔥 This inspiring community builder grew their paid community from a REMOTE ISLAND to ~$55K ARR and has become a finalist for the UK startup awards
  

• 👋 Answering your questions: “How can I expand my community beyond one country?”

Side note: this newsletter may look super long, but it’s estimated to take you 8 minutes if you decide to read it all. Grab a nice cup of coffee/tea and enjoy this mega read. It gave me great joy to write this one for you!

Community 101: Onboarding new members

Why it’s important

First impressions count.

An onboarding process that greets new members with open arms sets the stage for their future involvement.

It's about making them feel seen, valued, and informed.

This crucial step ensures that members aren't just names on a list but are part of something much more exciting, where it’s worth their time to get involved.

If you have a solid onboarding process you will turn new members into loyal, active participants. If it’s not solid, you will cause them to drift away.

If you’re struggling with new members logging in once and then never coming back… then it’s time to improve how you onboard them.

How to have a solid onboarding program

KNOW YOUR GOAL + EXECUTE IT THE RIGHT WAY

What do you actually want from new members? Here’s some common goals:

• New members know what to do & where to go (Level 1)
  Create their own profile, introduce themselves, understand house rules and culture (how to engage)

• New members get involved (Level 2)
  Ask questions, react/comment to others, attend events, provide feedback

• New members add value (Level 3)
  Help/educate newer members, create and deliver valued content for other members, become ambassadors to help you recruit and engage other members

EXECUTION STRATEGY

Onboarding can be split into two categories: on platform and in person. It’s best to have a combination of both of these.

Successful onboarding of new members (to go from newbie to active) relies on the following:

1. Easy access to important information: clear path to getting involved

2. Solid support structure: feeling understood, heard and comfortable

3. Plenty of engagement opportunities: making it easy to get involved

   Ensure new members have easy access to essential information like the community's mission, house rules, what they should do first.
   
   This information should be stored somewhere in your community where it is easy to find and access - such as a dedicated channel.
   
   The “culture” of your community should be embedded in all this information provided (language, tone, design).

   

   Example of house rules generated by ChatGPT4 - highly recommend you edit the output further but a great starting point!

   
   
   

   Solid support structure involves ensuring new members feel that their needs are properly understood, they feel safe (like walking in a room and knowing where to go/ who to chat wtih) and ready to get started.

   
   To achieve this I highly recommend:

   
   1) Collecting information on new members before they have joined the community.
   
   Learn how Tom Ross transformed his community by improving the onboarding process using application forms.
   

   2) Personalised outreach via DMs, hosting small groups etc to welcome new members
   
   Use the intel you have gathered in the application form, along with 5 minutes of additional research into each new members(look at their Twitter accounts, websites, projects etc) before you send them a personalised DM welcoming them to the community and how you think they’ll gain the most value.

   
   Most importantly you should treat your community members’ time with respect. 
   

   You want to identify ways you can connect with them - and how you can connect them with each other.
   
   It is such a value add and worth your time.
   
   From experience, I can tell you that those who actually get to know their new members on a personal level tend to have higher quality engagement later on.

   People connect with people.

   The initial up front additional work and time put into this step will reap rewards in the future.

   Also make sure you establish clear channels for support, answering new member questions promptly and creating a safe space for questions, no matter how simple they might seem.
   

   Encourage participation & engagement by leveraging what your community does best.

   
   Whether it's through creative contests/games, themed discussions, or interactive events, find ways to spark that initial engagement.

Automate 1-1 Connections tool: Curated Connections

If you’re looking to spark 1-on-1 conversations with your community members on autopilot (!) then you’ll definitely want to check out this tool called Curated Connections.

It’s used by some pretty incredible communities already like Generalist.world (featured in a later section of this newsletter!), Rails Foundation and Design Buddies - all trying to improve the way their members connect with each other via 1-1 conversations.

It’s simple to use, works on any platform (because the solution is simple: you can create a form and it sends emails to members who match to connect).

Rails Foundation used this tool to virtually connect attendees to their IRL conference WEEKS BEFORE the event.

I can’t even tell you how much I LOVE this approach.

If you’re planning to host and IRL event there is so much value to connecting people beforehand!

How it works

It works with any community platform (Slack, Discord, Circle, Discourse, etc) because it’s a simple form that you create and then send members the link to the form.

No coding required, it’s as easy as creating a Google form and sharing a link.

Curated Connections will automatically match like minded members by default.

But you can customise the match making process completely for your needs.

If you’re struggling with connecting members with each other, or feel that members need to know each other better, it’s worth trying out this tool - they have a free version up to 50 members so it could be worth experimenting with.

Icebreaker tool: Gatheround

You may have heard of Gatheround - the virtual meetings platform.

Well they actually released “super secret” IRL prompt cards and they are amazing!

I’ve seen them being used live in action (at a fun supper club experience) and I can confirm they worked GREAT as an icebreaker.

I witnessed complete strangers go from being awkward to having meaningful conversations with each other.

TIP: Tell people that if they get stuck on a card to just roll on to the next one. It’s not meant to create more awkwardness and social anxiety, and people have more fun when they answer questions they like.

The deck of cards are priced at $45 USD. If you think that’s too pricey, you could always shop around for other alternative icebreaker cards (there’s others out there) - or even make them yourself!

To be honest - making them yourself and including super unique questions for your community is probably THE play, especially if you host a lot of IRL events.

More info on the Gatheround cards and where to buy them can be found here.

Inspiring community builder
Milly Tamati - Generalist.world

Milly Tamati passionately champions and empowers generalists globally, launching generalist.world in May 2022.

"Since launching GW in May 2022, I've found my stride in life, and that pace isn't constrained to being an expert in one thing. It's dawned on me that I'm at my best, my most fulfilled, and my most challenged when I'm free to be a creative generalist. 

I now spend my working days helping others also navigate their non-linear, interdisciplinary careers."

What’s really important to note is that Milly isn’t doing this by themselves. There’s a whole team behind generalist.world. They truly understand the community member that they are building for (because they belong there too!).

"Along with me is a team that I could only have dreamed of working with. Incredibly intelligent, creative, kind, interdisciplinary fokls who are believe that GW will change the way that we work, collaborate and innovate."

"Generalist World is the platform I wish existed when I was 20."

There’s so many great things about this community, and there’s a LOT TO UNPACK here so let’s dive in.

Clear mission and goals stated

This is the mission statement on their website, on their “About us” page (and it’s actually included in quite a few other places on their website, in social media and interviews/blog articles.

It’s clearly defined who belongs in their community, and also define what a generalist actually is

Just take a look at this amazing value pyramid they created!

Also note WHO they got to define this: Erica Warp is in the community team but is also a community member. This adds additional personalisation (the team are members).

Another important note: Throughout their website there are TONS of testimonials from their community members. One thing I would add to improve (small point) is to include a bit more info on who each member is. Jeremy Lynn on the left should have a title/a brief detail on who they are.

The offer on WHY someone should join the community is very clear

It was easy to find this information on their website, and they have additional information for each segment (not just a bunch of buzz words, they make it meaningful to their community members).

They show you “proof of community existence”

There are tons of visuals of members interacting in this community - both online and IRL. The website includes photos and gifs of members interacting - you definitely get the sense this is an active and welcoming community.

They paid attention to the onboarding process

And this has set them apart from the competition. See a testimonial from a member below on how the onboarding process benefited them:

"Another aspect that stands out from previous professional organizations I have been in is the onboarding process. 

Milly, Ece, and Nikita have put a lot of thought into it, curating a seamless experience, breaking down information into bite-sized pieces, and offering actionable steps each day. 

It's made diving into the community effortless and enjoyable."

Authentic voices & transparent communication

This includes addressing any “uncomfortable” topics - such as Milly addressing why she is shutting down the community over the holiday period. Transparency is key here, along with staying true to yourself.

They offer tons of VALUE to their community members

And the value stays true to their members goals: for example - helping members with their career:

All the hard work has paid off - generalist.world is a 2024 finalist for the UK StartUp awards, with over 500 active members and ARR over $50K and growing!

Milly’s post below also proves that you can start a community from anywhere.

Key learnings you can apply to your own community:

• Be clear on your mission and communicate this well - on your website, social media and in your community.

• Define who should be a part of your community. Don’t just use terms and assume people understand what that means. (E.g. they defined what a generalist is to be very clear)

• What does your community offer: why should someone join your community? What do they get out of it? Communicate this well. Consider adding visuals of your community members connecting (so people know they aren’t joining an empty room)

• Pay attention to your onboarding process: this can set you apart from your competition

• Consider how you are adding value to your members that stays true to your overall mission

• Be REAL: Milly is building a strong community by being authentic.

• More great tips from Milly here

Answering your questions

“How do we scale our community beyond one country?”

This is quite an advanced question by a community builder who has passionately built their community based on location at the start, but now wants to expand beyond one market.

There’s several ways to do this and every community will have their unique traits and requirements. Here are some options:

• Consider creating chapters by country/city: Creative Mornings executed this really well. Things to take into consideration:

  • Chapter strategy: who should become a chapter leader and why, what is important to replicate across all chapters, what is acceptable to have as “local” add ons/ changes. Who is in charge of what is also important

  • Application process for chapter leaders + criteria requirements (what does it take to become a chapter leader, how will you decide who will become one)

  • Chapter induction pack: should include everything from branding (down to your logos), templates for events, FAQs, swag that can be distributed at local events/shipped to local members and any other useful information for chapter leaders

  • How you will communicate between chapters: the magic happens when you can connect chapters with each other + ensure there are ways for chapter leaders to communicate back to “HQ”

• Open up your community globally: This requires a lot more work up front but could be worthwhile as you expand your membership base and connect members beyond borders. Some things to take into consideration include:

  • Language barriers

  • Cultural differences

  • Timezones and live events - you will need to host several events to cover more timezones in future

  • Communication with current members about future changes

  • Platform change may be required (some platforms just don’t scale up well - such as Whatsapp groups).

Got a question for me? DM me on Twitter and ask away. Your question may be answered in a future newsletter (and I’ll reply to everyone who asks).

Until next time,

Carmen
Community Coach

P.S - Once I reach 100 subscribers (over halfway there now!)… I’ll be selecting 5 community builders at random to offer a free mentoring session with me. We will go through your community together and discuss any current challenges, what improvements can be made and advice I can offer.

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