Research your members (properly)

Welcome to the Community Coach newsletter, a value packed read
for community builders. So much value with not much time at hand. So let’s go.

In this newsletter…

📚 Community 101: How to conduct member research

🤖 A platform turning audiences into communities (including the All In podcast, My First Million podcast, Bryan Johnson and SuperDAO)

🎱 Welo — creating fun virtual spaces that integrate with Zoom https://www.welo.space/the-secret-sauce-what-makes-welo-special/

🔥 Inspiring community builder: Raechel Lambert accidentally started a community and built a SAAS business out of it

👋 No question this week, instead a commentary on how can we fix social media’s crisis of legitimacy

Community 101: Member Research

Before launching a community, the most important step is understanding the people you want to build it for.

The biggest mistake is not taking the time to learn what your community members want.

Another common error is ASSUMPTIONS. Assuming you know what your members want (which is usually based on your own goals rather than theirs) is a huge mistake to make.

Not understanding your members will lead to lower engagement later on.

Don't see this stage as a chore. Instead, view it as a chance to connect with your members and understand their needs.

Bring as much enthusiasm as possible—this effort will pay off in the long run.

Some questions to ask (to help get started):

• Any potential segmentation of your community that is important to your situation: industry experience, region, other background info.

• What are their pain points or challenges? Why are they looking to join a community - what are they hoping to get out of it?

• Are they looking for information/education, entertainment, to connect with others etc?

• If they’re looking for education/mentorship etc: How do they best learn - through webinars, written content etc?

• Are they a current member of any other communities (directly related or otherwise)? What do they like about those communities/ dislike? What the are gaps that you could fill?

If you’re looking for more help with conducting community research, reply to this email and let me know where you are struggling!

River is turning audiences into communities

The platform River allows creators to set up events globally, with local fans stepping up as hosts.

Hosts only need to choose the venue, time, capacity, and price, while River handles the rest.

Here’s how you can SCALE UP your events globally and convert audiences into communities using River:

Produce dozens of events without having to do any work

• Create dozens of branded events with just a few clicks

• Let your community RSVP or apply to host

• Or let your community propose events for admin approval

Vet hosts & review events proposed by fans/members

• Review host applications for events

• Review events that fans/members propose

• Once approved or rejected, applicants are notified via email & their permissions are updated

Empower hosts to produce great events with proper controls in place

• Hosts can manage event details without being able to edit community or sponsor info

• Hosts can send messages to attendees without accessing personal information

• River collects feedback on hosts and venues to ensure quality over time

Let your fans/members meet like-minded people in their city

• People within online micro-communities feel like they have “inside jokes with strangers” when they meet IRL

• Hosts are able to build a lot of social capital while giving back to their community

• People who connect in curated small groups are more likely to stay in touch than at big, generic tech events

Welo

I recently tried out Welo Space and thought this tool was worth sharing.

With Welo Space, community builders can design virtual spaces that feel like real-life events and create customizable layouts and rooms just like you would in the real world.

Participants can move freely between areas, have spontaneous interactions by just “popping into a room” and network with others.

You can also upload content that lives in the spaces along with easily arrange breakout rooms and virtual tables.

Plus the integrations are FIRE: integrating with Zoom, Google Docs, Mural and Miro.

I’ve seen platforms like these come and go, but community members do appreciate new experiences (especially when Zoom just feels so 2D still).

Note: It is important that you don’t rely too much on the platform itself to create the “fun” experience, hoping it will result in a successful event.

You should be thinking of ways that actually help your members connect meaningfully whilst also enjoying doing so in a different environment…

Such as on an island getaway or at a campfire setting!

Inspiring community builder
Raechel Lambert: All-in meetups & River

Raechel Lambert never planned to create a large community… (note from me: “accidentally” building large communities is actually more common than you think!).

It all started 18 months ago when Raechel set up a simple signup form to bring fans of The All-In Podcast together in Miami for their 100th episode.

The idea went viral, leading to meetups in 24 cities. By episode 125, this had grown to 50 cities, showing huge demand for such gatherings.

Managing all of these these events simultaneously was challenging.

Raechel and her team tried to automate the process using tools like Airtable, Zapier, and Luma but found it unsustainable.

The current event platforms were lacking something that Raechel (and many other community builders truly needed): a way to scale up events by allowing members to apply to host - and control for quality along with data privacy.

The breakthrough came when Jason Calacanis suggested turning this effort into a SaaS platform and invested $100k through his LAUNCH Accelerator.

This led to the creation of River (mentioned earlier in this newsletter!), an events management platform that simplifies organizing community meetups whilst addressing the issues that other event platforms lacked.

Today, River boasts 7,000 members and is gearing up for meetups in 70 cities for Episode 150 of The All-In Podcast.

Key learnings:

• Simple ideas can have a significant impact—don't underestimate the power of a basic signup form.

• Scalability is crucial. Tools that work for small events might not suffice as your community grows.

• Embrace new opportunities and be open to suggestions - the platform River was born because of this!

• Empower members to take ownership and become hosts: this is an incredible way to scale your community engagement efforts beyond just yourself/ your community team.

Raechel's journey shows that with creativity, the right tools and a supportive network, you can turn an accidental community into a powerful global network (along with a SAAS business to boot!).

Answering your questions

How can we fix social media’s crisis of legitimacy?

In the early days of the internet, online communities were often self-governed, which helped build a sense of ownership and accountability among members.

Current social media platforms are too big and complex to manage that way, so they need more centralized control due to social, commercial and regulatory pressures.

Some interesting observations that may be considered for future social media platforms and tools that would like to encourage a focus on community:

• The ability to create hybrid models that combines centralized and decentralized governance 

  • For example on Reddit there is a balance between broad platform policies and community-specific rules, enhancing the user experience and relevance.

  • While subreddit moderators handle day-to-day governance, Reddit’s central team offers support and intervenes in severe cases. Reddit admins might step in if a subreddit’s moderation team is inactive or if a community is causing widespread harm.

• Introducing features like user-selectable algorithms for content curation can empower communities to shape their own experiences, improving satisfaction and trust.

• There is a growing need to increase the transparency and promote ethical norms among platform developers to improve accountability and align platform operations with community values

Read the full article below:

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

Connect with me on Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn.

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