Method 30 · Partnerships
Community Building
Forums, online and offline groups, and member spaces that you host or own.
What it actually is
A space (Slack, Circle, Discord, Geneva, or in person) where members of a defined audience gather, share, and stay connected. Hosted by you or your brand.
Best for
Personal-brand founders, course creators, B2B operators selling to a defined niche, and any business where the customer base benefits from talking to each other.
Watch-outs
Communities require active hosting. Cold communities damage the brand. If you cannot show up three times a week, do not start one.
Real talk
A great community is the most defensible asset a founder can build. It is also one of the most under-invested-in. Members renew, refer, and forgive missteps that strangers will not.
First steps
- 1.Define the one outcome members get from being in the room
- 2.Seed the first thirty members by hand-pick, not application form
- 3.Show up every week for the first ninety days without skipping
The numbers
- Effort
- High effort
- Impact ceiling
- Compounding impact
- Timeline
- Results in months
- Time required
- 10 to 20 hrs/week
- Budget required
- Under $500/mo
- Primary medium
- In-person
- Channel type
- Owned channel
- Stage fit
- GrowingScaling
- Goals served
- LoyaltyAuthorityLeads
Tools and examples
Slack for B2B groups · Circle for paid communities · Discord for creators · In-person chapters and meetups