Start with a Core Group
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
My first job out of college taught me to be led by ideas instead of individuals. I was working for a narcissist. After 2 years, I came to realize I wasn't there because of a vision, but because he simply wanted a platform. I resigned. Vision keeps people engaged. Pride doesn’t.
Many community founders come up against this whilst building their new communities.
Founders have to determine if the community exists to serve their own interests or if they exist to serve the community they're building.
Obviously, when it comes down to ROI, the community must in some fashion help the founder. They need something, whether it be monetization, increased customer loyalty, or speeding up product-market fit to keep it going.
But the fact is:
If you build a community for yourself, it will fail.
Instead, my suggestion is to build something with your people. Something that your niche would naturally gravitate toward, and then your job is to get them on board.
One of the best, sure-fire ways to do this is through investing in a core group.
What is a Core Group?
Core groups are the secret sauce behind most successful social enterprises. Every community needs a different size (depending on what it exists to do), but often its 5-50 people.
It's how political campaigns, churches, synagogues, etc. each get off the ground. Money too of course! But this much is true: New communities demand brave, active individuals who can get behind a vision.
Your job as the community founder is twofold:
Cast vision
Show them how to achieve that vision consistently
As long as you activate imaginations and then deliver on your promises, people will keep coming back.
But you're not a god either. You don't and you won't have your vision, nor your systems all figured out. You need others to sharpen what you have to offer.
Why a Core Group can help
Don’t let optimism bias rule you.
When you're starting out, you don't know what to expect from your community. You may have lofty goals, you may want to build features no one cares about, you just don't know what will happen.
A core group protects you from falling prey to expecting too much from your community. They'll keep you in line. They'll ask you questions you hadn't yet considered. They'll perform the tasks you thought were crystal clear in the wrong way.
In short, they'll help you to see both your blindspots, but also your victories.
Every core group has a few different kinds of people involved:
The champions. You ask them to jump in and they already did before you asked them. They're your MVPs; reliable, there to contribute, and ready for what's next. They run on the vision you give them.
The critics. You need people who will offer you unsolicited feedback. "Only 1 out of 26 unhappy customers complain. The rest churn." This means the brave few who risk being an *ss to tell you what you may need to hear, are worth thanking ― not ostracizing. But.. they're not always right either.
The lurkers. Community experts debate the name for these folks, but the reality is they aren't dead weight. They may in fact be gleaning value quietly from your community. And besides, they help you gain critical mass. They key thing though.. they need to be online sometimes. Inactive members should eventually be removed.
The needy. IYKYK. New communities often draw in a type of person looking for a place where they can get attention or worse yet, influence. Without intervention, they will drain the life from your community causing others not to want to show up. But if you create the right space uniquely built for them, they'll love you forever.
How to find your core group
If you don't have at least 5 slam-dunk people that would jump into your new community tomorrow, that's a problem. It could mean you don't yet have enough of an audience to get started, but it probably means you don't yet know what you're building yet.
Empathizing on behalf of 5 real people that your community would serve is a great exercise. It forces you to consider who you're reaching, why you're reaching them, and also what would benefit them. (See Narrow your Niche if you want to think through this first).
Once you have clarity about your niche, start small. Test your vision with a trusted few (like 3-5 people) and see how they respond. They’ll want more details, but you don't need to give them that yet. Just give them vision. And then, ask for their help to help you determine how that vision could come to fruition. Bat ideas around. Make it fun.
Once you have a rough path forward, refine it. Test it. Crack the door open a bit further. Invite a few people more in. Now you have 15-30 people. Keep it going. Test it further. Keep refining. Cast vision for an official launch event. And you're off to the races.
Community building isn’t rocket science, it's primarily good old-fashioned leadership.
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I help founders develop core groups that become highly active communities in 90 days. If you'd like to learn more to see if it might be a good fit for your community, book a consult here.
