My first community turned into a ghost town. Here’s what I wish I knew
the first time I tried to build a community, it flopped.
I did the textbook things: posted daily, hosted zooms, set up a discord.
still, nothing stuck. it felt like dragging a dead weight uphill.
what I didn’t realize back then:
more activity ≠ more connection
bigger numbers ≠ healthier community
and carrying all the energy myself was the fastest road to burnout
fast forward. i’ve since worked with 100+ communities - coaches, creators, brand-led groups. the same patterns kept showing up. some communities thrived, most stalled.
so I started writing down what separated the ones that worked from the ones that didn’t. eventually it turned into a playbook. I figured folks here would get the most value from it, so here’s the pdf - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xNWpLObS9EDPv0PLOm4SFfWCkln8zxWE
no gates, no pitch. just lessons i wish i had earlier.
for me, the hardest part was battling silence in the early days. what’s been your toughest challenge?
I know this post is a bit older, but I would still like to express my heartfelt thanks for it. These are truly valuable insights, thank you very much!
For me, the most difficult part is even the first part, which you call “Spark”: You need 5 people who say: “This is what I've been looking for.”
It turns out that even finding these 5 people is more difficult than I thought!
Great post. Building an online community is hard work.