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?