Don't Be A Celebrity

You shouldn't be a celebrity in your community.

It's perfectly ok if the majority of your community have no idea who you are.

Your work is to develop a great community by motivating and connecting star players. These star players should be celebrities in your community. You should be uncovering, promoting and motivating them to get as involved as they can possibly be.

If you are the celebrity in your community, if people depend upon you for the community to prosper, I don't think you're doing your job right. Worse, if you need your community to admire you to get your work done, you've got a real problem.

The best thing you can do today is drop a message to your 5 most respected members, and ensure they're talking to each other.

Comments

[Bryan Person]

Good thinking here, Rich. Sometimes the community needs to be more visible as a community is getting started. But as the community matures, that manager will help groom leaders (or "stars") who will spur discussions and involvement. The successful community manager can then contribute -- at least publicly -- in a more complementary fashion.

Bryan Person | @BryanPerson
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