Making Things Happen In Your Community

If you’re struggling to get your community to do something, it’s probably because you’re telling them to do it. This doesn’t work too well. It relies too heavily on your influence over the collective influence of the community.

If you want members to take an action, begin small. Reach out to a group of people and persuade them to start doing it. This doesn’t have to be an influencer group, just members that believe in it. Soon others will join in. In short, you need to show them, not tell them.

For example, if you want members to share their best pictures of …. You reach out to 10 (or so) people and begin doing. Others will soon join it. It becomes part of your community culture.

If it doesn’t take off, you know it’s not something the community wants to do and you stop trying to get your community to do things they don’t want to do

This takes time and planning. This means you need to be picky about the steps you want members to take. Only pick the most important stuff, ignore the rest.

Comments

[Daryl Wilkes]

Hi Richard,

Great advice, I am trying to do just this at the moment.

Daryl

[Jim X]

Thanks much! I read this after the third attempt to get people to update their profile photos. I should chill out.. --Jim

[natureislandboy_80@hotmail.com]

very good advice i learn a lot from this i always thought of set in up a group togeather and give them the plan and send them out there sometimes its hard to get people to understand your projects example every body is into facebook u have built a social site how to get people to join your site when thay into facebook but i guess we all have to work hard at it. you get the right people involved in your projects once thay understand you and your project goals you are on your way to success. keep up the good work partner M.BUCKMIRE

[Judith van Praag]

Hi Rich,
Great post. You're right, show by example, that's the way to get the others to follow suit. At least you hope that is the case, so far my community has been slow on the pick-up. That is, until this week, when a new member joined and started making use of all the apps and items on our site. A-ma-zing. It's as though someone finally gets it that I've been handing them the tools AND the examples. Suddenly people are making friends right and left and across generations.