We’re in the process of growing
a community for community professionals.
This has meant living by our
principles (and being our own client)
This means having a refined concept that excludes 90% of our
possible audience. It means launching with a tiny, small, group that share a
lot in in common. It means resisting the temptation to promote it on the blog,
e-mail our mailing list, or let anyone join.
It’s a small, exclusive, community highly focused upon one
specific area of the topic.
In theory, this is easy. In
practice, you face your own doubts (and greed).
- Wouldn’t it be better to have a broader concept
and more members? - Wouldn’t it be easier to get as many people to
join the community as possible to get the community off the ground? - Can we really commit one person to do this
full-time?
However, a broader concept would be less attractive to
everyone. It would put us in competition with the existing, terrific,
communities. It would kill the community in the long-term.
A big promotional push wouldn’t let us convert many members
into active participants, nor check that we have a popular concept, and a
proven method for sustaining activity.
Every person that launches a community faces doubts that it
won’t succeed. Like hosting a party where nobody shows, it’s embarrassing and
costly. You will face the daily temptation to go bigger and quicker. That’s a
mistake. You have to fight this temptation.
___________________________________________________________
On July 1st, Google is shutting Google Reader down.
This means we need to persuade you to take one of two actions.
1) Click here to subscribe by e-mail (best option)
2) Move your Google Readers feed to Feedly (it takes about 2 minutes)