Who is the core target member of the community?
Think about it for a second.
I’m betting it’s “people who buy our products/services!”
Can you equally help and support each of these people?
Do you have experts who can answer questions no-one else can?
Do you have many people in similar situations who can quickly respond to their most common questions?
Do you have a culture that’s set to welcome this group of people? Will they already know some people in the group ?
We’re often so terrified of turning anyone away that we would rather accept all comers and disappoint the great majority instead.
That’s nuts.
Nothing makes us want to join a group more than being turned away.
It’s always better to target a specific type of member, and tell the rest to come back later.
Focus on the people you can help the most. Who would get the most value from the group? What kind of genuine experts do you have? What sector are most of your members in? What clusters of people are among your audience?
Build a profile. Who is the ideal member? How many years of experience do they have? Where do they live? What work do they do? What are their hopes and aspirations. What are their biggest problems? What are they afraid of?
Now build an entire journey around that. Measure their satisfaction with the community. Check their levels of activity.
Now…and only now…should you move on to your second target member.
