Do the proactive work first. We’ve said this before.
Do the work that progresses the community. Be proactive, not reactive. Do the work that increases the level of growth, the level of activity, or the sense of community felt among members.
However, this needs an addendum.
Do the work that has the longest-term, most widely affected, impact upon the community first. For example, you could individually invite people to join a community or you could create a summary of the best community advice that forever attracts more people to join.
You can write a content article, or you could reach out to three of your community’s top experts and see if they want to write a regular content article for the community (and share it externally)
You can run a successful online event, or plan an annual, in-person, gathering for the community (with sponsors).
You can reach out to five companies and ask if they might like to promote the community to new and existing employees as a useful source of content.
You can review the conversion funnel and make specific interventions that forever increase the conversion ratio.
You can schedule calls with your sector’s top influencers to get them involved in the community – and then promote their membership of these influencers.
You can create a dedicated 101 area in the community for people new to the topic – this becomes a designated place that attracts a lot of referrals.
You can scan the current trends and realign the community concept, content, and activity to ensure the concept still personifies the interests of members.
You’re always going to be pressed to response to the ‘emergencies‘. The spam, the fights, the lost passwords. All these can wait. Focus on doing the important work.
Work on the tasks that have the longest, beneficial, impact. Look for things that forever increase the value of the community to members.
