Building community flywheels
Let's take a dive into learning what flywheels are and how to make them, eventually using them to build better communities.
Summary:
Every community builder out there has felt like this at some point -- finding that initial traction with ongoing discussions can be hard.
Start with easy discussions, like introduction posts.
Experiment with writing posts
Creating a regular or ritual post
The point with all of these mini flywheels is you can’t write stuff and expect magic to happen, you need to find actions to elevate your content.
Great communities are built on great ethics, kindness, and human behavior.
Build all that ⬆️ into your community, one small flywheel at a time.
Community guidelines do not make a great culture, actions do.
Having a flywheel that encourages great community culture not only encourages others to copy your ‘good actions, but featuring selected community activities also indicates things you want to see within the community.
Giving and helping are at the heart of great communities.
Community culture does not happen overnight.
Flywheels take practice, lots and lots of practice. Failing is a part of the process.
Flywheels are the things you do, the process, the daily tasks.
Scribble:
The main challenge faced by a community builder -- trying to achieve a constant flow of activity.
A thriving community is one that feels like there is the right balance of activity.
Ways to increase the quantity/quality of activity
more discussions
more members
creating more value
events that matter
more connection
Community funnel of hope
Consider funnels in terms of flywheels.
Effective flywheel creates energy
Energy leads to growth 📈
Flywheel
Instead of funnels, we are using flywheels
An effective flywheel creates energy or traction, which then naturally leads to growth.
The key is to figure out a set of actions that support each other and keep doing them
Build on Flywheel
bring energy and traction, usually in the form of more or higher quality activity
add value to the community
align with your goals and vision
Life of Flywheel
A flywheel or multiple connected flywheels have grown and evolved there will be a time it comes to a natural end.
What worked 5 or 10 years ago most certainly won’t work today.
Takeaways
flywheel actions like this will help you get where you want to be
people will naturally gravitate towards you when you come to launch a blog, a newsletter, podcast or a community.
when you have that gravity = people join your community!
The things are great to know people, but how does it translate to building community?
You can’t build community without:
Knowing your people
Conversing with them
Creating something of value
Example of a Flywheel
“I want more members” flywheels
Think about what it is members need
How you can align that to your community vision
Start by getting to know your people.
On Twitter (Example)
Instead of subscribing to their newsletter, you follow them. Bonus points for building trust by participating in the conversation.
The above are a few examples of creating flywheels and how it evolves further using Twitter as a real-life example can be seen below.
There are more examples of flywheels on the blog, make sure you check them out! 👋🏼😊
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