Plan your community before you build it

Decide what your community is for, which channels it needs, how often you'll show up, and how it should feel, so it stays alive after launch week.

Most communities don't fail on software. They fail because nobody knows what the space is for or when to show up. An hour of planning gives you a space your clients actually return to. You'll finish with a one-page plan you can build from.

Before you start

• Time: about an hour, with a notebook.
• Think about the clients you'll invite first. A community of 8 engaged people beats 80 quiet ones.

Step 1: Name its purpose in one sentence

Finish this sentence: "This is the place where [who] come to [do what] so that [what changes]."

For example: "This is the place where newly promoted nonprofit leaders come to ask honest questions and share wins, so that nobody leads alone."

Put that sentence in your community's Description. If a post doesn't serve it, it probably belongs somewhere else.

Step 2: Pick 3 to 5 channels

Channels are topics inside your community. Start small. Empty channels make a space feel abandoned, and you can always add more.

A simple starting set:

Add a channel for a program or cohort only when that group is active.

Step 3: Set your rhythm

Members come back when they know something will be there. Choose a weekly pattern you can keep for three months, even in a busy season:

• Monday: a prompt for the week ("What's one conversation you're dreading?").
• Midweek: a short teaching post, a worksheet or a voice note.
• Friday: a wins thread.
• Monthly: a live call or office hours, announced a week ahead.

Write next month's posts in one sitting and schedule them. See Post in your community. Turn on the weekly digest email so quieter members see what they missed.

Step 4: Decide the tone and the guidelines

Write three to five house guidelines in plain words. For example:

• Be kind and assume good intent.
• What's shared here stays here.
• No selling or recruiting.
• This space supports coaching. It isn't therapy or crisis care.

Decide now how you'll handle a post that crosses a line, so you're not deciding in the moment. See Keep your community healthy.

Your tone is set by your own posts. Warm, specific and brief invites replies. Long polished essays tend to get likes and no comments.

Step 5: Plan the seeding

Before you invite anyone, the space should look lived in:

• A pinned welcome post with your purpose sentence and guidelines.
• An introduction from you, with a question that invites theirs.
• One useful resource, such as your favorite worksheet.
• A simple poll with two or three options.
• A date for the first live call.

Then invite a few people you know will post first. Ask them directly. Early replies make it easier for the next person.

Step 6: Decide how people get in

Will the community be part of a paid program, a free tier, or a bonus for course buyers? Note that joining through a membership plan isn't working yet. See Give members access to your community before you promise a date.

Check it worked

You have, on one page: your purpose sentence, your channels, your weekly rhythm, your guidelines, your seed posts, and who you'll invite first. Now build it with Create your community, channels and first posts.

If something's off

• Launch week was busy, then it went quiet: that's normal. Go back to your rhythm, post the Monday prompt, and reply to every comment for the next month.
• Only you are posting: ask direct, easy questions and tag two or three members by name. Polls help.
• Too many channels and no one knows where to post: merge down to three or four and announce the change.