Building community as a solo creator without burning out
Nov 5, 2024
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Carrie Melissa Jones, author of "Building Brand Communities" and founder of CMJ Group, discusses essential strategies for solo creators. She shares insights on transitioning from cohort-based to evergreen community models, highlighting the importance of continuous engagement. Carrie emphasizes automated matchmaking for effective community building and preventing creator burnout. With her experience consulting for major companies like Discord and Google, she provides invaluable tips on platform selection and creating welcoming experiences that enhance community dynamics.
Co-leadership is essential for community builders to prevent isolation, burnout, and foster collaboration among diverse members.
Establishing a clear purpose for a community guides member interactions, facilitating targeted discussions and enhancing engagement.
Transitioning to an evergreen community model allows for flexible, ongoing member engagement and accommodates varied learning paces.
Deep dives
The Importance of Co-Leadership
Co-leadership is vital in building a community, as it prevents isolation and burnout for leaders. Engaging individuals who can help shape and nurture the community fosters a collaborative environment. Such collaboration ensures diverse ideas and energy are brought into the community, making it more vibrant and inclusive. Leaders should consider how to effectively involve others in this journey, facilitating a shared vision that aligns with the community's purpose.
Purpose-Driven Community Building
Establishing a clear purpose for a community is essential to guide interactions and engagement among members. A specific focus helps to avoid confusion and creates a structure for conversations and activities. For instance, a community designed for dog lovers focusing on aging dogs can initiate targeted discussions that feel relevant and engaging. Identifying this purpose allows community builders to better facilitate interactions, ensuring members feel connected to a shared goal.
Transitioning From Cohort-Based to Evergreen Models
Shifting from a cohort-based course to an evergreen model provides flexibility for members and allows constant engagement. While cohort-based courses create a sense of camaraderie in the structure, the evergreen model permits continual access, meeting members at different points in their learning journeys. This approach enables creators to foster a community with varied levels of engagement, accommodating different learner paces and preferences. Ultimately, it provides an opportunity to prioritize social interactions while also maintaining structured learning.
Engagement and Participation Dynamics
Understanding that only a small percentage of community members will actively participate can be liberating for community builders. This dynamic, which reflects social loafing in group settings, should inform how leaders approach member interactions. While it's vital to engage the core group, creators should not neglect the rest, as these members may still derive value from the community. Providing a supportive environment for all members fosters a sense of belonging, encouraging those on the periphery to gradually engage more meaningfully.
Building Relationships Through Intentionality
Intentional connection strategies, such as automated matchmaking or warm-up activities, are crucial for nurturing relationships within communities. Personal connections founded on shared interests or casual interactions can enhance participation and community cohesion. Small, relatable activities can create lasting bonds among members, strengthening the overall community experience. This relational aspect is foundational for maintaining an engaged membership that thrives on collaboration and shared goals.
Carrie Melissa Jones shares the blueprint for building successful online communities.
Carrie is the author of Building Brand communities, founder of the CMJ group where she offers consulting services to organisations like Discord, Google and Airbnb, creator of her own community membership for community builders and leaders and a Youtuber!
In this episode we cover:
- Sneak peak into Carrie's own community setup
- Platform selection strategies
- Creating effective welcome experiences- Why automated matchmaking works (100% NPS!)
- Preventing creator burnout
If you enjoyed this episode, you should sign up for Beginner Maps to get the "magic sauce" of top creators like Carrie - https://beginnermaps.com/
Resources:
• Curated Connections, the automated matchmaking tool - https://curatedconnections.io/
• Carrie's website - https://www.carriemelissajones.com/
• The CMJ community - https://www.carriemelissajones.com/community
• Carrie's Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@CarrieMelissaJones/
• Carrie's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriemelissajones/
• Nityesh's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nityeshaga/
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
03:09 Transitioning from Cohort-Based to Evergreen Community
06:14 Evergreen Community Benefits and Inspirations
11:13 Inside Carrie's Workspace and Tools
21:41 Mini Masterclass: Starting a Community Without Burning Out
28:42 Simplifying Your Approach
29:49 The Impact of Leadership Vibes
30:50 Co-Leadership and Avoiding Burnout
33:02 Engaging Your Community Members
36:37 Choosing the Right Platform
37:14 Importance of automated matchmaking
51:57 Carrie's academic background
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