What's your best tip to create engaging communities?

@sentry_co Now how about if the community is about a common mission and purpose, not a product?

@cristinaimre Vision / Mission are powerful drivers yes. But usually at the core you need something tangible.

@sentry_co A high status counts?

@sentry_co haha, good advice😄 You're right, starting point is always a great product!

@kingromstar Absolutely, community building is a continuous journey that requires strategic planning.

@kingromstar Yes, that's very clear. When you engage in such an endeavor you need to be there for the long haul. The reward is worth it though. Now, what would be your best tip for building and maintaining an engaged community?

@kingromstar @imlindsay What would you plan precisely and what would be the key focus while creating the strategy around the community you want to build?

@imlindsay @cristinaimre I'd try to find a goofy class-clown like person to run the community and keep everyone actively engaged or I'd just clone myself and have one of my clones do it. On a more serious note, communities are all about accessibility, relevance, and value. Accessibility: There needs to be some sort of barrier to entry for the community to have any value. Think like you and your group of friends, you and your friends probably have a pretty strong filter around who you associate with or who you even listen to. Having a strong filter matters. Relevance: The members in the community should all have some sort of unifying goal. For example, all of us on ProductHunt are trying to build different types of businesses to make money. Anyone that isn't here to do that is probably wasting their time. Value: The community needs to add value to the members either directly or indirectly. With a strong filter the value naturally arises from the other members sharing their knowledge/information related to the central "focus" of the group. Here we are all trying to build businesses that make bank so relevant valuable information around that would be something like "Build in a high TAM market" etc. Anyways, that's my 2 cents.

@kingromstar I love this and I'm thinking of bringing these contributions inside my Tech Leadership Lab newsletter on LinkedIn when I have communities as a theme. This will happen pretty soon. Now, how about the best platform(s) to choose for a new community focused on tech entrepreneurs? Did you notice any good enough platform that has the potential to give the tools needed to build a strong community for this niche? I'm in all the mainstream ones, not sure yet.

@nicolaas_spijker Good! I would also add clear communication and meaningful content.

@imlindsay For sure, loads of clutter content, especially with the recent accessibility of AI writers

@nicolaas_spijker @imlindsay Could you develop that a bit? What should you communicate clearly and what's meaningful content? I like to place these apparently stupid questions because I realised that today clarity is key to getting to the bottom of things.

@cristinaimre Consistency on being visible and responsive. There are a lot of activities running in the background which are crucial as well, but the end point should be to have the brand out there in some way with a consistence cadence and interact with the community on a frequent basis. Not all content/interactions will be a win or perfect, but being out there is half the work and helps you improve your strategy on the go with the help of your community.

@imlindsay This is a pretty good statement I would say. :)

@eliza_crescini That's a fact. Now, considering your work what did you find to be the most important aspects of engagement?

@cristinaimre as a social media manager, I've found that the most important aspects of engagement are authenticity, consistency, and relevance. When you're genuine, people can tell, and they're more likely to engage with your content. Posting regularly helps you stay top-of-mind with your audience, and creating content that's relevant to their interests is essential for driving engagement.

@eliza_crescini This is really helpful and I love to hear that genuinity is sensed and it counts. Many bad apples need to leave the game. Do you have any clarity about the best platforms to be used for tech entrepreneurs? I find them everywhere, but I wonder if you have a mix of intimacy backed by the typical features of different platforms that can be used as a great starter. Is there any pattern you noticed based on platforms? Like for example communities being more close and engaged on X than on Y?

@cristinaimre I'm glad you found it helpful! Genuinity is definitely important in the tech industry, and it's good to hear that it's noticed and appreciated. As for the best platforms for tech entrepreneurs, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. The best platform for you will depend on your specific needs and goals. In terms of intimacy and community engagement, I've found that Indie Hackers, Product Hunt, and LinkedIn have a particularly close and engaged community. This is likely due to the fact that it's a relatively small community of independent tech entrepreneurs who are all passionate about their work. However, all of the platforms listed above have active communities of tech entrepreneurs who are willing to help each other out. Ultimately, the best way to find the right platform for you is to experiment and see which one you like best. I recommend trying out a few different platforms and seeing which one feels the most comfortable and supportive for you.

@tomas_papazian This sounds like part of a gamified system and that's cool, but yes there are multiple aspects that can work at the beginning too. Sure, we can talk. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm very active there.