on building community 🫂

As we approach harvest season, back to school, and September’s overall sense of new beginnings, the subject of “community building” has been top of mind lately.

Partially because it’s my job, but also because it’s a trending topic in the marketing world. We’re seeing lots of discussion around how to build an online (or hybrid) micro-community amongst your customers, around your product, within your industry, and so on.

Community is a powerful thing—we’re wired for it, and many of us crave more of it.

But how do you actually build community in a sustainable and genuine way that adds value to people’s lives and fosters real friendships? Especially when so many of our day-to-day interactions take place online these days?

At Growclass, it’s first and foremost about showing up with honest, humble, heartfelt humanity as you go about creating these spaces. *Queue Cards Against Humanity reference.*

All jokes and buzzwords aside, here’s some advice I’d offer based on how our team approaches community building:

1. Build with your community vs. for them
Before you put your ideas into action, sit down with the people you want to be in community with. Ask them candidly: what’s missing in your life that you’re looking to gain from being here? What makes you feel seen, supported, and celebrated? Ensure you’re co-creating this space with the people you hope will fill it. You’ll learn a lot from listening.

2. Create a plan for continuous engagement
To keep people engaged day-to-day, be consistent and creative with the conversations you start, the updates you share, the content and resources you offer. Notice the wallflowers and encourage them to join in on the fun. Be thoughtful about how much tech, AI and automation plays a role in this. People want to connect with real human beings.

3. Remember that vulnerability begets vulnerability
We can thank Brené Brown for this one (borrowed from her book, Daring Greatly). “Vulnerability begets vulnerability; courage is contagious,” she urges us to remember. If your goal is to hold space for people to form genuine connections and get the support they need, the way to do that is to lead by example. Be sincere and proactive about sharing what's going on in your world so that others feel safe and inspired to do the same.

One last thing.

Get clear on your community values and communicate them often. Your shared community agreement will be the anchor you come back to again and again to protect the space as it evolves.

A flourishing community is so much more than a marketing tactic, {{ people.first-name | default: 'my friend' }}. Community is what sustains us, and I’m so glad you’re a part of ours.

Virtual hugs,

Jenna

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