Building an online community is often touted as the “holy grail” of sustainable business growth. Yet, for many creators and entrepreneurs, the reality involves hearing crickets in a forum or burning out trying to keep up with content demands.
If you have ever felt like your community is failing to launch, you might be looking at it through the wrong lens. In this edition of The Flow, we sat down with Becky Pierson Davidson, founder of Affinity Collective, to dismantle the myths of community building and explore why treating your community like a product, rather than a marketing perk, is the key to longevity.
The Architect Framework: Foundations First
Before you worry about which software to use or what color your logo should be, you need to think like an architect. Becky, who has a background in architecture, applies a structural framework to community building. Just as you wouldn’t build a penthouse without a solid foundation, you cannot build a thriving tribe without a clear purpose.
The “Architect” phase is about designing a space for people to come together, grow, and connect. It is easier to fix a blueprint than it is to move a building once it is constructed. Before inviting a single member, you must define the shared values and the specific goal everyone is working toward. Without this “solid earth” beneath you, even the best technology won’t save a community from collapsing.
Stop Treating Community as a “Perk”
One of the most profound insights from our conversation was the distinction between a community-as-a-perk and a community-as-a-product. When you treat your community as a marketing perk (a bonus for buying a course, for example), it often becomes an afterthought. However, when you view the community as the product itself, everything changes.
Treating it like a product means you are constantly measuring its success, analyzing the user experience, and improving retention. It becomes your growth engine. This mindset shift requires you to look at data, gather feedback, and iterate over time. It is not just a place to dump links; it is a membership experience that delivers tangible value to the people inside.
The Trap of Overpromising
We have all been there: in the excitement of a launch, we promise the moon. We promise monthly coaching calls, weekly content drops, and daily exclusive resources. Becky warns that this is a major mistake. When you overpromise on the front end, you lock yourself into a rigid schedule of deliverables that you don’t even know will work yet.
Instead of promising specific outputs (like 10 videos a month), promise outcomes. Sell the transformation and the connection. This approach gives you the flexibility to experiment with your programming. You might find that your members prefer a quiet co-working session over a loud Q&A. By under-promising on the logistics and over-delivering on the experience, you create room for “serendipity”—those magical, unscripted moments where members truly connect.
Redefining Engagement
What does a successful community look like? If you are only counting likes and comments, you might be measuring the wrong thing. High engagement isn’t just noise; it is meaningful action. You need to define what “good engagement” means for your specific group.
If your goal is to help people overcome the fear of livestreaming, then a “win” isn’t a comment on a thread, it is a member posting their first video. Once you define what success looks like for your members, you can design a member journey that leads them there. From the onboarding process to the daily discussions, every touchpoint should help them take the next step toward that goal.
3 Steps to Build from the Ground Up
If you are paralyzed by platform choices (Discord vs. Circle vs. Facebook), stop. The platform doesn’t matter as much as the connection. Becky suggests a simple, three-step approach to get started without the tech headache:
- Start with 1-on-1 conversations: Reach out to your listeners or customers individually. Ask them what they are struggling with. This “boots on the ground” research is invaluable.
- Curate a small experience: Before launching a massive site, host a single dinner, a virtual meetup, or a workshop. Bring people together to see if the chemistry works.
- Formalize with a simple chat: Start with a WhatsApp group or a simple free chat. You don’t need a complex Learning Management System (LMS) to prove the concept. Let the community’s needs dictate the technology, not the other way around.
Designing for Serendipity
Ultimately, the goal of a community architect is to design for serendipity. It is about creating an environment where members can find each other, support one another, and achieve their goals. Whether you are using a high-end platform or a simple group chat, the structure you build today will determine the success of your community tomorrow.
Take a look at your current community strategy. Are you building a product that stands on its own, or just adding noise to a marketing funnel? It might be time to grab your blueprints, dial back the promises, and focus on building a foundation that truly serves your people.
Come join us in the Ecamm Community and share your thoughts and perspectives with us. We’d love to see you there.
