Creating Community: What is your goal?

If you are a business owner, a marketer, a concerned individual or all of the above it probably occurred to you that  “community” is a buzz word that is generally misunderstood depending on where you stand.

Building a community is hard work. And, like any endeavor, without clear goals the chances of success are slim to none.

When defining a goal there are usually more questions than answers. What can easily be missed is in this process is the underlying intent behind the action.

Are you honest with yourself about why you want to build a community? Is it for money? Is it to satisfy your ego? Is it altruistic? Is it to amass power?

It can be all or none of the above.

Beyond understanding the building blocks needed to create a community (barrier to entry, influence, shared emotional values etc), it is important to be clear about your underlying motivation as well. Clarity of purpose (intent) and motivation will guide your every move going forward. Success will require following a predetermined  road map along with enough gas in the tank to get you there. Intent and motivation provides the fuel needed to make the journey.

It’s a funny thing about human beings: we all perceive information differently and to a large degree will spin information so that it falls in line with existing beliefs (confirmation bias).
In “Blink” Malcolm Gladwell talks about our innate ability to determine truth from fiction based upon facial muscles, instinct, context etc. No longer is “do as I say, not as I do” a valid strategy. This falseness will be apparent to everyone. Like “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, let’s hope you are not the last to know.

Building a sustainable community requires being clear about your intent and motivation. The quickest way to discover that is to look inward with honesty. Your audience/community will then be able to determine if the value you offer warrants their attention. If they choose to participate it will because they perceive that membership is of higher value than the real or implied “barrier to entry”.