Building Brand Communities

4

STARTING AT THE BEGINNING

Just about everyone we speak to wants to work on supporting mature-stage communities. In this stage, friends meet up spontaneously, there are interesting and relevant activities going on year-round, there are insider jokes and funny stories that get recounted, and there is greater power in numbers than there ever was when members were just enthusiastic individuals. We know.

Unfortunately, for those of us who want to create great community, like everything else in life, things begin at the beginning. This is the part that so many want to skip because it’s unglamorous, the results are uncertain, and progress moves more slowly than we want. It’s often also scary because we might prove that we can’t bring people together ...