The first to market, the first one with the answer, or the first one to accomplish a goal are all things that people aspire to be. Finding people who are eager to be the first one to arrive at a meeting, the first one to try someone’s newest food dish, or the first one to express an opinion in a community they do not own is far more rare.
It takes effort to be first in a community – no real culture has visibly been established, so you have to think hard about the appropriate way to contribute. It takes risk – there is no assurance that what you are contributing is on point, whether others will respond in a manner that is personally damaging to your reputation, or whether there will even be any return (a good conversation, increased reputation, a sign of gratitude, etc.) on your investment of time. So why be first?
Those starting new communities are caught in a real Catch-22 – you need people to be engaged in order for people to engage in your community. Fortunately, there is a solution that lies in how you plan your launch.
By personally soliciting a number of early adopters, you can significantly reduce the risk of creating yet another ghost town community.
I think about launching a community in a series of three waves:
Wave 1: The first wave of people that should be recruited to the community are the “Ambassadors”. You should choose 5 – 10 people that you can ask directly to be the first people into your community. Share with them your objectives and vision for the community and ask them, for a very specific timeframe, to engage in your new community in the manner in which you would like to see everyone engage in the future. This wave should start the establishment of a culture and tone for your community.
Wave 2: A second wave of 150 – 200 people should be recruited to further the work of the Ambassadors. These “Champions” should be asked to follow the lead of the Ambassadors in their engagement. Again, for a defined period of time, they should ask questions, leave comments, connect with each other, and provide feedback on the community itself. At the end of this wave there should be a sufficient amount of community generated content so that people new to the community will feel a significant amount of engagement and reduced risk of engagement.
In identifying people for these first two waves, it won’t hurt to keep in mind the three categories of people identified by Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point as necessary to the spread of movements. Since the ultimate goal of launching a community is to get it to the point where there is a level of self-sustaining engagement and continual growth, companies will typically be able to spot the tipping point at which this happens. Gladwell suggests that the required mix of people to reach this point includes:
- Connectors – people who act as conduits between others, help connect people and cross fertilize relationships
- Mavens – people who are compelled to help others make good decisions
- Salesmen – those who can be persuasive in inducing decisions or behaviors of others
Wave 3: By the time you reach your third wave of recruitment, which is the public launch, if your Ambassadors and Champions have accomplished their tasks, new members should be able to readily spot the culture, have a clear indication of how to engage, and have minimal fear of any negative repercussions of contributing.
Catch-22 resolved.
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