I've noticed that people gobble up articles in my newsletter about engagement. And I get it - I love engagement tactics as well.

But I often see people obsessing over the details while forgetting to spend time on the core of community.

First, your community needs to BRING something to people's lives. We're all busy. We make tradeoffs. Creating another space I *could* spend time in is not going to beat out the ones I *want to spend time in.

How is your community lifting up your community members? Is it making them feel safer? Smarter? More effective? More loved? Or is it just a conversation space, one of many in their lives?

Next, what is the actual business value of your community? Like, directly, what is going to pay for this? "Everyone is building community" is not a business goal. "Engage our members" is not a business goal. "Create loyalty" is edging closer, but still not a business goal.

If you can figure out the community/business fit, everything else is just operations. But I see so many companies trying to build community because they feel they NEED to and their communities SHOULD want to join. These communities won't take off and won't get budget forever.

Take the time to figure out that fit. Do user interviews. Start small. Try things and fail. Wait until you feel the magic to start pumping money into it. A rushed community is rarely a successful one.