Thinking about creating a community? wait!

It's easier than ever to create a community these days, but that doesn't mean everyone should. In fact, I'd argue that the majority of the communities that will be launched this year shouldn't have been, and likely won't still be around in another year's time!

"But uh… Baily, aren't you a Community Architect? Shouldn't you want tons of people to create communities so they hire you to help guide them along the way??"

Don't get it twisted, I LOVE supporting Community Creators and consider community one of the 3 Cs to saving humanity (along with “connection” and “collaboration”.) BUT, not every community that someone dreams up is ready to bring to life. 

I've supported hundreds of Community Creators through the years, and the bulk of them jump right into the implementation stage and skip over the ideation stage. They don't stop to ask themselves if this community really needs to exist, or if they're just doing it to check a box in their business or because they're seeking community themselves. 

When I work with Community Creators in the pre-launch phase, I run them through a series of questions to make sure that creating a community is the right thing to do right now. If the answer is no, that doesn't mean it'll be no forever, the timing and other variables just might not be right… yet. 

Often these questions will send them back to the drawing board, and when they return it's usually with a much stronger sense of the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of it all. They feel significantly more confident going into the process, and I know that our time together is going to be SO much more impactful. 

My goal is always to help people avoid wasting time and money building, launching, promoting, and running a community that wasn't fully thought out to begin with. So, before you go all-in bringing your community to life, take a peek at this list of questions to make sure you're truly ready for the exciting, exhausting, and all-encompassing journey of community creation!