The Online Community Builder’s Checklist

This is a personal blog post written by Golisto’s CEO & co-founder, Emil Ottar Riise.
While working on my startup Golisto, I have researched and interviewed dozens of people, who’ve succeeded in building online communities from scratch. Most of them without prior knowledge or online experience to draw from.
It made me think that some people might benefit from the experiences I have gained and the inside knowledge successful community builders have granted me.
Online communities comes in many forms and shapes. It’s important that you consider the reasons why you’re establishing a community and which kind of platform that is most suitable for you to reach your goal(s).
- Do you want to establish a community for knowledge sharing? (eg. a facebook group or message board)
- Do you want to establish a community for transactional purposes? (eg. a marketplace or selling group)
- Do you want to establish a community for users to build their own sub-communities? (eg. Golisto or Reddit)
At Golisto our mission is to democratize the way people trade and discuss, their favourite interests and hobbies online. For us that means developing a social platform that empower users to build their own marketplaces and invite peers with similar interests to join.
Community builders on Golisto create their own guidelines and rules, chooses which kind of users can take part (based on location, reputation, etc.) and which goods there can be bought/sold.
To sum up, this checklist is for anyone who’re thinking about building an online community. So without further ado here is the online community builder’s checklist:
1. Utilize your networks
Do you engage in or share interests with other people in real life? eg. do you trade vinyl records, play on a soccer team, play computer games?

There is a great chance that you can onboard community members directly in your own network by simply reaching out to people you know enjoy the same interests as you.
One of the upsides of building an online community are the network effects that possibly come with it. E.g. for every new member who joins your community, there is a potential chance for them to onboard their own group of likeminded people and so the virtuous cycle is set in motion.
2. Recruit key opinion leaders
Do you know any influencers within your network who might want to join and help market your community to attract new community members?

Recruiting key opinion leaders is the fastest way to gain broader recognition and is also a great way to gain external validation, making it easier to onboard new users who might not know you or what you stand for.
It could be a blogger, YouTuber or Instagram influencer who are viewed as an expert or thought leader in the field of interest you plan on establishing your community around. Some will do it for free if they see an immediate advantage or synergy in joining your community, others will require some sort of compensation, which is okay and quite normal these days.
3. Define your role
Try to define your own role in the community you want to build. Will you run it by yourself when it’s fully established? Will you employ co-admins?

There are many ways to run an online community, basically it all depends on your specific community and its members. In my experience community builders often ends up in one of the following roles:
- ☑️ The sheriff - keeps a very tight grip on his community and its members. His mantra is “my community, my rules” and users who don’t obey that gets kicked out or reprimanded instantly.
- ✅ The delegater - shares admin responsibility with founding members and often lets the community help create guideline and rules. In my opinion this is the role most community builders should aim to fit.
- ☑️ The neglecter - doesn’t have a natural sense of leadership and aren’t used to deal with larger crowds of people. This often leads to apathy and a reactive leadership style which in the long run might hurt the community.
4. Be active/present
Show your community members that you put time and effort into the community by helping them resolve issues, queries, etc.

People like active leadership, it’s very simple. If you are consistently active in your community, members will turn to you when they have issues or can’t find what they’re looking for.
Being a community builder also means that you often need to help facilitate conversations between members who might haven’t connected yet to keep your community active.
An example: Your community is based around food and Susan is looking for an authentic “Penne Arrabiata” recipe and you happen to know Andrea, a community member who’s an expert in the italian cuisine, therefore facilitating a conversation between the two of them.
5. Be consistent
Create guidelines and follow them. You might undermine your authority and make members unhappy if you fail to be consistent with your own rules.

I have seen community builders fail to comply with their own guidelines and rules more than a dozen times. Some might feel that they’re above the rules because they own the community or because they know that there are no sheriff to expell them.
It’s mainly a bad thing because you as the leader and figure head of the community are the behavioural benchmark for how members are supposed to act and if you don’t follow the rules and guidelines, why should others?
Bottom line here is to be consistent with the rules you’re applying and to follow them just as strict as normal members are supposed to.
6. Engage your community
Involve and engage with your members as much as possible. Share special offers directly with your community. Give them a sense of exclusivity.

There are numerous ways that you can engage with your community members. To name just a few of the most obvious ones:
- Competitions - team up with companies that can sponsor prizes relevant to your community. It doesn’t have to be more than a gift certificate, but the reward you gain in engagement from your members can be huge.
- Polls - let the community members help to decide which new features to develop. Tap into real world events e.g. “which president will you be voting for”. Give people the chance to express their opinion and be heard.
- Exclusive offers - nothing feels better than receiving exclusive offers just because you’re part of a certain community. It happens a lot in the real world as well. Many sports clubs often sign deals with sponsors so members can buy gear/apparel at huge discounts, you can do the same.
7. Don’t be a dic(k)tator
Know when to excercise power and when to let people interact and engage freely without your presence and interruption.

One of the finest objectives for a community builder is to be seen but stay nonintrusive, meaning that people should feel safe and be aware of your presence without you having to interrupt every single member interaction.
I have seen communities where members are afraid to answer questions from new members because they are unsure if the questions are complying with the guidelines.
So don’t be a dictator just because you established the community. Remember that a community is worth nothing without its members, and that you serve the community and its members, not the other way around.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and feel free to write a comment below if you have any questions.
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