build-community

name	Build Community
description	Create a community that grows and compounds by giving members identity, belonging, and status. What it does: designs community from day 1 by identifying early members, establishing culture, defining roles, and creating programming that keeps members engaged. When to use it: launching a community for your product, reviving a stalled community, or measuring community health. Trigger on: community building, user group, customer community, member engagement, community programming, Discord, Slack community, community moderation, 1-9-90 rule.
dependencies	[]
connectors	[{"name":"Slack","reason":"Community platform and messaging hub; track engagement through message volume, threads, reactions"},{"name":"Discord","reason":"Alternative community platform; better for large communities and voice channels"},{"name":"HubSpot","reason":"Segment community members by customer tier; identify power users and advocates for recruitment"},{"name":"Google Analytics","reason":"Track community impact: referrals from community, member signup rate, retention of active members"}]
author	Harmony
version	1.0.0
icon	sparkles
cover
screenshots	[]
category	Marketing

Purpose

Community is not a marketing channel. It's a product. Great communities give members identity (you're part of this tribe), belonging (people here understand me), and status (I can grow and be recognized here).

The 1-9-90 rule: 1% create content, 9% contribute/engage, 90% lurk. Design for all three. Lurkers get value from observing (don't force them to participate). Contributors get recognition (replies, reactions, etc.). Creators get status and community leadership.

Communities don't scale with community size. They compound with engagement depth. A 500-person community with 3 posts per week and no moderation is dead. A 50-person community with daily conversations, weekly programming, and clear culture is alive.

Your job is to start small (50 passionate early members), establish culture fast, give members escalating roles, create programming cadence, and moderate relentlessly. The community that compounds is the one where members feel invested.

When to Use This Skill

• You're launching a community and want to avoid the "empty room" problem
• You have an existing community with low engagement and don't know how to revive it
• You want to measure whether your community is actually creating value (vs. just existing)
• You're considering whether your product even needs a community (not every product does)
• Members have different levels of activity and you want to nurture different roles
• You're seeing member churn in community and don't know why
• You want to predict whether your community will compound or decay

Instructions

1. Assess community-market fit before building

   • Does your product naturally create peer-to-peer value? (Slack: yes. Calculator app: no.)
   • Will members want to share wins and ask questions? (E-commerce: yes. Spreadsheet tool: maybe not.)
   • Can members help each other solve problems? (CMS: yes. Accounting software: maybe.)
   • Community-market fit check: Would you have started this community if it didn't have product benefits?
   • Sub-bullets: Survey 5-10 customers; ask if they'd want to connect with peers; assess product fit for peer learning

2. Identify and recruit 50 early members (your founding community)

   • Your first 50 set the culture. Choose them intentionally, not at random.
   • Who to recruit: power users, curious learners, teachers/mentors, influencers in their own networks
   • Avoid: only customers; include non-customers who care about the category
   • Recruitment: personal outreach; "We're starting a community and want you as a founding member"
   • Sub-bullets: Make a list of 50-100 potential founding members; reach out personally to 50 strongest; expect 50% to accept; start with those 25-50