Unexpected yet practical insights for community building

When I hosted the first event of the Enterprise Sales Forum in 2014, I thought it would just be a small gathering of founders in B2B sales. Little did I know that it would eventually explode into a global community of over 30,000 members across 24 cities.

But I have to admit, I made a lot of mistakes in broadening our reach. Like a startup founder, I made educated guesses, experimented and iterated a lot, and hoped things would turn out for the best.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Luckily, I learned enough about what it takes to build a thriving community not only in the years I spent growing the Enterprise Sales Forum but also during my time working with developer communities at Stack Overflow and as the global startup advocate at AWS.

Here are eight counter-intuitive yet practical insights I gleaned by taking a data-driven approach to community building.

Having lots of members doesn’t guarantee a healthy community

Most people assume bigger is always better in community building. So, they measure success by increasing membership numbers. However, this is simply a vanity metric.

Communities operate on a social networking concept called the 90-9-1 Rule. This means 90% of members of a community are inactive, 9% engage sparingly, and only 1% participate actively.

When the Enterprise Sales Forum shifted its focus from membership growth to engagement quality, we noticed that smaller, more engaged groups often created more value through better connections and greater involvement than larger, less connected groups. In fact, some of the best events we hosted were roundtables with sales leaders of less than 30 people.

Monetization strengthens a community

I often faced pushback when I insisted on charging money for events. In Asia, particularly, chapter leaders complained about how fees were creating barriers and driving people away.

However, data showed the complete opposite. When the Enterprise Sales Forum introduced ticket fees, the networking quality dramatically improved. Why? Because monetization gives a community greater stability, better resources, and higher-quality programming.

See more: 3 outside-the-box questions that reveal hidden startup talent

Requiring payment also fosters a psychological commitment, compelling members to invest more deeply in the community’s success. When people are willing to pay, it means they really want to be there.

Consistency is key

Before getting involved in communities, I investigated other groups to determine the key factors for success. I noticed that those with a predictable cadence and format for events had greater stability and growth.

Too much familiarity risks breeding complacency

Selective exclusion outperforms radical inclusion

Community activities can drive business impact

Processes foster authenticity

Delegate, delegate, delegate