David Spinks is Cofounder of CMX, a 20,000 member organization dedicated to helping community professionals thrive. David is also the VP of Community at Bevy, an enterprise software platform that powers event-driven community programs and virtual conferences, following its acquisition of CMX in 2019. David has personally advised and trained hundreds of organizations in community strategy, including Facebook, Waze, Salesforce, Airbnb, and Google.

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• Foreword ixIntroduction xiiiBecoming a Community Professional xvBuilding the Community Industry xviThe Community Era Has Arrived xviiiNotes xixChapter 1 Why Community is the New Competitive Advantage 1A Customer Community is Born 1The Rise of Community-Driven Business 3Giving Customers a True Sense of Community 6The Unrivaled Scalability of Community 8Community is an Extension of Your Team 10The Power of Owning a Topic in People’s Minds 12The One Thing They Can’t Copy 13Good for Business, Good for Humanity 14Notes 17Chapter 2 The Fundamentals of Community Strategy 19The Three Levels of Community Strategy 19The SPACES Model: The Six Business Outcomes of Community 22Metrics and the Attribution Challenge 35Finding Your Community Focus 36Growth Engines vs. Cost Centers 39Choosing a Measurement Framework 42The Community Investment Journey 45Notes 53Chapter 3 Creating a Social Identity 55The Social Identity Cycle 55Who is Your Community Built For? 60Who Doesn’t Belong? 63Investing in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Day One 65What is Your Community’s Personality? 68How Can You Make Your Members Feel “Cool”? 70Should Your Community Have a UniqueIdentity from Your Company Brand? 72Finding Sub-Identities within Your Community 74Defining Identity by Levels of Contribution 76Notes 78Chapter 4 Mapping the Community Participation Journey 79The Commitment Curve 79The Four Levels of Participation 81How to Attract Members to Your Community 86Creating Intentional Barriers to Entry 89Designing a Compelling Onboarding Experience 90How to Move Members Up the Commitment Curve 92Activating Successful Community Leaders 94Notes 96Chapter 5 Validation, Rewards, and Incentives 97Creating Habits with Rewards 97Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivations 99Avoid Replacing Social Norms with Market Norms 101SNAP! A Framework for Effective Extrinsic Rewards 102The Thing about Gamification 105Come for the Utility, Stay for the Unity 107Measuring Community Health and Engagement Using the Social Identity Cycle 108Notes 114Chapter 6 Designing Community Spaces and Experiences 115The Two Kinds of Community Experiences 115Repetition, Repetition, Repetition 117The 7Ps of Community Experience Design 120Curating the Right People for the Right Purpose 123Aligning Size with Purpose 124Choosing Community Software Platforms 126Should You Host Your Community on a Free Social Network? 129Designing Spaces That Make People Feel Seen 130Starting with a BANG! 131Creating Peak Moments 133Facilitating Small-Group Discussions 135Tell Your Members How to Participate 138How to Get Members to Be Open and Vulnerable 140Keep Your Rules Short and Simple to Start 143My Three Go-To Community Rules 145Using Metrics to Optimize Community Spaces and Experiences 148Notes 151Chapter 7 Activating Community Engagement 153Engagement is a Constant Experiment 153Personal Invitations and “Doing Things That Don’t Scale” 154Ask for Permission 157Don’t Fear the Crickets 158Talk Funny 160How to Spark Great Debates 162Moderation is Never Personal 164Default to Transparency and Admit Your Mistakes 166Use Your Authentic Voice 167Keep Your Energy High and Positive 169Go Forth and Build Community! 173Bibliography 175About the Author 177Acknowledgments 179Index 181

David Spinks is Cofounder of CMX, a 20,000 member organization dedicated to helping community professionals thrive. David is also the VP of Community at Bevy, an enterprise software platform that powers event-driven community programs and virtual conferences, following its acquisition of CMX in 2019. David has personally advised and trained hundreds of organizations in community strategy, including Facebook, Waze, Salesforce, Airbnb, and Google.

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• Foreword ixIntroduction xiiiBecoming a Community Professional xvBuilding the Community Industry xviThe Community Era Has Arrived xviiiNotes xixChapter 1 Why Community is the New Competitive Advantage 1A Customer Community is Born 1The Rise of Community-Driven Business 3Giving Customers a True Sense of Community 6The Unrivaled Scalability of Community 8Community is an Extension of Your Team 10The Power of Owning a Topic in People’s Minds 12The One Thing They Can’t Copy 13Good for Business, Good for Humanity 14Notes 17Chapter 2 The Fundamentals of Community Strategy 19The Three Levels of Community Strategy 19The SPACES Model: The Six Business Outcomes of Community 22Metrics and the Attribution Challenge 35Finding Your Community Focus 36Growth Engines vs. Cost Centers 39Choosing a Measurement Framework 42The Community Investment Journey 45Notes 53Chapter 3 Creating a Social Identity 55The Social Identity Cycle 55Who is Your Community Built For? 60Who Doesn’t Belong? 63Investing in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Day One 65What is Your Community’s Personality? 68How Can You Make Your Members Feel “Cool”? 70Should Your Community Have a UniqueIdentity from Your Company Brand? 72Finding Sub-Identities within Your Community 74Defining Identity by Levels of Contribution 76Notes 78Chapter 4 Mapping the Community Participation Journey 79The Commitment Curve 79The Four Levels of Participation 81How to Attract Members to Your Community 86Creating Intentional Barriers to Entry 89Designing a Compelling Onboarding Experience 90How to Move Members Up the Commitment Curve 92Activating Successful Community Leaders 94Notes 96Chapter 5 Validation, Rewards, and Incentives 97Creating Habits with Rewards 97Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivations 99Avoid Replacing Social Norms with Market Norms 101SNAP! A Framework for Effective Extrinsic Rewards 102The Thing about Gamification 105Come for the Utility, Stay for the Unity 107Measuring Community Health and Engagement Using the Social Identity Cycle 108Notes 114Chapter 6 Designing Community Spaces and Experiences 115The Two Kinds of Community Experiences 115Repetition, Repetition, Repetition 117The 7Ps of Community Experience Design 120Curating the Right People for the Right Purpose 123Aligning Size with Purpose 124Choosing Community Software Platforms 126Should You Host Your Community on a Free Social Network? 129Designing Spaces That Make People Feel Seen 130Starting with a BANG! 131Creating Peak Moments 133Facilitating Small-Group Discussions 135Tell Your Members How to Participate 138How to Get Members to Be Open and Vulnerable 140Keep Your Rules Short and Simple to Start 143My Three Go-To Community Rules 145Using Metrics to Optimize Community Spaces and Experiences 148Notes 151Chapter 7 Activating Community Engagement 153Engagement is a Constant Experiment 153Personal Invitations and “Doing Things That Don’t Scale” 154Ask for Permission 157Don’t Fear the Crickets 158Talk Funny 160How to Spark Great Debates 162Moderation is Never Personal 164Default to Transparency and Admit Your Mistakes 166Use Your Authentic Voice 167Keep Your Energy High and Positive 169Go Forth and Build Community! 173Bibliography 175About the Author 177Acknowledgments 179Index 181

David Spinks is Cofounder of CMX, a 20,000 member organization dedicated to helping community professionals thrive. David is also the VP of Community at Bevy, an enterprise software platform that powers event-driven community programs and virtual conferences, following its acquisition of CMX in 2019. David has personally advised and trained hundreds of organizations in community strategy, including Facebook, Waze, Salesforce, Airbnb, and Google.

Select Guide Rating

• Foreword ixIntroduction xiiiBecoming a Community Professional xvBuilding the Community Industry xviThe Community Era Has Arrived xviiiNotes xixChapter 1 Why Community is the New Competitive Advantage 1A Customer Community is Born 1The Rise of Community-Driven Business 3Giving Customers a True Sense of Community 6The Unrivaled Scalability of Community 8Community is an Extension of Your Team 10The Power of Owning a Topic in People’s Minds 12The One Thing They Can’t Copy 13Good for Business, Good for Humanity 14Notes 17Chapter 2 The Fundamentals of Community Strategy 19The Three Levels of Community Strategy 19The SPACES Model: The Six Business Outcomes of Community 22Metrics and the Attribution Challenge 35Finding Your Community Focus 36Growth Engines vs. Cost Centers 39Choosing a Measurement Framework 42The Community Investment Journey 45Notes 53Chapter 3 Creating a Social Identity 55The Social Identity Cycle 55Who is Your Community Built For? 60Who Doesn’t Belong? 63Investing in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Day One 65What is Your Community’s Personality? 68How Can You Make Your Members Feel “Cool”? 70Should Your Community Have a UniqueIdentity from Your Company Brand? 72Finding Sub-Identities within Your Community 74Defining Identity by Levels of Contribution 76Notes 78Chapter 4 Mapping the Community Participation Journey 79The Commitment Curve 79The Four Levels of Participation 81How to Attract Members to Your Community 86Creating Intentional Barriers to Entry 89Designing a Compelling Onboarding Experience 90How to Move Members Up the Commitment Curve 92Activating Successful Community Leaders 94Notes 96Chapter 5 Validation, Rewards, and Incentives 97Creating Habits with Rewards 97Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivations 99Avoid Replacing Social Norms with Market Norms 101SNAP! A Framework for Effective Extrinsic Rewards 102The Thing about Gamification 105Come for the Utility, Stay for the Unity 107Measuring Community Health and Engagement Using the Social Identity Cycle 108Notes 114Chapter 6 Designing Community Spaces and Experiences 115The Two Kinds of Community Experiences 115Repetition, Repetition, Repetition 117The 7Ps of Community Experience Design 120Curating the Right People for the Right Purpose 123Aligning Size with Purpose 124Choosing Community Software Platforms 126Should You Host Your Community on a Free Social Network? 129Designing Spaces That Make People Feel Seen 130Starting with a BANG! 131Creating Peak Moments 133Facilitating Small-Group Discussions 135Tell Your Members How to Participate 138How to Get Members to Be Open and Vulnerable 140Keep Your Rules Short and Simple to Start 143My Three Go-To Community Rules 145Using Metrics to Optimize Community Spaces and Experiences 148Notes 151Chapter 7 Activating Community Engagement 153Engagement is a Constant Experiment 153Personal Invitations and “Doing Things That Don’t Scale” 154Ask for Permission 157Don’t Fear the Crickets 158Talk Funny 160How to Spark Great Debates 162Moderation is Never Personal 164Default to Transparency and Admit Your Mistakes 166Use Your Authentic Voice 167Keep Your Energy High and Positive 169Go Forth and Build Community! 173Bibliography 175About the Author 177Acknowledgments 179Index 181