How do I find the ideal members for my online community?
Step 1: Find Your Ideal Members in your existing network
Review your email and phone contacts. Look at Facebook friends, LinkedIn connections, or Instagram followers. Find 10 to 20 people who best fit your ideal member for your community concept. See where they hang out online. Meet them where they are. Learning more about them will be vital to building a relationship. Prove that you are someone they can trust.
Step 2: Craft a conversation, ask questions through prompts
Many leaders make the mistake of assuming they know the best way to solve a problem. As a result, they don’t conduct interviews because they seem too “formal” or are a “burden.” Rephrasing the interview into a conversation allows you and the ideal member to enjoy the process.
Step 3: Make the conversation enjoyable. If in person, find a nice place to sit. If virtual, add a fun background and ask questions about their interests.
Send a thank-you note. Find ways to keep in touch. Reach out when you are ready to invite them into your community!
Step 4: Review what you’ve learned to confirm the community concept
Interviews and conversations can lead to a decision about the next step. Community building takes work and time, as does investing in the program, course, membership, or cohort. Still, reviewing your results can be helpful. It helps you clearly understand what a community looks like. You can also see how it can help your organization.
Step 5: Build a Brand before you launch
Gather information from your interviews. This information should give context, problems, solutions. The wording of the ideal member can be used to refine sales and marketing efforts.
Chris Fitz is the Founder and Artistic Director of River Crossing Playback Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. With experience in improvisational arts since 2003, Chris and his ensemble use Playback Theatre to build community by dramatically portraying real-life stories.
He is also a trained mediator and former Executive Director of the Center for Community Peacemaking, specializing in Restorative Justice—community-based practices that address harm and promote healing in schools, communities, and the legal system.
Chris sees Playback Theatre as a tool for personal and social healing, emphasizing the power of storytelling to foster connection, belonging, and understanding. Through performances like ”Healing York,” his troupe has addressed issues like racial harm, showing how storytelling can help heal communities.
Chris believes in the importance of repeated dialogue and rituals to foster belonging, whether in-person or online, and offers advice to community builders on engaging participants without relying too heavily on presentations.
His focus remains on creating safe spaces for people to connect, share their stories, and address community challenges through both art and conversation.
If you have an online community, or just want to grow an online business, communicating directly to your audience allows you to build relationships with them one email at a time!
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The Community Strategy Podcast offers interviews with online community leaders who share their community-building journey. Our podcast covers community concepts, community building, community strategy, community structure, community membership, and community management. Visit our Website Find Calm Here to learn more about working with Deb
