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Creator to Community Builder Book Resources

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Welcome to the Creator to Community Builder book resources page. Here, you will find links to worksheets, templates, and checklists. These resources will provide tools to help you find calm in building your online community with ease. 

If you have a print or digital version of the book, these resources will help you. The links are designed to help you find what you need. Or, if you haven’t gotten the book yet, they will help you to build an online community. This page will offer downloadable resources to print out to join your creative community-building journey so you don’t feel alone. 

  1. Printable worksheets and templates
    1. You can use these worksheets to help speed up your community concept, community strategy, and launch plans.
  2. Community Terms
    1. Online Community
    2. Google this question, and you sometimes find a variety of answers. Let's make sure we’re on the same page throughout this book.
    3. Here’s my baseline definition: An online community consists of three or more people with similar ambitions. They gather virtually to inspire each other through content, experiences, and encouragement. There are three important elements of an online community:
    4. Online communities can take place in many different places and in many different ways. Here are a few examples:
  3. Community Strategy Launch Plan
    1. Without strategically setting the stage for a community, a launch may face postponement. This is due to a lack of clarity. Leadership and goal setting are also lacking. Understanding the roles and responsibilities of community leaders, hosts, and managers is important. To build a community strategy, I take my clients through five stages. These stages develop the foundation for the next phase. They also create a roadway for success.
    2. Stage 1: Community Concept – What’s the why behind your community idea?
    3. Stage 2: Community Curiosity – Who is this community for, and what’s in it for them?
    4. Stage 3: Community Clarity – How will this community transform or support them?
    5. Stage 4: Community Architecture/Structure – What content, events, and programs will support them?
    6. Stage 5: Community Strategy Launch Plan – Who will share this community with my audience? When will it happen? Why is it being shared? Where will it be shared? How will the sharing take place?
    7. You need to decide your community strategy. This includes your launch or relaunch plan. You will go on a journey through these stages (outlined above).
    8. Existing business owners need to find out how a community fits within the organization. They should also find out how it aligns with your existing business goals. New community builders must decide how the community will fit into their existing life. This includes considering any other commitments, jobs, or responsibilities.
  4. The Calm Method™
    1. The CALM Method™ has helped me over the course of my community-building journey. I’m going to break down the CALM Method™. It includes Clarity, Awareness, Learning, and Motion. This breakdown will help you find calm in the community-building process. Finding calm has not been easy over the past two years. I’ve learned that adding layers, complexity, and/or several concepts can create more confusion than clarity.
    2. The fastest way to find calm with community building is to keep things simple. It isn’t easy. This framework became what is now called the CALM Method™. I’ve developed and improved it over the years. This is the best way for me to help myself, clients, and community members. It provides an easy way to find calm in the process of building, launching, and growing an online paid community.
  5. Community Architecture
    1. The architecture of an online community refers to the structure you’ll build. This includes the features, member benefits, user experience, and the structuring of content and resources within the online space.
    2. A well-thought-out community aligns with the vision, mission, and purpose established by the group’s host. Leading an online community requires understanding how you want to communicate with your members. It also requires knowing how they enjoy connecting with each other.
    3. Creator Community Memberships
    4. Below are a list of some categories of memberships you might be familiar with:
  6. Community Platform
    1. An online community platform is software technology. An individual, organization, or company can buy it on a subscription basis. This technology facilitates communication with their audience, customers, clients, or members.
    2. These are known as membership sites. A new term, community creators or creator communities, is emerging as a new way for entrepreneurs to earn revenue. They do this by creating courses, programs, or offers and providing them to their audience on a subscription basis. This model creates income for the business owner and provides education and resources for the members. Additionally, it offers a way for the members to meet each other.
    3. The main benefits of purchasing a community platform subscription are significant. In most cases, you will own all of your content. You will also have the ability to keep your member data private.
    4. There are hundreds of community platforms. You can research the best platforms and compare features that fit your business and community needs.
  7. Community Architecture
    1. The architecture of an online community refers to the structure you’ll build. This includes the features, member benefits, user experience, within the online space.
  8. Community Content
    1. Any text, information, data, graphics, messages, sounds, videos, content, code, scripts, software, or other materials. All content is copyrighted and/or attributed to the appropriate source.
  9. Community Roles
    1. A Community Host – to guide the vision, mission, and purpose.
    2. A Community Facilitator– to support the programming, events, or workshops.
    3. A Community Manager – to onboard members, support members, and encourage participation within the community.
    4. A Strategy Consultant – to create processes and tools. These tools will increase conversions from your marketing and advertising efforts. They lead to your programs.
    5. Marketing Manager – either internally or hiring an agency to help promote, advertise, and scale your business.
    6. An Active Community Member – to join in events. They should share successes and ask questions. Members can view content and read articles. Additionally, they answer polls, fill out surveys, and give feedback.
    7. A Passive Community Member – views content and reads member comments. They want to see if they belong here and how they engage in the future. They are not ready yet to commit to active membership, but are interested in the opportunity.
  10. Community Culture
    1. Community culture can be explained as the way you invite and instruct members to join, share, connect, and learn together. It is the path for members to feel seen, valued, and heard. Culture is written into your community guidelines. It is demonstrated in your member testimonials. Members express it when they talk about your community to non-members.
  11. Community Cohort
    1. A cohort refers to people who share common characteristics. It’s also a formal term that describes a small group taking a class together. There are five kinds of community cohort structures:
  12. Ideal Member or Ideal Client
    1. An ideal member or ideal client is a person who fits the profile of the community creator’s target audience. They face a problem. The creator can help them overcome or resolve it with their assistance, support, knowledge, network, or resources.
  13. Ideation
    1. The creative process of generating, developing, or communicating new original ideas which can be visual, concrete, or abstract. Included within this term is the thought cycle from innovation, to development, to actualization. Ideation can be conducted by individuals, groups, or organizations.
  14. Validation
    1. After you select your ideal member, you can confirm that the community is the solution to their challenges. Try to interview them about their problems and current solutions. Don’t try to sell to them just yet. First, confirm that they have the problem you are solving. Then confirm they would be willing to pay for you to solve it.
  15. Book References
  16. Introduction
  17. Chapter 1 Learn the Community Building Basics
  18. Chapter 2 Develop Your Community Strategy
  19. Chapter 3: Explore Your Community Design and Structure
  20. Chapter 4: Discover Your Ideal Members
  21. Chapter 5: Validate Your Community
  22. Chapter 6: Plan Your Community
  23. Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience
  24. Chapter 8: Launch Your Community
  25. Chapter 9: Onboard Your Members
  26. Chapter 10: Keep Members Coming Back
  27. Chapter 11: Grow Your Membership
  28. Chapter 12: Maintain Your Community
  29. Companion Workbook Get this free workbook now!
    1. Creator to Community Builder provides time-saving tips. These are for struggling entrepreneurs to build online communities. The goal is to scale them and enhance business growth. This also helps improve client connections. This companion workbook gives a brief summary of the book. It includes actionable steps to aid you in building an online community and business faster. This way, you can achieve less stress and find calm.

Printable worksheets and templates

You can use these worksheets to help speed up your community concept, community strategy, and launch plans. 

  1. Click Here to download the Creator to Community Builder Companion Workbook. 
  2. Click Here to download the Membership Mindset Worksheet. 
  3. Click here to download the Pre-launch worksheet.
  4. Click here to download the Community Builders Tech Tools Checklists. 
  5. Click here to download the survey template.
  6. Click here for an Onboarding checklist.

Community Terms

Online Community

Google this question, and you sometimes find a variety of answers. Let’s make sure we’re on the same page throughout this book.

Here’s my baseline definition: An online community consists of three or more people with similar ambitions. They gather virtually to inspire each other through content, experiences, and encouragement. There are three important elements of an online community: 

  1. A place to meet digitally online to be seen, heard, and valued. 

  2. A routine, habit, or ritual that community members do together. 

  3. A group with a common challenge, goal, desire, or need. 

Online communities can take place in many different places and in many different ways. Here are a few examples: 

  • A single virtual call that offers members a space to connect. 

  • An email that is shared with more than 3 people. 

  • A forum, chat room, group, or text that allows people to share photos, video, audio, or other content. 

  • A platform that invites a specific group of people into a private online place for connection, collaboration, and conversations 

  • A virtual event offers attendees an opportunity to meet, network, and connect. They can discuss topics related to the event’s focus, themes, or learning content.

Community Strategy Launch Plan

Without strategically setting the stage for a community, a launch may face postponement. This is due to a lack of clarity. Leadership and goal setting are also lacking. Understanding the roles and responsibilities of community leaders, hosts, and managers is important. To build a community strategy, I take my clients through five stages. These stages develop the foundation for the next phase. They also create a roadway for success. 

Stage 1: Community Concept – What’s the why behind your community idea? 

Stage 2: Community Curiosity – Who is this community for, and what’s in it for them? 

Stage 3: Community Clarity – How will this community transform or support them? 

Stage 4: Community Architecture/Structure – What content, events, and programs will support them? 

Stage 5: Community Strategy Launch Plan – Who will share this community with my audience? When will it happen? Why is it being shared? Where will it be shared? How will the sharing take place? 

You need to decide your community strategy. This includes your launch or relaunch plan. You will go on a journey through these stages (outlined above). 

Existing business owners need to find out how a community fits within the organization. They should also find out how it aligns with your existing business goals. New community builders must decide how the community will fit into their existing life. This includes considering any other commitments, jobs, or responsibilities. 

The Calm Method™

The CALM Method™ has helped me over the course of my community-building journey. I’m going to break down the CALM Method™. It includes Clarity, Awareness, Learning, and Motion. This breakdown will help you find calm in the community-building process. Finding calm has not been easy over the past two years. I’ve learned that adding layers, complexity, and/or several concepts can create more confusion than clarity. 

The fastest way to find calm with community building is to keep things simple. It isn’t easy. This framework became what is now called the CALM Method™. I’ve developed and improved it over the years. This is the best way for me to help myself, clients, and community members. It provides an easy way to find calm in the process of building, launching, and growing an online paid community. 

  • Clarity of your unique concept. 

  • Awareness of your validation sources.  

  • Learning what structure will work best for you. 

  • Motion through taking action.     

Community Architecture 

The architecture of an online community refers to the structure you’ll build. This includes the features, member benefits, user experience, and the structuring of content and resources within the online space.

A well-thought-out community aligns with the vision, mission, and purpose established by the group’s host. Leading an online community requires understanding how you want to communicate with your members. It also requires knowing how they enjoy connecting with each other. 

  • Identify the your community architecture: 

  • Decide if you want to do a Cohort-based or Membership based model. 

  • Cohort-based 

  1. Self-study course with a cohort

    1. A immersive course with a cohort

    2. A coaching group

    3. A mastermind cohort 

    4. A challenge cohort 

Creator Community Memberships 

  1. Niche content creator (Creator-to-Creator marketplace, Business-to-Business marketplace, Software-as-a-service) 

  2. Community creator (Memberships, courses, masterminds, or a combination of revenue streams from online stores and sponsorship. 

Below are a list of some categories of memberships you might be familiar with:

  1. Podcast supporter memberships 

  2. Skill sharing memberships 

  3. Support communities 

  4. Educational communities 

  5. Networking communities 

  6. Technology communities 

  7. Industry-specific communities  

  8. Special interest communities 

  9. Change communities (leading a movement) 

  10. Creative, entrepreneurial, collaborative, and resource-sharing communities such as collectives of experts or specialists. 

Community Platform 

An online community platform is software technology. An individual, organization, or company can buy it on a subscription basis. This technology facilitates communication with their audience, customers, clients, or members.

These are known as membership sites. A new term, community creators or creator communities, is emerging as a new way for entrepreneurs to earn revenue. They do this by creating courses, programs, or offers and providing them to their audience on a subscription basis. This model creates income for the business owner and provides education and resources for the members. Additionally, it offers a way for the members to meet each other.

The main benefits of purchasing a community platform subscription are significant. In most cases, you will own all of your content. You will also have the ability to keep your member data private.

There are hundreds of community platforms. You can research the best platforms and compare features that fit your business and community needs. 

 

Community Architecture 

The architecture of an online community refers to the structure you’ll build. This includes the features, member benefits, user experience, within the online space.

Community Content 

Any text, information, data, graphics, messages, sounds, videos, content, code, scripts, software, or other materials. All content is copyrighted and/or attributed to the appropriate source. 

Community Roles

A Community Host – to guide the vision, mission, and purpose. 

A Community Facilitator– to support the programming, events, or workshops. 

A Community Manager – to onboard members, support members, and encourage participation within the community. 

A Strategy Consultant – to create processes and tools. These tools will increase conversions from your marketing and advertising efforts. They lead to your programs. 

Marketing Manager – either internally or hiring an agency to help promote, advertise, and scale your business. 

An Active Community Member – to join in events. They should share successes and ask questions. Members can view content and read articles. Additionally, they answer polls, fill out surveys, and give feedback. 

A Passive Community Member – views content and reads member comments. They want to see if they belong here and how they engage in the future. They are not ready yet to commit to active membership, but are interested in the opportunity. 

Community Culture

Community culture can be explained as the way you invite and instruct members to join, share, connect, and learn together. It is the path for members to feel seen, valued, and heard. Culture is written into your community guidelines. It is demonstrated in your member testimonials. Members express it when they talk about your community to non-members.

Community Cohort

A cohort refers to people who share common characteristics. It’s also a formal term that describes a small group taking a class together. There are five kinds of community cohort structures: 

  1. A self-study or self-guided learning course with a cohort 

  2. An immersive, time-based course and cohort 

  3. A coaching program 

  4. A Mastermind group 

  5. A Challenge  

Ideal Member or Ideal Client

An ideal member or ideal client is a person who fits the profile of the community creator’s target audience. They face a problem. The creator can help them overcome or resolve it with their assistance, support, knowledge, network, or resources. 

Ideation

The creative process of generating, developing, or communicating new original ideas which can be visual, concrete, or abstract. Included within this term is the thought cycle from innovation, to development, to actualization. Ideation can be conducted by individuals, groups, or organizations.  

Validation

After you select your ideal member, you can confirm that the community is the solution to their challenges. Try to interview them about their problems and current solutions. Don’t try to sell to them just yet. First, confirm that they have the problem you are solving. Then confirm they would be willing to pay for you to solve it.

Book References

Introduction

  1. Mt. Sniktau, Loveland, Colorado

  2. Travel Pulse, Denver, Colorado

  3. Location Indie

  4. Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod (Podcast)  

  5. The Miracle Morning (Book) 

  6. Jon Berghoff, creator of Xchange

  7. Workshop about essential oils (YouTube)


Chapter 1 Learn the Community Building Basics

  1. Querétaro, Mexico, Exploring Mexico article and photos by Deb Schell 

  2. Carrie Melissa Jones, Author of Building Brand Communities 

  3. The Great Resignation: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying ‘I Quit’ (Article) 

  4. What is ‘quiet quitting’ and how it may be a misnomer for setting boundaries at work (Article) 

  5. Powerhouse Women Podcast 

  6. How to Start Monetizing Your Platform (Podcast episode)

  7. Hivebrite (Community Platform)

  8. Public Social Networks vs. Private Online Communities (Article)

  9. Small business owners revel just how much the Facebook outage affected them 

  10. The Pursuit of Passive Income 

  11. Pamela Slim

  12. How to Build Community and Why it matters

  13. Ayelet Baron

  14. Create a purposeful community (Podcast episode) 

  15. Conscious Community

  16. Clifton Strengths Finder Top 5

  17. YouMap® Career Assessments 

  18. There is no one else like you 

  19. Turn values into verbs: Adventure and Community 


Chapter 2 Develop Your Community Strategy

  1. Jim Thorpe River Adventures, Pennsylvania Poconos

  2. The Find Calm Here Community

  3. The Community Strategy Podcast

  4. Discovering your niche (Podcast episode)

  5. Implement a book club inside a Mighty Network (Podcast episode)

  6. Community Strategy Podcast Episode 90 with Laurence McCahill (Podcast episode)

  7. The Happy Startup School 

  8. The CALM Method 

  9. Community Teams: Be intentional about community management (Blog post) 

  10. CSP Episode 90: Finding happiness together as an entrepreneur with Laurence McCahill

  11. The Community Tool Box: Learning How to be a Community Leader

  12. 10 Qualities for Community Leaders 

  13. Building Brand Communities: How Organizations Succeed by Creating Belonging, by Carrie Melissa Jones and Charles H. Vogl

Chapter 3: Explore Your Community Design and Structure

  1. Peña de Bernal, México

  2. Community Structure

  3. Creator Economy: From Passive to Purpose

  4. The Pros and Cons of Social Media  

  5. Voxer

  6. Whatsapp

  7. Gen X and Millennials

  8. Teachable 

  9. Kajabi 

  10. Maven

  11. Podia  

  12. Robyn Conley Downs 

  13. Mighty Networks 

  14. The Feel Good Effect 

  15. Community Culture 

  16. Leading a Global Mindfulness Community (Podcast episode) 

  17. Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us

  18. Disciple Media 

  19. From Music To Members with Benji Vaughn (Podcast episode) 

  20. Copyright infringement 

  21. Own Your Brilliance

  22. Dare to lead training program 

  23. 2022 Creator Report  

  24. YouTube Influencers

  25. For creators, community is the new follower count 

  26. Creator now 

  27. Podcast membership platforms

  28. The ALMANAC 

  29. The Good Dirt Podcast

  30. The Community Maturity Model   


Chapter 4: Discover Your Ideal Members

  1. 2018 Forbes Article 

  2. The Art of Gathering

  3. Earning your members’ trust (Podcast interview) 

  4. Free survey tools  

  5. Member Surveys

  6. The Value of Discovery Work (Podcast interview) 

Chapter 5: Validate Your Community

  1. Acadia National Park 

  2. Using online communities to validate ideas 

  3. Ideal Member Interviews  

Chapter 6: Plan Your Community

  1. Slow launch strategy (Podcast interview) 

  2. Community Marketing Workshop (Recording)

  3. Use social media to build your online community for your brand (Podcast interview)

Chapter 7: Grow Your Audience

  1. Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, Central Mexico

  2. The History of Blogging

  3. CreativeLIVE

  4. Dave Banks

  5. Cue the Camels 

  6. Vanessa Codorniu, The Biz Bruja

  7. Meetup: Find people, connect, and meet in person

  8. Keep Connected with David Siegel, CEO of Meetup (Podcast interview)

Chapter 8: Launch Your Community

  1. Growth Seat Checklist 

  2. Tech tools checklist 

  3. Launch resources

Chapter 9: Onboard Your Members

  1. Onboarding strategies (Recording) 

  2. Onboarding guide (Podcast episode) 

  3. Connecting members (Article)

  4. Community Strategy (Podcast episodes)

  5. Community of conscious leaders (Podcast interview)  

  6. Member experience (Podcast interview) 

  7. Be intentional about community management (Blog)

  8. Cultivating and nurturing connection (Blog) 

Chapter 10: Keep Members Coming Back

  1. Rosie Sherry

  2. Ministry of Testing 

  3. Indie Hackers

  4. The Independent Community

  5. Rosieland

  6. Adrian Speyer

  7. Episode 96: Becoming an Accidental Community Manager with Adrian Speyer

  8. Céline Riemenschneider 

  9. German Canva Creator Community

Chapter 11: Grow Your Membership

  1. A quick guide to Mighty Networks spaces

  2. Episode 93: Community Strategy that utilizes data with Richard Millington

Chapter 12: Maintain Your Community

  1. Be intentional about community management (Blog)

  2. Pat Cooney, ProntoForms

  3. Glory Osiagor,  NNN, an ecosystem that “empowers the Crypto revolution

  4. Matthew Grande

  5. Pablo Gonzalez, BeTheStage

  6. Jenny Weigle 

  7. Paul M. Bradley,Kaplan

  8. Robert Maddox, Delinea


Companion Workbook Get this free workbook now!

 Creator to Community Builder provides time-saving tips. These are for struggling entrepreneurs to build online communities. The goal is to scale them and enhance business growth. This also helps improve client connections. This companion workbook gives a brief summary of the book. It includes actionable steps to aid you in building an online community and business faster. This way, you can achieve less stress and find calm.

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