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I come a very non traditional path to community. I went from IT recruitment right after college, to sales. I had spent time questioning whether sales was for me and whether I should move into a different role. I saw an opening at a company I had always wanted to work for, and eventually applied. I truly fell into the community role and Im so thankful for it. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to consult for many companies, to speak at CMX, win CMX’er of the year 2022, and grown into my current role.

Many of the challenges are around internal buy in. Truly having the support of your organization is not something everyone has, and most organizations don’t actually provide that support. I’ve been able to supplement that lack of internal support, with confirmation and encouragement from other community managers. Luckily, I am at an amazing organization right now who truly supports community. Another challenge many community managers deal with is that it’s usually just one person on the team, so we deal with a lot! We are planning events, moderating and starting conversations, presenting internally and externally, hosting events, and more. It’s a lot for one person to handle so trying to manage and plan all at once can be a huge obstacle.

Honestly, being able to connect with other community managers and just chat with them has been huge. I have loved learning from other CM’s through CMX and the Community Club. Getting real time feedback, advice, encouragement, and confirmation has been instrumental in the decisions I’ve made.

Insided! The team at Insided is outstanding and definitely worth every penny.

This strategy has helped me grow communities, but it does take some time- message every member. Keep a list of who you’re messaging and when, and remember their responses. Keep in touch with them.

Community is relationships. I talk a lot about big “C”, meaning community as a business, or product, and little “c”, meaning the relationships being created. It’s about supporting each other, connecting and learning together.

Talk with other community managers and be willing to learn and ask questions. Community is still so new, and there is so much left to discover and uncover, so jump in and ask questions.