Bad Community Advice

Before you launch your community, it's tempting to create a channel for every topic your members might want to discuss. Don't. Tightknit co-founder Zach Hawtof explains why the strongest communities begin with fewer spaces, not more. Instead of scattering members across dozens of empty channels, concentrate the conversation in one place until your community tells you it's ready to grow. Along the...

Gina Bianchini thinks one of the biggest mistakes community builders make is choosing the wrong place to gather people. The founder and CEO of Mighty Networks joins Seth Resler to explain why building a community on platforms like Facebook Groups, Discord, Slack, or WhatsApp can actually work against the relationships you’re trying to create. Gina argues that communities thrive when people feel li...

A documentary about civic decline does not sound like obvious movie material—until Join or Die turns Bowling Alone into a surprisingly urgent conversation about why Americans have stopped showing up for one another. Filmmaker Rebecca Davis and writer David J. French unpack one piece of bad community advice that sounds sensible but often backfires: make it easy for people to join your club. They ex...

“Let people try your community for free first.” It sounds smart—especially if you’ve seen free trials work for software, courses, and subscriptions. But according to Bri Leever, that logic breaks down fast when the product is community. In this conversation, Bri explains why free communities often attract the wrong behavior, why members without skin in the game weaken the experience for everyone,...

When your community feels like a ghost town, the instinct is to post more, prompt more, push harder. But that’s often the fastest path to burnout. In this episode, Seth talks with Carrie Melissa Jones, co-author of Building Brand Community, about a common — and damaging — piece of advice: If members aren’t engaging… try harder. Carrie explains why engagement hacks and gamification may create short...

“Don’t worry about ROI. Just keep building.” That advice sounds supportive—until the budget tightens, leadership changes, or someone asks you to justify your job. In this episode, community strategist Brian Oblinger explains why not thinking about ROI from day one is one of the most dangerous mistakes community builders make. Drawing from years of work with large organizations—and translating thos...

“Don’t worry about onboarding until after launch.” That’s the kind of bad advice that can doom your community before it even gets off the ground. Community strategist Heather Angel joins host Seth Resler to explain why the welcome experience is one of the most important parts of community building—and why it can’t be an afterthought. Heather shares practical tips for helping new members feel comfo...

You can’t manage what you don’t measure—and that includes your community. Community strategist Catherine Hackney, Principal of Confident Communities Consulting, has seen too many organizations skip tracking engagement metrics because “we don’t know what to do with the data.” In this episode, she explains why that’s a fast track to a stagnant (or dying) community. Catherine shares which numbers act...

“Community marketing doesn’t work.” That’s the bad advice that shaped the career of Andy Claremont, Head of Ecosystem and Community at Glide—and it couldn’t have been more wrong. In this episode, Andy and host Seth Resler of Community Marketing Revolution unpack why early skeptics misunderstood the power of community-led growth, and how marketing through genuine connection has become one of the st...

What happens when brands mistake transactions for relationships? Christina Garnett says that’s where community efforts often go wrong. A fractional Chief Customer Officer and CX strategist, Christina argues that gamification is not the magic fix many leaders think it is—it can create surface-level engagement but rarely delivers belonging. In this conversation, Christina unpacks lessons from her ne...

Chasing community might not be the best move for every content creator. Arielle Nissenblatt, Head of Community and Content at Pinwheel by Audily, has seen countless podcasters dive in only to discover that community isn’t always the magic growth engine they hoped for. She joins Seth Resler of Community Marketing Revolution to unpack the difference between audience-building and community-building—a...

In most support communities, a small group of vocal members dominates the conversation—while the vast majority quietly lurk in the background. It’s easy for community managers to focus on the loudest voices. But Jillian Bejtlich, Senior Community Manager at Calendly, says that’s a mistake. She explains how the silent majority can reveal what truly matters—if you know how to listen to the data.

Conflict is part of community management—and so are difficult members. So you just need a thick skin, right? Not quite. David DeWald, Community Manager at Ciena, joins Seth Resler of Community Marketing Revolution to explain why toughness alone won’t cut it. He shares practical strategies for handling high-stress situations, knowing when to ask for help, and protecting your mental health along the...

Too many community builders spend months—or even years—designing the “perfect” online space, only to open the doors and find no one there. Todd Nilson, Community Strategist at Clocktower Advisors, joins Seth Resler of Community Marketing Revolution to explain why “If you build it, they will come” is a great movie line but terrible advice for launching a community. Before you invest time and energy...

Seth Resler asks community building professionals about the worst advice they ever received and why it doesn't work.