Dear Bri: Community Strategy, Fiascos, and Drama

Send us Fan Mail Pricing your community isn’t just about revenue. It shapes the kind of members you attract, how they engage, and whether your community actually creates transformation. In this episode of Dear Bri, I’m breaking down the biggest myths around community pricing and why common strategies like free trials, low-ticket memberships, and tiered entry points often backfire. Because when pri...

Send us Fan Mail “Start with a free community, then upsell people into your paid offer.” Sounds smart, right? It’s one of the most common community growth strategies out there, and in this episode of Dear Bri, I’m explaining why it usually backfires. I break down the biggest flaw in the freemium community model, why mixing your audience and alumni in the same space creates confusion instead of con...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever found yourself deep in the rabbit hole of comparing community platforms, you’re certainly not alone. From feature lists to demos to endless reviews, it feels like the right decision is just one more comparison away. But more research won’t solve your problem, a better strategy will. In this episode of Dear Bri, I break down why so many business owners get stuck in w...

Send us Fan Mail Here’s what I know after designing and building 79 online communities in the past 6 years alone… Before you pick a platform, price your offer, or map out your curriculum, there’s one thing you need to do first: have 10 real conversations with potential members. In this episode of Dear Bri, I break down what’s really driving the rise of communities, how to validate your idea before...

Send us Fan Mail I know predictable recurring revenue sounds awesome, and a membership community is usually the first idea that comes to mind… But if you’re not familiar with community strategy and design, you can easily spend months (or years!) building the wrong type of community for your business — and then wondering what you’re doing wrong when results don’t follow. Or maybe you’ve past that a...

Send us Fan Mail Community strategy is hard enough without having to pick between 50 different tools. If you’ve ever stared down the long list of platform options—Circle, Heartbeat, Mighty Networks, Skool, Kajabi, and more—and thought, "How do I even choose?", this episode is your clarity compass. In this special panel format of Dear Bri, we go beyond surface-level platform comparison an...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Walking on Eggshells. Our letter today is from a community builder who wants to know how we can bridge the political gap in our families and communities when it all feels so impossibly polarized. To better help Walking on Eggshells, I invited the director and producer of the documentary Join or Die, Rebecca Davis, as my guest. This feature-lengt...

Send us Fan Mail In the second episode of this two-part Solo Series, we’re hearing from Hungry for Good Advice. Our letter today deals with  a community creator who's looking for some tips to set up their community platform right the first time. Over the last five years, Bri has partnered with dozens of clients and community members to select the right community platform for them and to avoid...

Send us Fan Mail In the first episode of this two-part Solo Series, we’re hearing from Studio Dreamer. Our letter today deals with a community creator who is ready to build a proper home for their paid community but is unsure which all-in-one platform best suits their community goals. This is one of the most common questions Bri gets from clients. In fact, over the last five years, she has partner...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Stuck in Community Time Out. Our letter deals with a community builder who presented some negative feedback, along with ideas for improvement in someone else's community, but was shut down by the founder. To better help Stuck in Community Time Out, I invited Lindsay Rothfeld as my guest expert. From scaling ambassador programs and live even...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Anonymously Anxious About Anonymity. Our letter today deals with a community builder who has seen firsthand how opening a community to anonymous posts can go downhill fast, and wants to know if it's possible to do so without that outcome. To better help Anonymously Anxious, Amanda Northcutt, the CEO of Level Up Creators, as my guest expert....

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Burnt Out and Bound by Dependency. Our letter today deals with the exhausting dynamic where you're the one person everyone is dependent upon for value in the community, and how to shift away from that. To better help Burnt Out and Bound by Dependency, I invited Pia Silva as my guest expert. She's the founder of the No BS Agency Mastery...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from The Jealous Host. Our letter today deals with a community builder stuck in a comparison spiral, whose insecurities are taking the wheel and making them feel like they're competing with community members and other communities, and falling short. To better help The Jealous Host, I invited Charmaine Jennings as my guest. Like me, she's no...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Community Creator at the Crossroads. Our letter today deals with someone who's proven the concept for their community but is overwhelmed with what comes next and how to build something truly sustainable and scalable. To better help Community Creator at the Crossroads, I invited Jac White as my guest because she's in the same crossroads...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Overwhelmed on the Delegation Struggle Bus. Our letter today deals with figuring out how to get the right type of help to make sure your community will thrive even when you're not there. To better help Overwhelmed on the Delegation Struggle Bus, I invited Kristen Pavle as my guest expert. She is a relational designer transforming community-...

Send us Fan Mail This week on Dear Bri, we hear from Seeking Community Connection, and they’re in the middle of one of the most universal dilemmas in online community management: how to foster peer-to-peer connection and learning. To solve this community conundrum, Bri invited community strategist and business coach Diana Davis, founder of Recess for Creatives. With a background in photography, gr...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Ready to Retreat. Their letter explores how to deepen connection in a thriving online community through an in-person retreat. To better support them, I invited Eric Plantenberg as my guest expert. He’s a client, friend, and mentor—and the founder of the deeply transformative Abundant Living Retreat. I’ve been to many retreats, but none like his....

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Wavering But Hopeful. Our letter today deals with the very tough reality of deciding whether to continue putting in the effort to keep your community going or to close the doors when it feels like there’re more times when it isn’t working. To better help Wavering But Hopeful, I invited Salome Schillack as my guest expert. She has been through ov...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Community Newbie. Our letter today deals with how overwhelming it can be to enter the world of community-building without really knowing where to begin. To better help Community Newbie, I invited Marjorie Anderson as my guest expert. She is the Director of Community for Exos and the Principal Strategist at Community by Association L.L.C. Marjori...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Curious in Colorado. Our letter today deals with knowing whether jumping onto the community train is worthwhile by understanding the future of community building. To better help Curious in Colorado, I invited Zach Hawtof, Co-Founder, Community Manager, and CEO at Tightknit, as my guest expert. He is someone who has extensive experience building...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Sensitive in Seattle. Today’s letter deals with how to grow a community where joining that community might in and of itself be taboo. To better help Sensitive in Seattle, I’m bringing in the big guns. I invited Murtaza Bambot as my guest expert. He is the Founder & CEO at Heartbeat — the all-in-one platform for community businesses (also the...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we hear from Negativity in New York. Today’s letter deals with the nuanced line between keeping your community positive while making space for people to be honest and real about the struggles they are experiencing. To better help Negativity in New York, I invited Mallory Contois as my guest expert. She has lots to contribute today because as the creator of one of...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Hesitant in Honolulu. Our letter today deals with a sensitive subject between two community members and the question of whether to take a proactive approach or not to try to control the potential conflict in your community. To better help Hesitant in Honolulu, I invited Carrie Melissa Jones as my guest expert. She is an award-winning community b...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Hopeful in Houston. Our letter today deals with a community builder who wishes they had better guided their community through diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). To better help Hopeful in Houston, I invited Jae Washington as my guest expert. She is the perfect person to bring us new insights because she is a community consultant,...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Eager Beaver in Baltimore. Our writer today fell into the age-old myth: build it and they will come. Thankfully, they’ve since switched their mindset and realized that it takes a heck of a lot of consistent marketing to get people in their community and would like some advice. To better help Eager Beaver in Baltimore, I invited Alli Ball, founde...