Are we confusing a big, passive audience with a true community, and how do we build a space where people genuinely belong?,,

We are talking today with Tonya Kubo, a community strategist, who emphasizes that social media should be a force for connection, not just noise. Many entrepreneurs believe they have an engagement problem, but Tonya helps us understand that a struggling community is often an operations issue in disguise. She provides a clear definition of true community by outlining the "three-legged stool" model: it must allow two-way conversation between the leader and members, provide access to content, and, critically, allow members to interact with each other without the leader driving the conversation.

We explore which types of businesses—like education, non-profits, and service-based businesses—benefit the most from this model, especially those that rely on word-of-mouth marketing. Tonya explains that healthy communities are not just for positive feedback; they must tolerate criticism from invested members who want to ensure quality standards. Finally, we discuss how to manage communities sustainably, including the importance of a strong, explicit onboarding process,, and how to use automation for busy work while ensuring a human takes over for personalized responses, maintaining that essential one-to-one connection.

Key Takeaways

• Community differs from an audience by requiring interaction between members without the leader constantly driving conversation.
• A lack of community thriving is often an operations issue in disguise, not just poor engagement.
• Start building a healthy community by defining its purpose, promise, and planning for both best and worst-case scenarios.
• Community size matters less than safety; smaller groups (like 20 members) feel safer and foster the ability for people to be honest.
• Use automation to handle busy work like onboarding, but always maintain human involvement for personalized conversation responses.

Resources

• Tonya Kubo is a community strategist and fractional CMO/COO who has spent the last decade proving that online communities can be thriving ecosystems. She has designed and managed communities ranging from 200 to 200,000 members across various platforms. Her work focuses on diagnosing operational bottlenecks and aligning offers with audiences.
• Tonya’s Website: TonyaKubo.com
• Tonya’s Podcast: Find Your Freaks https://www.tonyakubo.com/podcast/

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