The Slack CM Blog - 5 Inspiring Slack Communities to Learn From
Content:
Newsletter Format/Do We Really Need Another Newsletter?
5 Great Slack Communities to Learn From. (Short Version)
More Community Content
Goodbye👋
Newsletter Format
Every 2 weeks we publish a Slack-specific community resource on our blog.
Those articles can get pretty long (>1000 words).
This newsletter gives you the short version of the articles. If you want to read it all, you can.
Do we really need another newsletter?
Honestly, no. There are tons of community resources out there. But they're so general.
The same community tips can't be applied to all kinds of communities on all kinds of platforms.
This newsletter is just about Slack communities.
It's also a great boost for my ego!
5 Great Slack Communities to Learn From
Last week I joined over 40 Slack communities. I found 5 outstanding communities and learned why they work so well.
Here are 5 communities, 5 reasons why they're engaging, and 5 sources of inspiration for your own community.
Weekend Club - The Right Barriers to Entry.
Size: +130
Why it's good:
The Weekend Club is a private community and requires a paid subscription.
This keeps out low-quality members, i.e. members who are not willing to put in the effort to become part of the community.
This is especially important in good communities of practice. Your members want high-quality conversations with other high-quality members.
But this doesn't mean that you have to have a paid community. You could have an application process instead.
Questions to ask yourself for your community:
Is it too easy to join my community?
Am I willing to sacrifice member quantity for member quality?
Earlywork - Community Culture
Size: +2500
Why it's good:
Earlywork is extremely consistent, clear, and fitting with their community culture.
It all starts from their landing page:
Career resources without the bullsh*t
And the tone stays consistent throughout their onboarding process, the language on their resources, and even on the founders' own websites.
In most communities, it takes members some time to understand how they're supposed to act and speak. If they don't figure it out, they won't engage.
Earlywork's culture is light and fun but also ambitious. It's brutally clear.
Questions to ask yourself for your community:
Are you deliberately putting effort to set a culture in your community or are your members defining it?
Is your messaging consistent from your website to your community and resources?
What is your members’ perception of your community culture?
Revops Co-op - Onboarding Perfection
Size: +4000
Why it's good:
The right onboarding process makes or breaks your community. After all, it's a member's first impression of you.
You have to be educational, but interesting. Short and sweet, but filled with information.
In most communities, I just got 1 welcome message from the community manager. Revops' onboarding flow consists of 6 steps.
You can find all steps in the full article.
Questions to ask yourself for your community:
Is your onboarding flow spread out over multiple days?
Are all onboarding messages digestible or can I shorten them?
Does my onboarding message teach the member enough about my community to get started?
Bunch - Team Involvement
Size: +2000
Why it's good:
Bunch's entire team is involved in the community.
On a daily basis, you'll see messages from the community manager, the CEO, the COO, the product team, and even the finance team.
It makes you feel like the entire team truly cares about you and the journey you're on.
It's not just one community manager who makes sure that you're doing well. Everyone does their best, even if it's not part of their job description.
Questions to ask yourself for your community:
Can I get more of my colleagues involved in the community?
How can I show my colleagues the benefits of playing a part in the community?
Uncommon - Balancing Product and Practice Communities
Size: +900
Why it's good:
Uncommon manages to be the perfect hybrid of a community of practice and a product community.
They've created a space where you can build relationships and get career support but also stay updated on their product's newest features.
There are very clear business benefits for Uncommon, but it never ever feels like anyone is trying to sell you something.
You have the best of both worlds. Benefits for the business AND for the member.
To stay concise, I'll share one tactic they use. You can find 2 more tactics in the main article.
Framing:
Uncommon is building their product with their community members. Not just for them. Once you join the community, you become a part of the company's mission. Your voice is heard and your input is extremely appreciated. Their messaging makes this very clear.
Questions to ask yourself for your community:
What can I do to involve my members in building our products?
Do they feel like they're involved?
Is our community about the members first and the product second?
More Community Content
Community DEI Case Study: The Women's Online Safety Hackathon
Get Community Buy-in: How to Prove the Value of Community Inside your Organization
WhatsApp's Communities Update from the Perspective of My Middle Eastern Mom
Goodbye👋
I always want you to leave with a smile. The goodbye section is here for me to remind you that you're an amazing person.
Community is growing, it's difficult, it's scary.
But every single day you create more relationships. Your work allows other people to feel like they belong. Thank you for doing what you do.
If you liked this newsletter, why not share it with one community friend?
Just forward this email to the person you have in mind.
And let's make this a community-led newsletter.
You can always hit me up on Twitter and let me know what you want to read about and what you like or dislike about this newsletter. We can even write a whole issue together! I'd love to share your thoughts with the world of community❤️
See you next time:)
Kourosh - The Waves Guy🌊