Bad Community Advice

"Make It Easy for People to Join Your Club"

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 explain why communities become stronger when new members are asked to contribute early, how participation creates belonging, and why organizers burn out when they treat community like an audience instead of a shared project. Along the way, the conversation explores co-creation, leadership, civic creativity, and why the healthiest groups stop feeling like they belong to one person at all. If you have been trying to remove friction from your community, this episode offers a useful challenge: maybe what people need is not less responsibility, but a reason to matter. JOIN OR DIE: https://joinordiefilm.com/ JOIN 101 ON SUBSTACK: https://join101.substack.com/

"Build a Freemium Community"

“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, and why a freemium model usually creates confusion instead of conversion. She also shares a better alternative: using curated events to let prospective members experience your community without dropping them into chaos. Along the way, Seth and Bri unpack the difference between education-driven communities and connection-driven communities, why events work so well as community experiments, and how to decide whether your community should be evergreen or cohort-based. If you’ve ever wondered how to let people “sample” a community without undermining it, this episode will save you from a mistake a lot of builders make early. EMBER CONSULTING: https://www.emberconsulting.co/

"If Your Members Aren't Engaging, Try Harder"

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-term spikes but rarely build healthy, sustainable communities. Instead, she argues for investing in a strong core of members who help steward culture and conversation. You’ll learn: Why effort isn’t the same as effectiveness How to identify and cultivate co-leaders Why designing clear leadership roles prevents burnout How AI may weaken transactional forums while increasing the value of real belonging If you feel like you’re carrying your community alone, this conversation offers a better path forward. CMJ GROUP: https://www.carriemelissajones.com/

"Don't Worry About ROI, Just Build."

“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 those lessons for creators and event producers just getting started—Brian breaks down how community value actually shows up inside an organization. We talk about the difference between vanity metrics and meaningful ones, why reporting matters as much as measurement, and how community teams get blindsided when they can’t connect their work to real business outcomes. Brian also digs into cost reduction vs. revenue impact, where community tends to live inside org charts (and why that keeps changing), and how to tailor your community story depending on whether you’re talking to marketing, sales, or leadership. If you’ve ever felt uncomfortable answering the question, “So… what’s the ROI of this community?”—this conversation is for you. Brian Oblinger: https://brianoblinger.com/

"The Onboarding Setup Can Wait"

“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 comfortable, connected, and confident from day one, including how to use DMs, events, and even a Spotify playlist to turn newcomers into engaged participants. They also dig into how to measure whether your onboarding is working, the dangers of overwhelming members with too much content, and why no amount of AI automation can replace genuine human connection. If you’ve ever been tempted to “set it up later,” this episode might just save your community. Get Heather's onboarding guide: https://heatherlynnangel.com/seth