How we are building an independent private community for @beardbrand called the Alliance. A thread.

In today's environment, it's more important than ever to "own" your audience. It's why email is so important and what drives @klaviyo.

1/8

Many people are building private and public communities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, etc but the problem is you don't OWN any of these.

In a flash, those platforms can ban your community, or ban your community members.

2/8

So, we built an independent community called the Alliance. Here are the highlights.

> Private & paid (either through loyalty or a membership price)
> Built on @discourse
> Focused content on self improvement

3/8

Because the content is focused, and membership is limited we have an incredibly healthy and positive community.

Members open up in ways you wouldn't see in other communities and they support each other when needed.

4/8

And the goal is to be small and purposeful. Not to grow as quickly as possible or to maximize profits.

This steady growth has helped the culture remain in tact as members cycle through their engagement levels.

5/8

We have a Beardbrand team member responsible for leading the community. They facilitate conversations, help keep the culture on point, and manage the memberships.

Other Beardbrand team members are also in there and engage regularly with the community.

6/8

There are perks for members:

> Free shipping
> Access to be a product tester
> Early access to product launches

Perks for Beardbrand:

> Feedback on products & prototypes
> Learn about bugs on our website
> Better insights to our top customers

It's truly a win/win.

7/8

Big tech will continue to drive people off platforms.

They can land in your community, or somewhere else.

Be the leader to shape the world you envision and be the leader for your community.

/End