"What Should My Community Be About?"

Here’s a quick way to figure it out in just five steps. Following these steps should take around 10 minutes and will help you skip months of stress and uncertainty.

A lot of people feel pressured to make the “perfect choice” right away. But honestly, it’s never like that. Your first idea might not be the one you stick with forever—probably not, actually. Over time, you’ll refine it, adjust, and learn. The goal is to start, even if it’s not perfect, and improve along the way until it’s right.

So, let’s dive in and get your first version out there.

STEP 1: Decide on the Community’s Focus

Think about what you want your community to be centered around. Most communities form around one of the following areas:

• Profession: A skill you’ve mastered from a job or career, like “digital marketing.”

• Pain Point: A problem you or someone you know has overcome, like “handling social anxiety.”

• Passion: Something you’re genuinely interested in, like “learning languages.”

Pick a profession, pain point, or passion that resonates with you.

STEP 2: Define Who You Want the Community to Serve

This could include:

• People similar to you

• People you’ve helped in the past

• People you feel are underserved or niche

Or a mix of these. Think about who would benefit most from this community.

STEP 3: Describe the Community Member in Their Own Terms

Describe your ideal member so that they would recognize themselves in the description. You can use categories like:

• Age

• Gender

• Occupation

• Problem they want to solve

• Interest they’re passionate about

Choose around three traits that best represent your target community members.

STEP 4: Outline the Benefits and Challenges

Now, describe what joining your community helps them achieve and what it helps them avoid. Think of it as a benefit-to-obstacle comparison:

• Benefits: What’s something positive they’ll gain?

• Challenges: What’s something negative they’ll avoid by joining your community?

List at least one benefit and one obstacle your community addresses.

STEP 5: Put It All Together

Now that you have the basics, here’s how it comes together:

"I help [WHO, Step 2] (e.g., 30-45-year-old entrepreneurs) with [WHAT, Step 1] (e.g., overcoming their public speaking fear) so they can [GOOD OUTCOME, Step 4] without having to [AVOID BAD OUTCOME, Step 4]."

BONUS STEP 6: Your Unique Approach

Over time, you’ll develop a process that’s unique to your community and valuable for your members. If, for example, you help new users find their niche, your tagline might be:

"I help new members identify their niche in under 30 minutes with my 6-step ‘MOZI Method’.”

These steps are just building blocks, so tweak them as you go along. Focus on action—getting something out there is better than waiting for perfection!