In this episode, we’re hearing from Anonymously Anxious About Anonymity. Our letter today deals with a community builder who has seen firsthand how opening a community to anonymous posts can go downhill fast, and wants to know if it's possible to do so without that outcome.

To better help Anonymously Anxious, Amanda Northcutt, the CEO of Level Up Creators, as my guest expert. She is a six-time executive with over 20 years of experience in building and optimizing recurring revenue businesses. She is brilliant (.25 speed is encouraged for this episode, we won’t judge!) and has seen it all in the community spaces.

So, tune in for how to leverage anonymity as an asset in your community and where challenges might show up, how to effectively gamify your community, and the essential ingredients for creating a high-ticket community.

In this episode:

(03:50) The communitea: Anxiously Anonymous About Anonymity’s letter

(04:33) Amanda's experience with TexAgs, an anonymous discussion forum

(07:00) Cases where allowing anonymous posts can work, and what to consider

(09:55) The value of having members opt into anonymity

(11:50) What you need to have in place to stop your community from spiraling into chaos

(14:09) How to handle negative feedback and prepare your community for doing it right

(18:20) Badging and the power of gamification in community

(20:48) The importance of experimenting before fully implementing

(23:53) The role of gamification in habit formation

(27:52) The different moderation needs of low and high-ticket communities

(32:25) The essential ingredients for building a high-ticket community

(39:12) When in doubt in business, test

Resources Mentioned:

🎧 Go down the moderation rabbit trail next, listen to Dear Bri Episode 7 with Andrea Middleton, Community Empowerment Leader at Reddit.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Amanda Northcutt

🖥️ Website

📱 LinkedIn

🎙️Podcast

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱LinkedIn

Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

*Dear Bri is produced by Ideablossoms.

Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this episode, we’re hearing from Burnt Out and Bound by Dependency. Our letter today deals with the exhausting dynamic where you're the one person everyone is dependent upon for value in the community, and how to shift away from that.

To better help Burnt Out and Bound by Dependency, I invited Pia Silva as my guest expert. She's the founder of the No BS Agency Mastery community, which has been running since 2021. During that time she managed to leave the place where she was the main source of value and develop community leaders to also provide value.

So, tune in for lessons on how to transition between platforms, reset expectations, gracefully deal with internal drama, and leadership development done the right way.

In this episode:

(03:23) The communitea: Burnt Out and Bound by Dependency’s letter

(04:56) Pia's No BS Agency Mastery community

(06:08) Transitioning from Facebook to Circle and resetting expectations

(12:33) How Pia developed her star students into leaders and support coaches

(16:37) The compensation model for Pia's community leaders

(17:53) Gracefully handling an issue with a misaligned leader

(23:49) The importance of honesty and transparency within your community

(25:52) Find your ideal vision for your community and work backwards

(27:32) How Pia is scaling her community while maintaining the feeling of intimacy

Resources Mentioned:

🎧 Get the Badass Your Brand audiobook.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Pia Silva

🖥️ Website

📱 LinkedIn

🎙️ Podcast

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱LinkedIn

And before you go…

💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

💚 Leave a review on Spotify

That helps the podcast more than you know and I deeply appreciate it. 🙏

Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

*Dear Bri is produced by Ideablossoms.

Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this episode, we’re hearing from The Jealous Host. Our letter today deals with a community builder stuck in a comparison spiral, whose insecurities are taking the wheel and making them feel like they're competing with community members and other communities, and falling short.

To better help The Jealous Host, I invited Charmaine Jennings as my guest. Like me, she's no stranger to this conundrum. She founded Hustle + Charm, a supportive in-person community for women and nonbinary entrepreneurs focused on life, business, and career growth.

Since Charmaine was going down a community comparison spiral of her own, and she was brave enough to open up and share her experience with us, we were able to turn this episode into a live coaching session using The Work of Byron Katie.

Tune in for several tools EVERY community builder needs in their toolkit for this good, hard work of community building.

In this episode:

(03:43) The communitea: The Jealous Host’s letter

(06:13) Reframe the feeling of being behind your community members' growth

(10:29) Charmaine's in-person community: Hustle + Charm

(13:12) How Bri and Charmaine experience their community comparison spirals

(17:18) Distill the belief created by comparison

(19:21) The Work: four questions to challenge your belief

(27:04) The Work: turn around your belief

(34:28) The value of this inquiry process for navigating your stubborn thoughts

(38:04) The comparison syndrome from Charmaine's standpoint

(39:57) Understand what to focus your energy on with the three types of judgments

(44:56) The impact of inherited bias judgment

Resources Mentioned:

📝 Learn more about Byron Katie's process of self-inquiry.

🎧 Catch up with Eric Plantenberg's Dear Bri episode.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Charmaine Jennings

🖥️ Website

📱 LinkedIn

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱LinkedIn

Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

*Dear Bri is produced by Ideablossoms.

Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.