In this week’s episode, we talked to Carl Smith from Bureau of Digital. In our I Make a Living Nerdisode, he gives us his top tips for building organic and authentic communities.

1. Building community isn’t something you check off a list: it requires a commitment and a purpose to keep it going.
2. Communities evolve to reflect their members’ needs: what you start with might not be what you end up with.
3. When you’re scaling an intimate group into thousands of members, insist on a strong code of conduct.
4. Don’t be scared of your communities taking off without you: you wanted a group of people to get together and do something, so let ‘em!
5. Meet your community where they live: for Bureau of Digital, it was Slack. Where is yours?