Bad Community Advice

Seth Resler of Community Marketing Revolution
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Monthly

Not all community-building advice is created equal—and some of it is downright awful. Hosted by Seth Resler, this show features conversations with seasoned community professionals who share the worst advice they’ve received—and what they’ve learned the hard way. It’s part reality check, part therapy session, and all about helping you build better communities by avoiding the mistakes others already made.

  1. "Build Where People Already Are"

    Jun 1

    "Build Where People Already Are"

    Gina Bianchini thinks one of the biggest mistakes community builders make is choosing the wrong place to gather people. The founder and CEO of Mighty Networks joins Seth Resler to explain why building a community on platforms like Facebook Groups, Discord, Slack, or WhatsApp can actually work against the relationships you’re trying to create. Gina argues that communities thrive when people feel like they’re entering a distinct space with its own culture, identity, and purpose — not just another feed competing for attention. The bad community advice she tackles: “We need to be where everyone already is.” Along the way, Seth and Gina discuss: * The difference between an audience and a community * Why member-to-member interaction matters more than creator engagement * How communities become more energizing than content creation alone * Why charging for a community often increases participation * The hidden downside of “making it as easy as possible” * Why creators don’t need massive audiences to launch successful communities * How AI and algorithmic feeds are making human connection more valuable Gina also shares a surprising example of how the exact same yoga community behaved completely differently after moving off Facebook and into its own dedicated space. If you’ve been wondering whether your audience is ready for community — or whether you’re building in the wrong place — this conversation will change the way you think about where belonging actually happens.

    40 min
  2. "Make It Easy for People to Join Your Club"

    May 4

    "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/

    37 min
  3. "Build a Freemium Community"

    Apr 6

    "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/

    36 min
  4. "If Your Members Aren't Engaging, Try Harder"

    Mar 2

    "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/

    33 min
  5. "Don't Worry About ROI, Just Build."

    Feb 2

    "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/

    41 min
  6. "The Onboarding Setup Can Wait"

    Jan 5

    "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

    36 min
  7. "Metrics Don't Matter"

    12/01/2025

    "Metrics Don't Matter"

    You can’t manage what you don’t measure—and that includes your community. Community strategist Catherine Hackney, Principal of Confident Communities Consulting, has seen too many organizations skip tracking engagement metrics because “we don’t know what to do with the data.” In this episode, she explains why that’s a fast track to a stagnant (or dying) community. Catherine shares which numbers actually tell you something meaningful—like average replies per post and unsubscribe rates—and which ones are just noise. She also talks about how to combine quantitative data (like dashboards and reports) with qualitative feedback (like member quotes and stories) to paint a full picture of your community’s health. Learn how to connect your data to your larger goals, create better feedback loops, and prove your community’s ROI before the budget axe swings. Confident Communities Consulting: https://confidentcommunities.com/

    33 min
  8. "Community Marketing Doesn't Work"

    11/03/2025

    "Community Marketing Doesn't Work"

    “Community marketing doesn’t work.” That’s the bad advice that shaped the career of Andy Claremont, Head of Ecosystem and Community at Glide—and it couldn’t have been more wrong. In this episode, Andy and host Seth Resler of Community Marketing Revolution unpack why early skeptics misunderstood the power of community-led growth, and how marketing through genuine connection has become one of the strongest competitive moats for modern brands. They explore: * How audience and community differ (and why the direction your chairs face matters) * Why community belongs everywhere in the org chart—not just in marketing * What “intentional matchmaking” looks like inside a thriving SaaS community * How to turn your members into the heroes of your brand story Andy also shares his prediction for the next five years of community building—and why, in an AI-saturated world, authentic human connection will matter more than ever.

    26 min
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About

Not all community-building advice is created equal—and some of it is downright awful. Hosted by Seth Resler, this show features conversations with seasoned community professionals who share the worst advice they’ve received—and what they’ve learned the hard way. It’s part reality check, part therapy session, and all about helping you build better communities by avoiding the mistakes others already made.

Information

  • Creator
    Seth Resler of Community Marketing Revolution
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 2025
  • Show Website
    Bad Community Advice