How to Launch an Online Community With AI in 6 Steps

The concept of community has evolved significantly in recent years. Nowadays, communities are not restricted to physical locations. Instead, there is a growing trend of communities moving online and becoming important platforms for people to interact, share knowledge, and support each other.

Whether it's a group of hobbyists discussing their favorite pastimes, professionals networking to advance their careers, or learners coming together to acquire a new skill, online communities provide a space to connect with like-minded individuals irrespective of their location.

If you are a creator or a business owner, establishing your own branded community can be a fantastic way to grow your business. Free and paid communities can help in building brand loyalty, fostering customer engagement, and gaining valuable insights into customer needs and preferences.

Communities can also serve as a standalone business model, allowing you to monetize your online community and offer a private space for members to engage.

So, how can you launch your own online community?

In this blog post, we will take you through the six essential steps to launching an online community. So keep reading to learn how you can create a vibrant, engaged, and supportive online community in six easy steps.

What is an Online Community?

An online community is a digital space where people with shared interests, goals, or passions can connect, communicate, and collaborate.

These communities can range from online forum and social media groups to more structured platforms that offer various tools and resources to foster interaction and engagement.

Today, online communities have become essential for networking, learning, and growing together, providing a sense of belonging and support that transcends geographical boundaries.

Related articles:

• How to Build a Brand Community That Thrives
• How to Choose The Best Membership Site Platform for Your Online Knowledge Business
• How to Teach Online Classes and Make Money Online

The Three Main Types of Online Communities

There are many different types of online communities, but here are the main categories you may come across online.

Understanding these categories can help you determine the best approach for launching your own learning community.

Free Social Media Groups

Free social media groups, such as those found on Facebook or LinkedIn, are among the most accessible types of online communities. They are open for anyone with an account on the respective social platform to join and participate.

These communities often revolve around broad topics or interests and can gather a large number of members due to their easy discoverability.

However, while free social media groups offer convenience and a broad reach, they may not be ideal for businesses looking to retain and engage members over the long term.

Engagement within these groups can fluctuate, and the platform's algorithms can affect visibility and reach.

Plus, monetization options are limited since these platforms prioritize user engagement over commercial activities.

Branded Communities (Free or Paid)

Branded communities typically exist outside of mainstream social media platforms and are centered around a specific brand, product, or interest.

These communities may be free to access or require a nominal fee for membership. They serve as an extension of a company's brand strategy, offering a dedicated space where customers or fans can connect, share experiences, and interact with the brand on a deeper level.

Unlike free social media groups, branded communities provide a more controlled environment where brands can foster closer relationships with their audience.

Members often perceive these communities as exclusive and value-driven, as they offer insider information, exclusive discounts, and direct access to company representatives. This exclusivity helps in retaining members and fostering brand loyalty over time.

Membership Communities (or Membership Sites)

In this case, the community and content members find inside, is the main product that a business or creator is selling.

These communities typically require a membership fee for access and offer additional value beyond the community interaction.

They may include learning resources such as online courses, webinars, workshops, and digital products like eBooks etc...

Members join these communities not just to connect with like-minded individuals but also to gain access to knowledge and skills that can help them achieve personal or professional goals.

Membership fees support ongoing content creation and community management efforts, ensuring a high level of member engagement and satisfaction.

How to Launch an Online Community [Step By Step]

In today's article, we will focus on the last two types of online communities described above: branded community and membership sites.

These are the types of communities that can be monetized, and can positively impact both creators and members!

So let's see how you can launch your own community space in a few simple steps:

Step 1: Create Your Heights Platform Account

The first step to launching your online community is choosing a community platform. In this case, we will be covering how you can build your own brand community using Heights Platform.

Heights Platform is an all-in-one online course and community-building platform that makes it easy to create, manage, and grow your online knowledge business.

By signing up for an account, you gain access to a wide range of tools and features designed to help you build and nurture an active online community.

Here are the key benefits of choosing Heights Platform to host your online community:

• Create unlimited community channels
• Build and sell unlimited online courses and digital products in one platform
• Use AI tools specifically designed for creators
• Access to marketing tools (such as website builder with unlimited pages, email marketing, affiliate program and so much more)
• Keep your community members engaged with gamification tools
• + So much more, keep reading below to get a sneak peek of one AI tool that can help you build your offer.

Step 2: Build the Community Space (with AI!)

Once you have created your Heights Platform account, you can go ahead and start building your community either manually, or with AI!

Before we get to how you can build your community with artificial intelligence, here is an overview of how communities work inside Heights Platform:

The community in Heights is directly connected to your program, allowing your paying members to easily access it alongside the products you offer, including online courses, events, or digital products.

In Heights Platform, you can build a thriving community with unlimited channels and channel groups for your customers to discuss different topics.

Channels are dedicated spaces for specific topics, while channel groups organize multiple channels. Creators and admins can moderate posts and lock channels or posts.

You can also hide certain channels and sell access to others. When posting, you can customize the style, add multimedia content, and tag members for comments and reactions.

Now, back to how AI fits into this!

You can access a tool called the AI Product Generator: a part of Heights AI that builds entire courses and communities for you in seconds and translates your idea into a concrete offer!

What's great about this tool is that it can understand your vision and help you materialize it into an offer.

By simply describing what you want to create to Heights AI, it generates everything you need for your online business (online courses, community channels, digital products etc...)

Check out this example, where we use the AI Product Generator to build a community about pet training.

We start by describing our vision:

As you can see from the image above, we simply told the AI that we want to build "a community of dog lovers who want to train their puppy, with many community channels".

Right below, we can set the pricing for our community. Next, Heights AI offers us recommendations on how to grow our community! And the last step, is to confirm our submission and let Heights AI build everything for us!

Here is a preview of what our community looks like right after we had it made by AI:

And here is what a community channel looks like once we welcome our first members:

Step 3: Add Content (Online Courses, Digital Products)

If you want to offer even more value to your community members, consider adding additional learning resources to your community.

Content is the backbone of any online community: is the reason why people will join your community, aside from connecting with other members.

Providing valuable and relevant content will keep your members engaged and coming back for more.

Heights Platform makes it easy to add and manage various types of content, from online courses and webinars to digital products and resources.

Begin by creating a content strategy that aligns with the interests and needs of your community.

Offer a mix of educational materials, such as online courses and tutorials, alongside interactive content like live Q&A sessions and so on.

Digital products, such as eBooks and downloadable resources, can also add value to your community and provide additional revenue streams.

Step 4: Choose Your Pricing Model

Choosing the right pricing model is essential for the sustainability of your online community. Heights Platform offers flexible pricing options, allowing you to monetize your community in a way that suits your goals and audience.

Here are the different pricing models you can choose from (or chose a combination of the below):

• One-time fee
• Installment plan
• Subscriptions (monthly-annual)
• Pay what you want

The most common and suitable pricing model for an online community is the subscription model, where members pay a monthly or annual fee to keep accessing exclusive content.

Offering tiered membership levels is also a popular choice, catering to different segments of your audience and providing varying levels of access and benefits. This not only maximizes revenue but also ensures that members feel they are getting value for their investment.

Step 5: Promote Your Community

Promotion is key to attracting new members and growing your community. You can leverage a variety of marketing strategies to reach your target audience and showcase the value of your community.

Use social media platforms, email marketing, and content marketing to spread the word about your community. SEO and organic marketing are also great way to ensure your paid membership community is discoverable through search engines.

We talk more about how to attract new members into your community or membership site in this article from our blog: Top 10 Ways to Get More People to Join an Online Community

Step 6: Engage Your Members

Engagement is essential for the long-term success of your paid community membership. Active and engaged members are more likely to remain loyal and contribute positively to the community.

There are a number of ways to keep your community members engaged over time.

For example, you can welcome new members through personalized emails, private messages, or group chat mentions. Additionally, offering exclusive content or perks to members can make them feel special and motivate them to stay active.

Consistently sharing content according to a schedule helps maintain a thriving community atmosphere and sets expectations for active members. Encouraging member participation can be done through open-ended questions, discussions, or mandatory tasks linked to your online courses.

For instance, you could set up weekly events such as "Ask-me-Anything" sessions to create community engagement opportunities, while celebrating member achievements.

Last but not least, it's important to ensure a safe and respectful environment through clear guidelines and community moderation to cultivate a supportive community culture where existing members feel comfortable participating.

We talk more about this here: 7 Steps to Revive Your Online Community and Increase Engagement

Why You Should Start a Community?

Starting an online community offers many benefits for both you and your members. Here are some compelling reasons to launch your own free or paid community:

Build Strong Relationships With Your Customers

An online community enables you to connect with your customers and develop meaningful relationships.

This provides better insights into who your customers are and what they are looking for.

By fostering these connections, your customers are more likely to remain loyal to your brand.

Establish Authority and Credibility

By providing valuable content and facilitating engaging discussions, you position yourself as an authority in your niche.

This credibility can lead to increased trust, opportunities, and growth for your personal brand or business.

Generate Recurring Revenue

Monetizing your community through subscriptions, premium content, and digital products can create a sustainable income stream.

If you choose a subscription model, this means that you'll get componding revenue every month! This financial support can help you invest in further enhancing the community and its offerings.

Offer Value To Your Customers

Online membership communities provide a dynamic learning environment where members can access diverse resources, share insights, and collaborate on projects.

This can be another way for you to deliver value to your existing customers.

Launch a Successful Online Community With Heights Platform

Today we've learned about the key elements of creating and growing a successful paid online community, as well as the step-by-step process of developing and selling access to a community.

To establish a vibrant community, it's crucial to select the right platform, such as Heights Platform, where you can access AI tools to build all the necessary components for an online knowledge business, including courses, complete offers, digital products, and community channels.

Get started on building a successful community with Heights Platform's free trial today!