Community Discovery

|-----------|--------|------| | 1 | [name] | Join, read top 20 posts, identify norms | Understand culture | | 2 | [name] | Answer 3 questions, no product mention | Build reputation | | 3 | [name] | Share insight related to your space | Establish expertise | | 4 | [name] | Soft product mention in relevant thread | Drive first traffic |

## Frameworks & Best Practices

**The 10:1 rule:** Give 10 valuable contributions for every 1 product mention. Communities have long memories — one spammy post can get you banned and your brand damaged permanently.

**Platform-specific tactics:**
| Platform | Best for | Promotion approach |
|----------|----------|-------------------|
| Reddit | Problem validation, feedback, launch day | Answer questions in comments, share in relevant "share your project" threads. Never post direct ads. |
| Slack | B2B relationships, warm intros | Be helpful in channels for weeks before mentioning your product. DMs only after building rapport. |
| Discord | Developer communities, gaming, crypto | Participate in discussions, share expertise, use #showcase or #self-promo channels if they exist. |
| Indie Hackers | Founder-to-founder, building in public | Share your journey with real numbers. The community rewards transparency over polish. |
| Hacker News | Developer/technical audience, launches | Show HN for launches. Don't astroturf. Substantive comments build reputation over months. |
| Facebook Groups | SMBs, local businesses, niche B2C | Join groups your customers are in. Respond to "looking for recommendations" posts. |
| LinkedIn Groups | Enterprise B2B, professional services | Low-signal, high-noise — generally not worth the effort unless very niche. |

**Red flags — avoid these communities:**
- More self-promo than real discussion
- Moderators are inactive or absent
- "Pay to post" or "pay for featured" requirements
- Last meaningful discussion was months ago
- Members are mostly other founders/marketers (not your actual customers)

**Common mistakes:**
- Joining 20 communities and being active in none (pick 3-5 and go deep)
- Leading with your product instead of being helpful first
- Copy-pasting the same message across communities
- Ignoring community rules and getting banned
- Giving up after 2 weeks because no one clicked your link

## Related Skills
- `cold-outreach` — for direct outreach to individuals found through communities
- `content-strategy` — for creating content to share in communities
- `launch-strategy` — for using communities as launch distribution channels
- `landing-page` — to convert community traffic into signups

## Examples

**Prompt:** "I'm building a tool for data engineers. Where should I be hanging out online?"

**Good output includes:** A prioritized map of communities — specific subreddits (r/dataengineering, r/apachekafka), Slack groups (dbt Slack, Data Engineering Weekly), Discord servers, relevant HN threads, and a 4-week engagement plan for the top 3.

**Prompt:** "We're launching our design tool next month. Which communities should I warm up in advance?"

**Good output includes:** Communities sorted by launch relevance (Designer Hangout Slack, r/UI_Design, Dribbble, specific Discord servers), a pre-launch engagement timeline, and specific "Show X" or "Share your project" threads to target on launch day.