Jordan Gladman
Community
Community is an important aspect of not only a Crypto Project but nearly every Product, Service or Project that is created. A Project cannot exist without the People and Culture that it is made for. Community helps the natural growth of a Project both Directly and In-Directly.
From general word of mouth and marketing from the individual member to Direct Interaction from Community Voice and Voted Decisions, everyone has a part in the structure and life of a Project.
I will be going over some of the fundamental steps that a community takes from its birth to the present, as well as incorporating some of my own experiences and examples of the process along the way.
Growing a community
The First step to a great community is growing it. Every Project or Service has their own unique way to growing a community which all fundamentally link to the same few factors. Initially you want to learn what your Target Demographic is. By structuring your growth and engagement process around what your Demographic is will increase the rate at which you and your project grow.
OnChain Whales is an NFT Project on the XRPL; therefore, our main demographic revolves around individual investors within the XRPL Ecosystem. The main space that Projects on the XRPL get started is on Twitter. As such we started with a Twitter account and started posting about ourselves and what we can offer.
Twitter allows a user to have some freedom in the ways they grow their account. Utilising features such as the Hashtags and Media Upload can assist in the spread of your tweets as well as the Interaction on your posts. Great Media like Photos, GIFs or Videos can help your posts stand out from the crowd and catch someone’s attention.
Another way that a lot of Projects in the XRPL increase their follower count is through Giveaways of their Tokens. Giveaways are a very popular type of Post that usually will spread quickly. This is done by allowing a user to enter in the giveaway through some steps such as Retweeting, Following and Tagging others. In return they have a chance to win something from your Project.
Engagement
Once your community has been built you want to bring engagement forward. This will help Teach everyone what you can provide as well as give ways for everyone to get to know each other better.
While Twitter is a social platform that allows some interaction through DMs and Replies, this is very basic. The path we at OCW took was to Create a Discord Server for everyone to join for free and engage in a variety of Chats and Content.
Discord has allowed us to further expand on our innovative and creative side by creating bots and channels that provide games and a space for everyone to chat freely. Beached is a game that was created by us in which the Community can join in and play free, sometimes for a monetary prize. Discord has also been a place for the community to interact with the Founders Directly and learn more about us. Whether it is general chatting or through various events like AMAs that we have hosted. All of which has been logged and exists on the server itself for anyone to find easily.
Other Projects have also brought further Engagement through various other Platforms and Games where the community can interact, learn, and gain more. These include but are not limited to Twitch Streaming, Multiplayer Game Servers like Minecraft, Collaborative events and other chat room Platforms.
Results
A strong community will produce loyal members that are willing to assist and support your Project. Your community has a strong impact on the longevity and success of a Project, whether it is your Token Price or Expansion in the Ecosystem. Members who are supportive of your project will show it either directly through chat and interaction or on other areas by promoting or defending you.
The gratitude I have for the community in front of us is highly regarded. I cannot express enough how much they have helped both myself individually and the Projects I am involved in. It is always great to see the new ways everyone interacts and collaborates within our Ecosystem.
Community Overall
Building and Engaging in a community is an important part of your Project development that should not be overlooked. Looking after your community will increase the success and health of a Project or Service which benefits everyone involved.
Getting to know the various members from all over the world has been a one-of-a-kind experience that I cannot compare to anything else. Regardless of where I go on my own journey, I will treasure and remember the experiences I have had so far. That said I hope to have many more with the Community going forward!