Reddit forums, Twitter chats, Slack channels, even the replies section on Instagram…there are dozens of ways to build community online but they all have one thing in common: it’s about creating a real conversation.

Maintaining a space where people feel welcome, valued and appreciated takes more time and work than you might think. Successful online communities tend to share similar characteristictics, including that they are authentic, inspiring and provide help, feedback and connections.

The most successful online communities do two very important things.

First, they empower “superusers” who enjoy learning out loud and sharing their experience. These community members become advocates for your brand, contributing content, asking interesting questions, etc.

Successful online communities also have porous boundaries. This is just a fancy way of saying, they welcome many different kinds of people, look to solve problems and allow people to learn, change, grow and come in and out of the community as needed.

And, the community itself changes and grows, too.

Some of the best advice for building an online community comes from Christel Quek, co-founder at Bolt Global, who shared her tips via PostPlanner:

1. Click or tap the like / love / celebrate emoji
2. View someone’s profile and / or website + social, then offer a compliment or a question based on a specific detail they shared about their experience and vision
3. Share a good read or video or a question you are curious to hear from other people on
4. Share a thank you / note of gratitude and @mention or tag someone
5. Comment and thank someone for asking a question or sharing a resource
6. Hype another community member up with a success story – “I just noticed @XYZ was featured a few months ago on ABC website…I love seeing these! #GreatWork #Entrepreneurs #ForTheWin”
7. Ask if anyone works in [industry or skill area here] and that you’d love to learn more about folks working in the space
8. Share an idea you have and ask if anyone has a couple of minutes to give feedback on a specific part of it
9. Share a problem and ask if anyone has faced it before
10. Share a worksheet, tool or template that you found useful and why
11. View someone’s posts on their profile and tag / mention someone else who might have experience, perspective or be an inspiration
12. Mention that you could use a pick-me-up and ask people who they look to for inspiration
13. Ask people which social platforms they are using the most right now & why
14. Ask people to drop their Instagram or Twitter profiles into a thread so you can follow each other
15. Ask people who inspires them in [industry/vertical goes here] and why
16. Ask people the moment they knew they had to pursue their vision
17. Mention a friend, family member or colleague you are looking to buy a gift for and ask for advice
18. Ask people to drop their LinkedIn profiles into a thread so you can follow each other
19. Share a vulnerable moment where you had to ask for help, and why it made you more open to doing so
20. Visit someone’s social profiles and add a reply about how you really appreciate their story / business / work / vision
21. Re-share someone’s social post that’s meaningful and say why you really appreciate how & why they created it
22. Empower people to become organic leaders – ask “What’s one thing you recently learned that you’d be open to teaching someone else, and one thing you are hoping to learn?”
23. Share a time when you learned what NOT to do, and that you really appreciate how the community supports each other through thick and skin
24. Share a new habit you are trying to build, and ask how others have approached a similar one
25. Use the comments – tag / @ mention people to say “I think you’d like this” or “this sounds right up your alley” or “is @xyz already on your radar? I think you would find their biz interesting” or “I remember you mentioned you were working on something like this?”