How long did it take you to launch your community?
Overall, I've been working on this for over two months. But I bought FC Pro on October 3. So, it's been a month and 10 days after finalizing the platform — and I'm still building/customizing my community.
I kinda feel like I'm taking too long. So, I need some context. 😁
How long did it take you to launch? OR
For how long have you been building your community + add the # of weeks you feel like you'll still need to answer the poll! TIA! <3
If starting from scratch and it's not migration, then in theory it can be done in 1-2 weeks, the site is already ready, but preparation, settings, tests, development of an individual structure and content plan + initial content are needed. Next are distribution channels and marketing activities. The result is guaranteed in 6+ months.
Artur Abakarov I'm starting from scratch, so I spent a lot of time designing my website/theme pages (still in process). Plus, trying to customize the community portal settings and content as much as possible. And I think trying to match the branding of the theme pages and community portal is going to be a time-consuming part as well.
In short, I just wanted to get a general idea about how long it's taking for people "from installing FluentCommunity" to "officially launching the community". 🚀
The GS I started with BuddyBoss and learned WordPress and network administration at the same time, and now I'm learning new things while working on the site and preparing for its release. I'm almost done, but every time I find something that can be improved, and without any deadlines, I keep working on it until I decide it's time to launch.
Artur Abakarov I tested BuddyBoss as well. But yeah, I'd say I knew a lot about WordPress because I already had experience creating a few WordPress sites. I started learning about the Fluent ecosystem from scratch with this community.
And yeah, I totally understand what you said about being "almost done". I'm like that too. 😁 I was getting close to launch and found out about FluentCommunity Add-ons, and I'm kinda interested in exploring that as well! 🙈
With all that said, I definitely plan to "soft launch" my community as soon as possible. Based on my past experience of building my online business, I've learned a lesson that delaying the launch for too long is not advisable. It could harm instead of benefit your business — because the sooner you get the user/customer feedback, the better.
You just have to figure out what things are MUST before the launch and what things could be enhanced post-launch.
Okay, so this post indeed makes me feel a bit better! 🥹
To those still building like I am — let's go, folks! Let's aim to launch the community as soon as possible! We can get real user feedback only after we launch it. 🚀
The GS it depends on what you are trying to build. FC only or an entire website ecosystem around FC? What i have planned includes many components and plugins and if you are not a designer or coder then some freelance would be needed in order to glue everything together and this of course takes time and money 💰and ongoing maintenance and this does not include ongoing advertising and promotion 😉
David Scurlock Yeah, I totally understand your point, David! Things could be quite subjective for different community builders. 🙌
For me, FluentCommunity is the main thing because I'm building a community platform only — no courses or anything else. So, all other plugins are just to support or extend the functionality of FC.
And you're right about the time and money thing. In fact, building alone is gonna take a lot more money than I had originally thought/planned.
The GS I think i am more concerned with competition then I am with the project itself. I am going into a fairly popular niche that is very competitive and some sites that i have analyzed have one million+ members, but if I can get this beast off the ground then my order value will be between $50-$250.
David Scurlock Whoa! Those are huge communities. Wondering what platform they must be using!?! 🤔
Btw, regarding that high competition, I'd say you shouldn't be worried much because it's also an indication that you have a proven market. I hope you've started marketing the community platform already!??! If not, I'd suggest doing that in advance to create some buzz and gain some traction even before you launch! 🙂
I started one as a means to test FC out potentially for future use.
Was live in 4 hours. Has a few hundred members signed up, however... they are there to view content rather than post their own it seams (rock music content)
Been live a couple months now I think. Have had to adjust quite a lot on the site function wise to make it more user friendly. Still has a few things I would change before focusing on using it for a big project.
If you're coming from another platform it can take some time to get everything set up to have equivalent functions that you're used to. If you're starting a brand new community I'd trust the default settings and iterate and respond to your users as your grow.
Ross FCA I plan too have a feedback section and for those that need private support > fluentsupport