Unio: The Art of Intentional Community Building

by Bess Auer

The Art of Intentional Community Building is a how-to handbook that combines 10 years of research, case studies, and “in the trenches” work building successful communities in different industries. Author Bess Auer has trained over 2,000 community leaders to use intention when approaching their fan base. Don’t just grow a group, intentionally build a meaningful community to last. Build your brand better, intentionally.Are you building a microcommunity, such as a corporate team or a small nonprofit? Or a million-member macrocommunity with a widespread fan base? Explore the anatomy of a community, including the 3 Tenets of Community and the 3 reasons why people join a community, and how these aspects are common to communities of all sizes.Then do a deep dive into what makes a successful community builder and leader. Discover the psychology behind the personalities of natural leaders, the skills that must be developed by all community builders, the importance of identifying your community avatars, and the reasons why people choose to remain in a specific community -- or not.What holds a community together over time? It’s the essential “Why” that must underpin every aspect of the community. Learn how to define that "Why" and incorporate it into the fabric of the community so that you, the community builder, can maintain the community and persevere as the group leader.Every community, no matter how big or small, has the same set of member types that either work for or against your community. Learn to identify those member types and to employ strategies to help each of them become a happy, productive member of the team.The timing of your community, as well as the technology you utilize, will have an impact on the community’s success or failure. How you deploy your messaging and whether you target your marketing towards subsets of avatars can mean the difference between short-term and long-term growth. Bess guides you through these considerations.Once your community is up and running, it takes a concerted effort to be sure it is sustainable. Monitoring the 3 Tenets of Community and remaining vigilant for internal and external threats is critical. Bess shares case studies and personal anecdotes illustrating how different communities weathered member loss, worldwide pandemics, terrorism, and even serial killers. (Really!) And finally, she reveals the surprisingly simple, yet secret, formula for scaling a sustainable community.

230 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2021

About the author

Bess Auer is an artist, author, and tech enthusiast who combines her passions for creativity, storytelling, and technology to create books that inspire and impact communities.

A fourth-generation Floridian, she is dedicated to improving her local community while also exploring the dynamic intersections of art, tech, and social change. Her best-selling book, Unio: The Art of Intentional Community Building, examines the anatomy of communities and offers insights on how to build stronger, more supportive networks.

In addition to her business-focused works, she writes YA fiction, with her latest book, HoundsHouse Orlando, serving as a fundraiser for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.

Through her writing, Bess aims to drive positive change and make a lasting difference in both local and global communities.