Your first ten members: invite them one by one

An empty community is hard to join. Nobody wants to be the first person posting into silence. The way around that is ten personal invitations, sent one at a time. A big launch announcement mostly brings visitors who look around, find nothing and leave.

Pick people, not audiences

Write a list of people who already talk about your topic: colleagues, people who email you questions, regulars at a meetup, the person who always replies to your posts elsewhere. Then pick ten who are likely to post something, not just read.

Ask for something specific

"Join my new community" is easy to ignore. "I've started a space for volunteer coordinators and I'd love you to share how you schedule Saturday shifts, because you're the best at it I know" gives them a reason and a first post. People are far more likely to show up when they know exactly what you hope they'll contribute.

Stagger the invitations over a week or two, so each new arrival finds a few fresh posts and someone to reply to them. Reply to every first post yourself, and quickly.

The first ten set the tone for the next hundred. If they ask questions and help each other, newcomers copy that. If they only make announcements, newcomers will too.

This week's task: write your list of ten, with one specific contribution you'd ask each person for. Send the first three invitations.