No amount of planning and preparation is going to make your community explode into life. 

Even if you pulled off the most successful marketing campaign ever, persuaded all the top people to join, had the greatest content of all time, the community still wouldn't explode into life. 

This is because communities don't explode into life. The biggest of pops is still just a pop. A surge of activity fades. Momentum dissipates. Then you're left with an...

Resist the urge to tackle a big goal when you launch a community.

Big goals take time, they're hard to achieve, and you're likely to lose your members before you get there. 

If you want a community that can achieve big goals, you need to have a thriving community. To have a thriving community, you need momentum. 

In the early stages (or in a revival phase) a community needs...