Dear Bri: Community Strategy, Fiascos, and Drama

Can my community handle anonymous posts without spiraling into chaos? With Amanda Northcutt, CEO of Level Up Creators

41min | 07/15/2025

Description

In this episode, we’re hearing from Anonymously Anxious About Anonymity. Our letter today deals with a community builder who has seen firsthand how opening a community to anonymous posts can go downhill fast, and wants to know if it's possible to do so without that outcome.

To better help Anonymously Anxious, Amanda Northcutt, the CEO of Level Up Creators, as my guest expert. She is a six-time executive with over 20 years of experience in building and optimizing recurring revenue businesses. She is brilliant (.25 speed is encouraged for this episode, we won’t judge!) and has seen it all in the community spaces.

So, tune in for how to leverage anonymity as an asset in your community and where challenges might show up, how to effectively gamify your community, and the essential ingredients for creating a high-ticket community.

In this episode:

(03:50) The communitea: Anxiously Anonymous About Anonymity’s letter

(04:33) Amanda's experience with TexAgs, an anonymous discussion forum

(07:00) Cases where allowing anonymous posts can work, and what to consider

(09:55) The value of having members opt into anonymity

(11:50) What you need to have in place to stop your community from spiraling into chaos

(14:09) How to handle negative feedback and prepare your community for doing it right

(18:20) Badging and the power of gamification in community

(20:48) The importance of experimenting before fully implementing

(23:53) The role of gamification in habit formation

(27:52) The different moderation needs of low and high-ticket communities

(32:25) The essential ingredients for building a high-ticket community

(39:12) When in doubt in business, test

Resources Mentioned:

🎧 Go down the moderation rabbit trail next, listen to Dear Bri Episode 7 with Andrea Middleton, Community Empowerment Leader at Reddit.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Amanda Northcutt

🖥️ Website

📱 LinkedIn

🎙️Podcast

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱LinkedIn

Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

*Dear Bri is produced by Ideablossoms.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Dear Bri: Community Strategy, Fiascos, and Drama

Welcome to Dear Bri, an advice column for community conundrums, fiascos, and drama! In each episode, host and community strategist Bri Leever invites a guest community expert to respond to an anonymous letter from a real-life community creator in distress.

From online community-building mishaps to community engagement tactics gone awry, this podcast delivers relatable stories and sound community strategy for navigating the chaos of digital communities—all with empathy, expertise, and a touch of drama.

The mission? Helping community managers and community creators feel a little less crazy and a lot less alone while building thriving brand communities.

You're in the right place if you are...

🐣 Community Curious:

Creators or brands exploring the benefits of a community-powered business. Learn the fundamentals of community strategy for online businesses, and discover how to build an online community from scratch.

🐥 Community Hatchlings:

Newcomers to community building seeking guidance and support. Get tips on how to grow a paid community, avoid common mistakes in community building, and build trust through smart community roles and responsibilities.

🦅 Senior Community Folks:

Seasoned pros facing complex dilemmas. Explore topics like managing community drama, setting boundaries in digital communities, and advanced community retention strategies.

Dear Bri combines relatable storytelling with expert community strategy, making it a unique and valuable resource for community managers and creators. Episodes provide the most up-to-date community management practices, common mistakes to avoid in community building, the best community engagement tactics I've seen, tips on setting boundaries and building trust in online communities, and of course, a touch of community drama to keep things interesting and fun!

Community creators listening to Dear Bri will feel a little less alone in the important work of community building and a whole lot less crazy as each episode normalizes and provides strategic insights for some of the toughest online community scenarios.

Whether you're curious about building a community, just starting out, or a seasoned professional looking for advanced advice, Dear Bri has something for you. Episodes drop weekly on Tuesday. Hit the follow button so you don't miss out!

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Dear Bri: Community Strategy, Fiascos, and Drama

Welcome to Dear Bri, an advice column for community conundrums, fiascos, and drama! In each episode, host and community strategist Bri Leever invites a guest community expert to respond to an anonymous letter from a real-life community creator in distress.

From online community-building mishaps to community engagement tactics gone awry, this podcast delivers relatable stories and sound community strategy for navigating the chaos of digital communities—all with empathy, expertise, and a touch of drama.

The mission? Helping community managers and community creators feel a little less crazy and a lot less alone while building thriving brand communities.

You're in the right place if you are...

🐣 Community Curious:

Creators or brands exploring the benefits of a community-powered business. Learn the fundamentals of community strategy for online businesses, and discover how to build an online community from scratch.

🐥 Community Hatchlings:

Newcomers to community building seeking guidance and support. Get tips on how to grow a paid community, avoid common mistakes in community building, and build trust through smart community roles and responsibilities.

🦅 Senior Community Folks:

Seasoned pros facing complex dilemmas. Explore topics like managing community drama, setting boundaries in digital communities, and advanced community retention strategies.

Dear Bri combines relatable storytelling with expert community strategy, making it a unique and valuable resource for community managers and creators. Episodes provide the most up-to-date community management practices, common mistakes to avoid in community building, the best community engagement tactics I've seen, tips on setting boundaries and building trust in online communities, and of course, a touch of community drama to keep things interesting and fun!

Community creators listening to Dear Bri will feel a little less alone in the important work of community building and a whole lot less crazy as each episode normalizes and provides strategic insights for some of the toughest online community scenarios.

Whether you're curious about building a community, just starting out, or a seasoned professional looking for advanced advice, Dear Bri has something for you. Episodes drop weekly on Tuesday. Hit the follow button so you don't miss out!

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Description

In this episode, we’re hearing from Anonymously Anxious About Anonymity. Our letter today deals with a community builder who has seen firsthand how opening a community to anonymous posts can go downhill fast, and wants to know if it's possible to do so without that outcome.

To better help Anonymously Anxious, Amanda Northcutt, the CEO of Level Up Creators, as my guest expert. She is a six-time executive with over 20 years of experience in building and optimizing recurring revenue businesses. She is brilliant (.25 speed is encouraged for this episode, we won’t judge!) and has seen it all in the community spaces.

So, tune in for how to leverage anonymity as an asset in your community and where challenges might show up, how to effectively gamify your community, and the essential ingredients for creating a high-ticket community.

In this episode:

(03:50) The communitea: Anxiously Anonymous About Anonymity’s letter

(04:33) Amanda's experience with TexAgs, an anonymous discussion forum

(07:00) Cases where allowing anonymous posts can work, and what to consider

(09:55) The value of having members opt into anonymity

(11:50) What you need to have in place to stop your community from spiraling into chaos

(14:09) How to handle negative feedback and prepare your community for doing it right

(18:20) Badging and the power of gamification in community

(20:48) The importance of experimenting before fully implementing

(23:53) The role of gamification in habit formation

(27:52) The different moderation needs of low and high-ticket communities

(32:25) The essential ingredients for building a high-ticket community

(39:12) When in doubt in business, test

Resources Mentioned:

🎧 Go down the moderation rabbit trail next, listen to Dear Bri Episode 7 with Andrea Middleton, Community Empowerment Leader at Reddit.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Amanda Northcutt

🖥️ Website

📱 LinkedIn

🎙️Podcast

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱LinkedIn

Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

*Dear Bri is produced by Ideablossoms.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Dear Bri: Community Strategy, Fiascos, and Drama

Welcome to Dear Bri, an advice column for community conundrums, fiascos, and drama! In each episode, host and community strategist Bri Leever invites a guest community expert to respond to an anonymous letter from a real-life community creator in distress.

From online community-building mishaps to community engagement tactics gone awry, this podcast delivers relatable stories and sound community strategy for navigating the chaos of digital communities—all with empathy, expertise, and a touch of drama.

The mission? Helping community managers and community creators feel a little less crazy and a lot less alone while building thriving brand communities.

You're in the right place if you are...

🐣 Community Curious:

Creators or brands exploring the benefits of a community-powered business. Learn the fundamentals of community strategy for online businesses, and discover how to build an online community from scratch.

🐥 Community Hatchlings:

Newcomers to community building seeking guidance and support. Get tips on how to grow a paid community, avoid common mistakes in community building, and build trust through smart community roles and responsibilities.

🦅 Senior Community Folks:

Seasoned pros facing complex dilemmas. Explore topics like managing community drama, setting boundaries in digital communities, and advanced community retention strategies.

Dear Bri combines relatable storytelling with expert community strategy, making it a unique and valuable resource for community managers and creators. Episodes provide the most up-to-date community management practices, common mistakes to avoid in community building, the best community engagement tactics I've seen, tips on setting boundaries and building trust in online communities, and of course, a touch of community drama to keep things interesting and fun!

Community creators listening to Dear Bri will feel a little less alone in the important work of community building and a whole lot less crazy as each episode normalizes and provides strategic insights for some of the toughest online community scenarios.

Whether you're curious about building a community, just starting out, or a seasoned professional looking for advanced advice, Dear Bri has something for you. Episodes drop weekly on Tuesday. Hit the follow button so you don't miss out!

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Dear Bri: Community Strategy, Fiascos, and Drama

Welcome to Dear Bri, an advice column for community conundrums, fiascos, and drama! In each episode, host and community strategist Bri Leever invites a guest community expert to respond to an anonymous letter from a real-life community creator in distress.

From online community-building mishaps to community engagement tactics gone awry, this podcast delivers relatable stories and sound community strategy for navigating the chaos of digital communities—all with empathy, expertise, and a touch of drama.

The mission? Helping community managers and community creators feel a little less crazy and a lot less alone while building thriving brand communities.

You're in the right place if you are...

🐣 Community Curious:

Creators or brands exploring the benefits of a community-powered business. Learn the fundamentals of community strategy for online businesses, and discover how to build an online community from scratch.

🐥 Community Hatchlings:

Newcomers to community building seeking guidance and support. Get tips on how to grow a paid community, avoid common mistakes in community building, and build trust through smart community roles and responsibilities.

🦅 Senior Community Folks:

Seasoned pros facing complex dilemmas. Explore topics like managing community drama, setting boundaries in digital communities, and advanced community retention strategies.

Dear Bri combines relatable storytelling with expert community strategy, making it a unique and valuable resource for community managers and creators. Episodes provide the most up-to-date community management practices, common mistakes to avoid in community building, the best community engagement tactics I've seen, tips on setting boundaries and building trust in online communities, and of course, a touch of community drama to keep things interesting and fun!

Community creators listening to Dear Bri will feel a little less alone in the important work of community building and a whole lot less crazy as each episode normalizes and provides strategic insights for some of the toughest online community scenarios.

Whether you're curious about building a community, just starting out, or a seasoned professional looking for advanced advice, Dear Bri has something for you. Episodes drop weekly on Tuesday. Hit the follow button so you don't miss out!

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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