diff --git a/Dockerfile-debian-bookworm b/Dockerfile-debian-bookworm
index d68c174d761f30b26db744c6e795b58dad9328b0..446a27f0c2b178dbcf3b9f9090790943155f7ef8 100644
--- a/Dockerfile-debian-bookworm
+++ b/Dockerfile-debian-bookworm
@@ -2,12 +2,22 @@
 # docker build --tag sfconservancy.org-bookworm --file Dockerfile-debian-bookworm .
 #
 # To run the website, first ensure you have a
-# "conservancy/djangocommonsettings.py" file, with an appropriate database path. Then run:
+# "conservancy/djangocommonsettings.py" file, with an appropriate database path.
 #
-# run --tty --interactive --rm=true --publish=8000:8000 \
+# [FIRST RUN ONLY] If you don't have an existing copy of the database, run:
+# touch conservancy-website.sqlite3
+#
+# Start the application with:
+# docker run --tty --interactive --rm=true --publish=8000:8000 \
 #   --mount type=bind,source=$(pwd),target=/var/www/website \
 #   --mount type=bind,source=$(pwd)/conservancy-website.sqlite3,target=/var/lib/www/database/conservancy-website.sqlite3 \
 #   sfconservancy.org-bookworm:latest
+#
+# [FIRST RUN ONLY] In a separate terminal, run `docker ps` noting "CONTAINER ID".
+# Then run the database migrations with:
+# docker exec -it [CONTAINER ID] /usr/bin/python3 manage.py migrate
+#
+# Visit the site at http://127.0.0.1:8000
 
 ARG DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive