Transcript
Page 1: Community Building: Finding Your Way

WebAchievers, LLCMarketing Services for the Social Era

Community BuildingFinding Your Way in the Journey

Page 2: Community Building: Finding Your Way

WHY COMMUNITY MATTERS

2WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

“No one gets out of here without finding their own way, but you can't do it alone...”

Listen to your Dad

“You need community.” — Martin Sheen

Page 3: Community Building: Finding Your Way

PEOPLE NEED COMMUNITY

3WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Page 4: Community Building: Finding Your Way

CHRISTIAN’S STORY

4WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Page 5: Community Building: Finding Your Way

HOW A WRITER FOUND SUCCESS THROUGH COMMUNITY

5WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Network

Work HardLand Freelance Work

FREEPAID

Strike a Balance

Establish a Base

http://whatwouldtotowatch.com/

Get a Great Job!

Find Your Voice

Page 6: Community Building: Finding Your Way

CHRISTIAN’S TOP TEN TIPS

6WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Silly stuff gets trafficHelp out Attend meetups

“Click”

Engage your audience

Your Name

Promote yourselfBuild community

Write good headlines

Experiment with media

Post frequently

Use rich keywords

Do a Barrel Roll

Page 7: Community Building: Finding Your Way

WHAT IS COMMUNITY?

A group of people with a shared interest who interact and get to know each other better over time.

7WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Page 8: Community Building: Finding Your Way

HOW DO COMMUNITIES FORM?

8WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

By Accident 5304 Followers

Organically600,000 downloads

6100+ forum

members

By Design

800 Million Active Users

20 Million Apps

Installed Day

Page 9: Community Building: Finding Your Way

5 BAD REASONS TO BUILD A COMMUNITY

9WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Money Low Effort

Executive

Blog!

Novelty Ego

Power

Page 10: Community Building: Finding Your Way

NO ZOMBIES!

10WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Page 11: Community Building: Finding Your Way

10+ GOOD REASONS TO BUILD A COMMUNITY

11WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Fill A Niche Innovate

Help Others Give Back

Share Collaborate

Learn Make an Honest Living

Have Fun Find Your Way

Compete (Your Reason)

Page 12: Community Building: Finding Your Way

LIFE STAGES OF A VIBRANT COMMUNITY

12WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Conception MaturityAdolescence

Seed

Feed

Weed

Page 13: Community Building: Finding Your Way

Get guidance from sponsors and people invested in goals

• What are the big trends?

• Who can speak to issues and opportunities facing the community?

Group and prioritize the resulting list of topics and people

Conduct interviews

• Listen generously!

REACHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY

Page 14: Community Building: Finding Your Way

COMMUNITY ESSENTIALS

Community building blocks are the same• Identity• Belonging• Connectedness• Social capital• Caring for the whole

Page 15: Community Building: Finding Your Way

SELECT TOOLS FOR THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Focus on the building blocks — identity, belonging, connectedness

Leverage social media where it makes sense Survey the landscape — look at competitors Focus on requirements, but be prepared to wear many hats• Design• User Experience• Copy Writing• Web Marketing• Usability and User Acceptance• Project Management

Page 16: Community Building: Finding Your Way

GET CONNECTED AND STAY CONNECTED

16WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Communityblogwebsite

meetups

webinars

Social Networking

email

Podcasts

Page 17: Community Building: Finding Your Way

TO BRAND OR NOT TO BRAND?

Do you possess brand equity? Protect the brand. • Trademarked names of products and technologies• Logos, colors, shapes

No or little brand equity? • Build the community first• Let your member’s needs dictate choices

Page 18: Community Building: Finding Your Way

BUILD THE COMMUNITY PLAN

Audience definition — primary, secondary, tertiary

Content — taxonomies that define topics and relationships

Data sources

Moderators

Working Groups

Steering Committees

Editorial Calendar

Page 19: Community Building: Finding Your Way

ESTABLISH A SOCIAL PROOF

Follow people and adoption patterns

Implement structures and processes that spur interest and growth

Leverage sponsors and existing community base

Roll up your sleeves — this is hard work!

• Create interesting profiles for your “starter” members

• Start discussion threads, write blog posts, set up wiki pages

• Get people interested and excited, and ask for their participation

Page 20: Community Building: Finding Your Way

MARKET THE COMMUNITY

Market within the organization and externally

Outbound marketing is alive and well

Leverage communication channels and customer touch points

• eNewsletters

• Email Signatures

• Webinars

Tap into existing systems used for digital marketing — SEO, CRM, SEM

Page 21: Community Building: Finding Your Way

MEASURE AND REPORT

Be sure to tell the stories Unsolicited member praise or

criticism is gold Don’t fixate on activity — it is not

the only measure of impact Perceptions matter — be persistent,

talk up the community at every opportunity

Enlist champions — people who believe and can convert others

The most useful feedback is rooted in truth. Be open and avoid defensive postures.

Page 22: Community Building: Finding Your Way

LESSONS LEARNED

Manage expectations early and often

Delivering high value content is critical

Embrace your role as a cheerleader

Expect course corrections, sometimes mid-stream

Guard your time and attention with vigilance

Be courageous and take risks

Leverage will get you to your goal faster and with less effort

Page 23: Community Building: Finding Your Way

LEARN MORE ABOUT COMMUNITIES

23WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

e-Mint: Association of Online Community Professionalshttp://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/e-mint/

Managing Social Mediahttp://www.linkedin.com/groups/Managing-Social-Media-1173397

The Community Roundtablehttp://community-roundtable.com/

CommunityChathttps://twitter.com/cmtychatFridays 1-2pm EST

Page 24: Community Building: Finding Your Way

WE CAN HELP YOU BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY

Strategy Design User Experience Training Community Management Media Production Writing Editing Project Management Social Media Web Development Speaking

24WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

Contact Us: Lou OrdoricaPresident, WebAchievers [email protected]://web-achiever.com@lordorica

Page 25: Community Building: Finding Your Way

WebAchievers, LLCMarketing Services for the Social Era

THANK YOU

25WebAchievers LLC | Community Building

25

[email protected]@lordoricaweb-achiever.com