Community

Online Community Development: From Loyals to Fanatics

Online communities are most successful when loyal members transform into fanatics. Unfortunately for website managers, this is no easy task. There are many theories on how to collect loyal users and feed them the content they are looking for, but there are only a few best practices that consistently work.

At BlogWorld New Media Expo, online community expert Dino Dugan shared his insights on which best practices deliver results.

Emotions are key: Being vulnerable, genuine, helps build community

Make community members feel welcome by facilitating, answering, connecting, and thanking.
Create a special language that makes users feel included.
Helping is the new selling : Give away what you know. Helping will make users feel supported.
Recognize value. Showing that you understand that users are looking for quality will make them want to come back. In essence, create content that inspires and lives up to user expectations.
If they’re doing something for free, that means it’s not about money … it’s about passion.
Strive to be somebody’s favorite. Be specific in your blog. General content doesn’t cut it.

Be sure to have a CTA (call to action)

Experts say that eyeballs are over-rated, and that page views should not be a goal. Convert viewers into fanatics by prompting them to respond.
Building community comes down to intention: What is the intention behind your community?
Fill in the blanks: because of this Blog, <specific audience> will <specific benefit>
Then observe “after visiting this blog I want readers to do (this), and then second to do (this).”

Be different. Change it up!

Using awards and rankings are another way to generate unique content & draw viewers.
Do the blog headline exercise: write 50 DIFFERENT headlines that answer questions for your audience.
Publish at least 1 non-standard post a week: interviews, videos, podcasts, presentations, and surveys
Avoid “Superbowl” mentality (one ad that goes to many). Use many highly targeted ads to segmented audiences.

Look at your community in the long-term

Consider your blog in years, not months. Be specific to be someone’s fave.
Create a cohesive business model: social -> blog -> speaking -> clients.
Be consistent. Keep to a schedule.

Thanks for sharing insights BlogWorld friends: @jaybaer, ‏@CLRochelle, @nateriggs, @cspenn, @dino_dogan, @angiegassett, @jasonkeath, @justinlevy, @heidicohen and ‏@pcgdigital !

Community Developer Tips From South by Southwest Interactive

There’s no magic recipe to making an online community succeed, but there are plenty of ways to kick-start, fix, or grow your city’s startup technology scene no matter what the geography. How do culture, philosophy, mentorship, education, government, universities, and events play a role in which communities thrive and which fail?

At the 2012 South by Southwest Interactive Festival, “How to Build Entrepreneurship Communities” helped shed light on the key ingredients needed to establish a successful community. Thanks to insight from folks like President and CEO of Venture for America Andrew Yang and Managing Director of Foundry Group Brad Feld key parts of the talk are available here!

How do you build a community? Give more than you take!

There is a big difference between one who can be successful and someone who can help others be a success
Communities scale via content and community
- People are either sharing knowledge or bringing people together
Creating entrepreneurship communities is not about the “I” and “me” of the leaders

Entrepreneurship is about ideas, energy, hustle, and passion

Make sure your ecosystem has a platform to get the word out
Great entrepreneurship communities usually start with entrepreneurs trying to solve their own problems
Most community leaders didn’t dream about becoming organizers: They wanted to make things happen
You’ve succeeded when you start having people come to events who don’t know who you are
Don’t let entrepreneurship community leaders start building walls to preserve self interest & exclude others
Call out the haters, then call a meeting and demand they get involved

When change comes, find the right person to fill your shoes

Sustainability is a big part and challenge in keeping the community strong
It’s a lot of work to run a community so it’s important to take your time and be thorough
To find your successor: Look for the person who keeps coming back when you say you don’t need help
Embrace the help of volunteers if you can
Make sure to keep the community sustainable: Limit responsibilities for the leaders and make events repeatable

Special thanks for the content contributions from @MaxGdj, @mpd, @girlmobile, @timjeby, @marcnager, @paigecraig, @nickseguin, @alenarg, and @markpeterdavis !