Community Building Tips

Most community management gigs appear to 9 to 5 jobs, but are they? I work for a 24/7 social radio network and it certainly doesn’t shut down at 5:00 p.m. every day.  Folks are still visiting each others’ chat rooms and talking in the forums and Yahoo Group. They still need me to wear my moderator hat. I’m also expect to provide a blog post or two over the weekend to keep the traffic flowing.

This is something all Community Managers need to think about - what happens to your community on the weekend. Do you just leave it and come back on Monday spending a frenzied day trying to catch up, or do you drop by here and there on the weekend just checking to make sure the joint hasn’t been taken over by trolls?

Even though my weekend time is family time, I still take an hour or so each day to check on the community. Someone might be having difficulty dealing with a situation, and I don’t want them to have to go through the frustration of waiting two or three days for a response.  If I know I’ll be away from my laptop for a few days, someone else takes over.

Everyone knows how frustrating it can be to reach Customer Service personnel over the weekend. Rather than have a frustrated community, it’s probably in your best interest to make sure there’s some sort of presence during the non-business hours.

What happens to your community on the weekend?

Tagged as: Community, Community Management, community manager

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This past September at BlogWorld Expo, my co-Kommein conspirator David Peralty and I hung out in the blogging lounge and had a little discussion about community forums. Specifically whether or not it’s a good idea for businesses to have a community gathering place. David wasn’t so sure he liked forums as they’re a lot of work to moderate, and as David showed me with his own company’s forum, the most popular folder is the one designated for complaints and technical support issues.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of community forums. I find they can really bring a community together - moreso than comments or social networks. It gives a bunch of like-minded people the ability to carry on a continuous conversation without word limits and it’s a great way to for folks to share ideas, help each other out and cultivate friendships and relationships.

The place I work recently launched a forum and I’m about to open one at the blog network I own. David was right. So far, the most comments have gone to the technical issues folder. Now mind you, we’re only a couple of days into the forum, but  I did expect a bit more of the warm and fuzzy. Something else to keep in mind is that the company  I work for  just launched a major website redesign and the regulars are feeling a bit out of their comfort level. I’m willing to give the complaints about the relaunch a bit more time as the community gets used to a new interface.

The good news is that the forum has eliminated a lot of the email the team gets on a regular basis. Instead of emailing technical support or customer service, folks post at the forum. Our team visits regularly and responds in kind. I also enjoy watching everyone discuss and share.

A couple of days into it, I’m glad we launched a forum. Yeah, the technical issues folder is a thorn in my side, but isn’t it our job to find out what works and what doesn’t? I’m still a big fan of forums. They’re a great place for the community and team to interact and they bring everyone closer together. I’d rather not be in the dark about what my community is thinking.

I’d love to learn your thoughts about community forums. Is it better to not know what your community is thinking?

Tagged as: Community, community forums, Community Management

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Once you’ve worked for a long time building a community, how do you get it to that next level? How do you promote it and get it more general attention?

It can be hard to promote because it might now have amazing content like other blogs and website that you can use social media promotion methods for, nor will it have a singular brand name that will always draw people in, unless the leader or a prominent community member is well known.

So then how do you promote your community in order to grow it and make it “better”?

There are some simple techniques that can be used, dependent on how the community is structured.

Write a Blog

If you don’t have any content on your community forum that you can easily promote, then start a blog for the community, and begin to place in depth articles on it about the product, service, or company and its usefulness.

Start a Podcast

Hearing someone’s voice helps create a connection, and so an audio podcast can be exactly what a community needs to draw in new members. The barrier for entry into podcasting has been reduced over the last two years, and there are many services available to do live podcasting, which would allow your community to participate in the show.

Contest

A great way to expand your community is to set up a contest. Make prizes for those that are newly registered, or those that get the most new members. This can sometimes exponentially expand your community, but be cautious, as contests can set certain expectations, or bring people that will detract from the community.

Attend Events

Get to where the people you want to connect with are, even if it is outside of your normal niche. If you have a piece of software that could appeal to bloggers, then you should be attending blog conferences in hopes of meeting people that interest you, and would make great additions to your community.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the many promotional techniques available to community managers as they look for avenues to grow the community that they are paid to maintain. Think outside your niche, and your normal techniques.

Tagged as: blogging, contest, events, podcasting, promotion, social media

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Many Community Managers are fortunate to inherit and cultivate and existing community. Though they will be expected to continue to grow and nurture, the hardest (but to me the most enjoyable) part of the job has already been taken care of - building a community from scratch.

With new websites and services going up each day and new products launching, more and more folks are looking to hire Community Managers to start something from nothing. For me, there’s nothing more challenging and rewarding than building something from nothing. I love watching people first tentatively reach out and then begin full on interaction. When it gets to the point where my community can create discussions without my assistance and interact with each other as they would old friends, I realize I’ve done something right.

I don’t know that I’m a huge community building expert, but having done this for several years with success I feel confident in sharing what I’ve learned with you. Today I give you:

10 Tricks for Building a Successful Community from Scratch

1. Be Welcoming

When you have new guests to your home, you greet and welcome each one, right? Online communities are the same thing. When a new member joins up, be welcoming. Say hello, introduce him or her to the rest of the community and find out how you can help. Just like you’d offer guest towels and clean sheets to someone spending the night at your home, so should you do everything you can to make new members comfortable.

2. Answer Every Question, Comment and Statement

If I was asked what the biggest mistake a Community Manager can make, I’d probably say it’s ignoring the community’s wants and needs. It’s understandable you can’t answer every question sent your way, but if you don’t know the answers, it’s certainly within your power to fine the person who does. Don’t ignore questions or comments because you don’t have the answer. Let folks know you’re looking into it and then find someone who can help.

3. Treat Everyone Like They’re the Most Important Person You’ll Ever Talk To

An important aspect of any community is the ability to gauge the needs of the people who use your services the most. With that in mind, treat every request and bit of feedback as if it’s the most important bit of information you’ve received in a long time. Each and every member of your community is important. The day you forget that is the day you start losing traffic - and reputation.

4. Be Nice

Always be pleasant. Even if you’re on the receiving end of some unfair treatment or an angry diatribe, be nice. Keep your anger in check and respond to the angry missive in a pleasant manner. Don’t kill your brand and your reputation by calling someone a schmuckhead.

5. No, Really. Be Nice. Always

Count to 10. Step away from the desk. Don’t respond or back off let someone else handle negativity if you can’t do so in a pleasant manner. Always be nice.

6. Twitter

I can’t say enough good things about Twitter. Actually, I’m a Twitter addict. Twitter is a great way to direct potential community members without actually having to promote anything. Simply establish relationships with fellow tweeters. Follow people you feel will be a good fit and respond to their tweets. Create a dialogue between other like minded people. Soon they will want to learn more about you and even become members of your community.

7. Blogs

Blogs are an amazing community building tool. Whether you build your own blog or visit other blogs and participate in the comments, if folks are interested in what you have to say they’ll want to follow you where ever you go.

8. Don’t Spam

Visiting social networks and blogs for the purpose of building community is all about relationships. When you get all spammy and talk to people only to promote your links or services it’s a turn off. Get a good mix going. When you’re part of the scene and folks like you, they’ll check out your links. Spend 90% of your time socializing and the other 10% promoting and you’ll see the results.

9. Be Transparent

Don’t lie and don’t hide things from your community. Let them know you have an open door policy and you’ll be as honest as possible. Community is all about trust. If you’re caught in lies or trying to get one over, it will be a long time before anyone else will trust you again.

10. Listen and then Speak

If a member of your community is reaching out to you, listen before you speak. Take time to research the situation from every angle before responding.  Don’t interrupt or accuse. Listen to concerns first. Make sure you have all the details, then respond in a pleasant manner.  The most important part of being a good communicator is to be a good listener.

What are some of your favorite community building tips?

Tagged as: community building, Community Management, community manager, how to be a community manager

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