I had an interesting conversation about community management with a co-worker yesterday. We talked about how it can turn into an extremely public role – depending on the brand and the duties. Our discussion turned to public perception and our responsibilities outside of the brand, and I thought it would be interesting to explore that here.

Having a heavy social media presence means you’re extremely exposed. The problem with this is that there are times you have to be really careful of what you put out there. My presence on Twitter, Google+, Facebook and even Pinterest isn’t limited by what I’m doing for the brand. I also have a heavy personal presence. Each account is handled differently, but there is a constant in that people read what I put out there and sometimes what I put out there is a direct reflection of my brand, even if I’m on my personal account.

The company I work for, BlogWorld & New Media Expo, works with a lot of different brands and P.R. companies. We have to rely on these businesses for sponsorship and couldn’t put on our conference without them. So not only do I like to show them support via the brand account, but I also remember this with my personal accounts.  For example, let’s say I had a bad experience with Brand X. The last thing I’d want to do is bash them on the social networks. Even though it’s my personal account and my personal experience, they may remember this if they ever decided to consider sponsoring or exhibiting at my conference.

Sometimes I feel like I have to keep a lot of things in check because I don’t want them to come back and bit me in the butt later.

• I love my job but there’s always the chance something can happen. If I’m someone who isn’t positive, or is vulgar or abusive on my social networking accounts, a future client or employer may decided I don’t have the right temperament for the job.
• I enjoy a good gossip session with my friends but I also know if I share someone’s personal information, even during a “promise not to tell” type gossip session, word will get out and I’ll be seen as someone who isn’t trustworthy with certain information.
• I enjoy socializing and going to conferences but if I drink and it gets out of hand, I’ll be seen as someone who doesn’t conduct myself in a professional manner when I’m representing my brand at an offline event.
• I enjoy sharing stories about my family, especially my wonderful, precocious son. However, I know that there’s a fine line between sharing and oversharing and if I’m seen as someone who releases too much information about my self, what kind of company secrets will I give out about the brand?
• I enjoy taking photographs with my friends and family and posting them to Facebook, but I share with friends, relatives and business acquaintances alike on that network. So in addition to filtering, I’m careful about what I put out there. Not that I do the drunken, barely dressed thing, but if I did, my judgement and common sense would be put to question.

You might be thinking most of the items bulleted above are personal and have nothing to do with my job, my brand’s sponsors or potential clients or employers. However, that’s not the case. If you’re going to accept a public role, you absolutely have to be careful of what you put out there. In this world, reputation and trust are everything. If I can’t be trusted to make good personal decisions, I certainly can’t be trusted to make good business decisions.

Do community managers have a responsibility to the brand outside of your regular nine to five duties? How do you keep it professional when you’re being personal?

Now, you may think it’s a silly analogy, but I think there are many important comparisons. Who you trust, who you put your loyalties behind, and what those people do (or don’t do) to repay that trust and loyalty all play a part in the overall mood of the community. If you don’t act in the best interests of your people, anarchy and chaos ensue.

Behold, 5 community lessons from Game of Thrones.

Warning: May create a spoiler or two.

1. When you have the trust of your community, it’s a good idea to stick around

Community managers are torn in different directions. Everyone needs us for something. Though our first loyalty is to the brands that hired us, we also have a loyalty to the people in our community. There is no task so important that it should keep the community team away from the people.

When the community is abandoned, two things happen. The first thing is that people lose faith in the brand and discontent sets in. They complain and eventually they leave for greener pastures.  The second thing that can happen is someone else can appoint himself community leader and take over. This leads to resentment. If you build a community you have to stick with it. You have to talk with your people every single day. You have to give them a reason to put faith behind you and your brand. If they think you don’t care, they won’t care. It’s as simple as that.

Why should there always be a Stark in Winterfell? Because as soon as the Starks began to leave Winterfell everything fell to crap. Now those Starks who aren’t dead are stuck in some pretty gruesome situations and Winterfell has fallen. Even if they come back, their community is a pile of smoking ruins. Don’t let this happen to yours.

2. Just because you’re in charge doesn’t mean people will like you

My way or the highway may work in Kings Landing, but it won’t fly in an online community.

People appreciate leaders who are caring, show compassion and look out for the general good of the people. Leaders who are mean, abusive, and are in it for themselves find themselves dead or overthrown. If you’re not a people person, consider a different career. Community managers need to think about others more than they think about their own personal agendas.

Joffrey Baratheon may be powerful but no one likes him, and even more important, no one trusts him. Make decisions and interact with the best interests of your community in mind. Don’t be that guy.

3. With the right nurturing your community will grow over time

Ok, so your community is kind of small, but that doesn’t mean you’re a failure or that you should step aside. A community doesn’t have to be an overnight sensation to be successful.

If you take the time to learn about the people who make up your tribe and do the right thing by them, you’ll achieve a wonderful steady growth. Being in charge doesn’t mean pontificating to the masses and making up silly rules, it means taking the time to gauge their wants and needs. When you have the trust, respect and faith of your community, and if  you’re welcoming to all, you’ll notice a good, steady growth. Over time you’ll achieve the numbers you hoped for, and you’ll have a reputation of being the best at what you do.

Danearys Targaryen may lead a small group of followers but they’re extremely loyal because she takes care of them. Plus she has dragons, and that kind of rocks.

It is known.

4. Too many crowns only lead to confusion

Westeros is an interesting continent.  It has the warmth of the South, the cold beauty of the North, and even a few Wildings and White Walkers beyond The Wall to mix things up a bit. But do you know what it doesn’t have? A community united behind one single king.

People just can’t up and appoint themselves as leaders, they have to earn that role. Moreover, when everyone wants to be king, it gets to where no one knows who to put their faith behind. In this social media age, everyone is looking for a title and sometimes those titles don’t make a bit of sense. It’s better to not be in charge than to be one of five people vying for the crown. Having more community leaders and moderators than you have members is kind of silly.

If people are confused they won’t stick around and if you’re good at what you do you’ll earn your title. The iron throne isn’t built for comfort. If you’re going to seek it out, be sure you’re ready for all the aches and pains that come with it.

5. The right team makes all the difference

Varys, Littlefinger, and anyone with the last name “Lannister” all have their own agenda, none of which match up to be in the best interests of the community they help to govern.  The community manager is only a small part of what makes a community tick. There’s a whole team of customer support, marketing, editiorial, and operational people to help things run smoothly.

You may only know your community manager’s name, but rest assured there’s a whole awesome team behind him or her. When everyone works together, the community is positive and productive. When they’re off to pursue their own agendas, that disconnect and discontent also reflects on the community. If the team behind the community doesn’t care, neither will the people who makes up the community.

It’s all about trust. Robert Baratheon’s council didn’t have it and look where they are now. But don’t worry. I won’t spoil that one for you.

Are you a Game of Thrones fan? What lessons can you take from it?

I belong to several different online community management groups via LinkedIn, Facebook and email. Every now and then an aspiring community manager asks, “How do I get started.” For me it’s not a simple “Here’s what you do” type answer, because each community has a different purpose, and thus, a different set of goals.

Once you work out the goals for your community, you can determine a plan of action.

• Is your goal to drive sales? It’s OK to answer yes to this, even though we all want to convince others the purpose behind our community is to get all warm and fuzzy, the truth is there’s usually a bottom line somewhere and it’s usually rooted in money. If one of your goals is to drive sales, your community building efforts have to lead towards sales. This means setting up landing pages before anything else so some community discussions can lead to the sale. It also means you’re going to have to work out how many sales or promotional messages to leave on your discussion pages each day. People don’t want to be pitched to and will leave if everything is a sales spiel. Create a plan to entice the sale, without a lot of in your face tactics.
• Is your goal to learn more about the people who use your product or service? Maybe your goal is to lead to a sale without actually doing any selling. For example, maybe you want to learn more about the people who are spending money on your brand in order to entice more people to use your brand. An online community is the perfect way to do that. So rather than create a sales plan of action, you should create some fun campaigns to learn more about your growing community. This can be through essay contests, polls, quizzes, questions, Twitter chats and open forums. There’s no sale here, but when you know about the people who make up your community you can create advertising and marketing campaigns that will speak to buyers.
• Is your goal to drive traffic? Your goal may have nothing to do with selling or making money, or your goal may be the community itself. If your goal is to drive traffic to your blog or community pages, it’s all about the link  - but you have to do it without being spammy. Participate in discussions in like-minded communities and create discussion topics on your own social pages. You can drop links during the appropriate times, and by having more discussion type updates than spammy links you’re creating more trust in your brand and your pages.
• Is your goal to provide customer service? Some community managers are there to monitor the social networks and see what folks are saying about their product or service. They thank the people who are saying good things, and offer to help the people who aren’t having a good experience. In between all that they’re joining conversations, sharing news and creating a strong online presence.
• Is your goal to create a group of advocates? If you’re trying to start a word of mouth marketing campaign, you wouldn’t use the same tactics you would if your goal is to drive more traffic to your blog or website. Instead of selling, you might share instead. Post images of your team at work and share news and updates about the brand. Let your community know what you’re working on and how you’re improving on old ideas. As questions, give surveys and let them know you’re there from them. If your community feels you’re taking care of them, the rest will fall into place.

The biggest community management mistake is in thinking all online communities are alike. They’re not. You can learn from other communities and community managers but you can’t flat out copy them because you have a different community. Don’t come in and immediately put a plan into place. Instead, observe. Talk to your team and talk to your community. Discuss your brand’s goals and find out what the community wants from the brand.

Once all that’s in place, you can start your plan of action.

What’s the goal for your community and what’s your plan of action?

Did you know Community Manager Appreciation Day falls on the fourth Monday in January, and that we’re celebrating our third annual day of appreciation?  CMAD was founded in 2010 by Jeremiah Owyang as a way to say “thanks” to the people who enrich our online experiences by making sure our favorite online communities are positive, productive places of discussion.

I was thinking about Community Management Appreciation Day yesterday and wondering how to best thank my favorite CM’s. Most of us only know community managers as an online presence only, and might think it’s hard to show appreciation for people we’ve never met in person or don’t know very well at all.

I have a few suggestions…

1. Comment on blog posts

If your favorite community manager has a blog, drop by and participate in the discussion. It takes very little time to read and comment on a blog post, but the reward to the blogger is much greater. It touches them to know they wrote something that touched you. If the blog is a brand blog sponsored by the community manager’s place of employment, those comments are uber important. Many businesses use blog comments as one way to measure a community’s success. In other words, the boss is watching.  A blog post filled with comments and discussion is indication the community manager is doing something right.

2. Participate on the social networks

I’m going to tell you something very few community management types will admit. This job can be  frustrating. When we tweet a discussion topic and no one responds it can be a little embarrassing and might make us feel ineffective. And when we post a question on Facebook to 10,000 community members and only three people respond, we wonder why we aren’t reaching more people. Moreover, when community managers aren’t getting the response they hope for, their managers and bosses take notice.

However,  you shouldn’t only take part in discussions because the boss is watching. Without participation a community will die. There’s no need to have a community campaign if no one takes part. When you take the time to comment on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest or any other social network, you’re also telling your community manager and fellow community members you care about keeping the community alive.

Finally, it puts a smile on your community manager’s face when you participate which is the most important reason of all.

3. Give a recommendation on LinkedIn

First a disclaimer: I’m not a fan of connecting with or giving recommendations on LinkedIn to people you barely know. However, if you’ve participated in your community for some time and you feel your community manager is doing a terrific job, by all means give a recommendation on LinkedIn. This will help to establish her expertise and even to get a promotion or new job.  Recommendations shouldn’t be given or taken lightly, but they’re a way to give your community managers endorsement for a job well done.

4. Invite others in the community

One of the ways a business evaluates a community manager’s job is through growth. When you endorse a community and invite others to participate, you’re not only endorsing the community as a whole, but you’re giving a shout out to the community manager for running such a successful gathering place. Inviting others to participate means you’re recommending the community to your friends, which is one of THE best gifts to give.

5. Give a little Klout

Wait. Hear me out. I know most of us think Klout is a little silly and doesn’t measure influence at all. However, a lot of people DO pay attention to their Klout scores (whether they admit it or not). Plus, when you give a community manager a K in his level of expertise you’re telling him you like what he does enough to publicly out him as an expert. There are plenty of  hiring agents who look to Klout as a gauge of one’s expertise and to see a community manager with lots of K’s from community members says the CM is doing something right.

6. Say “thank you”

Such a simple thing, isn’t it? Don’t forget to thank a community manager who has touched your life. Those two words go a long, long way.

Your turn

How are you going to give your favorite CM’s a shout out on Community Manager Appreciation day? If you’re a community manager and wish to follow today’s festivities, look for the hashtag #CMAD on Twitter.

Everyone is talking about Pinterest, the social “pinning” site used to share, well, anything.  It’s a little early to say, but judging by the buzz (and the amount of people posting about Pinterest on their blogs), it has a good chance of becoming the top social site for 2012 and perhaps the next big thing.

Pinterest is different from your Facebook, Twitter or Google plus because it’s not about posting a sentence or paragraph in hopes of starting a conversation. Instead, folks post images of things that interest them and that’s what gets the conversation started. At this point, most of the people I follow on Pinterest are talking about food, fashion and home, but the sky is the limit. Pinterest is giving us an opportunity to share our interests and find other people who enjoy the same. It’s also giving me an opportunity to see another side of my social media friends. I can tell you who is renovating, who are moonlighting as foodies, who are expecting kids, and what kinds of books everyone is reading.  Pinterest is a very cool tool.

Because I’m now tasked with handling the community growth and outreach for the company I work for, I’ve been thinking about the different ways Pinterest can be used as a community building tool. Unlike Facebook, you create boards, not groups. And unlike Twitter, the image is the focus, not the pithy comment. Also, there aren’t brand pages on Pinterest, it’s all individual people sharing, so the community building might not be so obvious and cut and dry.

Still, I have some ideas…

1, Learn About Community Members

We only know as much as our community members are willing to share. And while many of our members will follow us on Twitter, they’re not going to friend us on Facebook because they don’t know us very well and most use Facebook as a tool for connecting with personal friends and family, not community managers.  Pinterest is interesting though, when we follow someone’s boards, we learn more about their likes and dislikes. We can tell their fashion sense, the types of television shows they’re watching, and even a little about their sense of humor.  We don’t have to follow every one of their boards, either, only those that interest us the most.

Pinterest is an excellent way to gather demographic information because we can learn age groups, interests and a little bit about what folks do for a living, and what they like to do in their spare time. But it’s not a big brother sort of thing. The peek into the lives of others isn’t intrusive because we’re viewing  what they want to share with us, and they know exactly who they’re sharing it with.

2, Start a Brand Board

Like any social network, the last thing anyone wants Pinterest to become is a haven for spammers.  However, there’s nothing wrong with having a relevant brand board. I’m not saying to drop links and advertisments all day, every day, because that’s not community building. Instead, share. For example, the board I’m just starting to build for BlogWorld will share photos from our event, fun stuff from community members, and team and member achievements.  I might also share fun stuff found at other conferences, tips for attending our conference and share news about our speakers. Remember, though, Pinterest is more visual. So the sharing will be in images with only a little descriptive text underneath.  There’s plenty of room for comments, though.

3. Find People of Interest

Pinterest offers community managers a whole new opportunity to find new community members. By searching relevant topics we’re able to meet people who might be interested in what we do. Simply follow the boards and people who you feel would benefit from your community and engage (with spamming or being pushy, please.).  They’ll receive a notice that you’re following and if they’re into it, they’ll also follow your boards to learn more about you or your brand.  They’ll also learn more through conversation.

4. Start a Related Board

An alternative (or companion) to the brand board is a related topic board. For example, in addition to a board for BlogWorld, my employer, I can also start boards for new media, blogging, conferences, and social media. As people start to follow those boards and the conversations ensue, they’ll learn more about who I am, what I do, and hopefully join BlogWorld’s other online communities.

5. Have a Conversation

It’s not enough to pin up a board or follow, like or repin someone else’s boards and pins. By taking some time to comment on pins and ask questions, you’re engaging with people who could become part of your online community. Search interesting topic and let Pinners know what you think of their pins. Join existing conversations and share your point of view.  Even though Pinterest isn’t a text heavy social network, it’s still a place to engage.

Pinterest is still in early adapter stages, but more people are joining every day. The ways to grow community may not be as obvious as Facebook or Twitter, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Take some time to explore and learn how Pinterest can benefit you, your brand and your community. You may find it to be an important tool in your outreach.

How are you using Pinterest?

Community management is a lot of trial and error, and every community is different. However, there are a few universal things that seem to be a given no matter what type of community you’re managing. For example, scheduled updates to the social networks.

When I owned my freelance writing community, I had both Twitter and Facebook accounts set up to carry the feeds from all eight blogs in the network. Let me tell you, it drove plenty of traffic my way and I was pleased with how it was turning out.  As much as  it drove traffic, that’s all it drove. Because I “set it and forget it” I wasn’t participating in a discussion that ensued around my content. I continued to carry my feeds on the social networks, but when it occurred to me I wasn’t building community, but, rather, traffic, I began looking for ways to engage rather than broadcast.

The people who own online communities are very much interested in results. Perhaps they want community engagement to lead to a sale, or more traffic or ad clicks, but there’s always a bottom line. When you only drop scheduled links and announcements, there’s no incentive or vested interest and you’re telling your community they’re not important and interesting enough to have a conversation with. You’re telling them  you’re only interested in the bottom line.

You can’t schedule a spontaneous conversation

Community is spontaneous. No matter how much you schedule updates, there’s no guarantee folks will respond to what you’re telling them. What kind of boring conversation is going to ensue after you post ” Don’t forget to buy what we’re selling” a dozen times a day, anyway?  You simply can’t schedule community.

Now, I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t schedule announcements and updates. However, if you’re only scheduling tweets and Facebook updates and not doing much of anything else, you’re not conversing, you’re broadcasting. By all means, schedule your important announcements but try and do it at a time where you’re sure to be around to answer any questions.

Also, take some time for your community. Stop by your channels and networks several times a day to see what folks are talking about and join the conversation. If a member mentions a milestone, offer congratulations. If another person is having a bad day, commiserate (without being negative) or offer best wishes for things to get better.  If members are discussing the latest tools and technology, ask questions or offer your own opinion. In between all that, start your own conversation and share links to interesting, relevant content found around the web.

Show your community they matter

When your community outreach features nothing but antiseptic, scheduled updates, you’re telling your community they’re not important enough for a conversation. You’re showing them they’re only there to follow a sale and lead to the bottom line. Community members don’t want to be a bottom line, they want to know you know who they are, and more important, that you care about them.

If there are only certain times a day you’re available for community outreach, that’s fine.  Instead of using that time to schedule updates throughout the day, have a conversation.  The more you try and be a part of your own community, and the more you let your community know interaction is important, the more your community will grow.  Once you have a positive, productive community you can worry more about your bottom line.  Just remember, if your community feels they’re more important than your bottom line, you’ll lose them.

Do you schedule updates? How much time do you spend scheduling v. interacting?

I recently wrote a well-received post about how online communities are about the members and not about the community manager.  Indeed, the best community managers make sure their communities are front and center and don’t turn their online groups into ego projects. It’s easy to use words like “I” and “my” because we’re so possessive and proud when it comes to our online communities, especially if we grew said communities from scratch.  However, it’s not about us, it’s about them.

Except when it’s about us.

As a rule, community managers shouldn’t make community discussions about them because it only serves to turn people off and give the wrong impression about the community and reasons behind it.

That isn’t to say there aren’t times when it can’t be about you.

When you have to remind people who is in charge

I’m not a fan of public smackdowns, hissy fits or “my way or the highway” community management, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t remind members about your role in the community. Knowing a community manager is close by can help to keep the peace and make sure members are mindful of the rules.  Now, being a presence in your community doesn’t mean you have to stand on a soap box, hands on hip, in your best “I’m in charge and don’t you forget it” pose, but you should definitely act swiftly and effectively when folks are toying with the rules or being disrespectful of others. If your members know you’re watching (without being too “in your face”) they’re less likely to inflict drama, abuse or other behavior making the majority of your community feel uncomfortable.

When it’s time for your personality to shine through

It’s ok to let your sense of humor or quirkyness come out. If you have a sense of fun, by all means share it with your community. If you enjoy a serious discussion, definitely try to stimulate these same types of discussions form time to time. If you have a passion for a particular topic, it’s ok to share (not force) that passion with others. It’s your personality that makes the community and your members do appreciate you for who you are. Again, it’s not about forcing yourself upon your community, but, rather, adding a human quality to your brand.

When you wish to provide a relevant example

Sometimes you have to reach into your community manager’s toolbox to provide anecdotes and stories. It’s ok to place yourself in certain situations if it’s relevant to a discussion – and providing you’re not turning it into a discussion about you. If there’s a lesson to be shared, or if you want to show that you made a few mistakes before getting to where you are today, there’s nothing wrong with telling your stories. Just be sure not to turn every discussion into a personal anecdote because that’ll only get old.

When you’re called upon for advice

Many community managers are cselected for their roles because of their knowledge of their respective niches. You’re seen by your members as an expert of sorts, or mentor. It’s OK to give opinions if asked (and if they don’t cross the line or reflect poorly upon personal or professional brands), or to offer guidance to members if called upon to do so. It’s also OK to step in to a conversation and offer some food for thought based on personal experiences.  To come in to a discussion with an “I know more than you do and that’s that” attitude won’t grow your community, but to offer gentle guidance when needed shows your members you’re there for them.

When you’re up for review

When your superiors are reviewing your performance as a community manager, it’s OK to be a little self serving. Show numbers and discuss how you achieved community growth, or how your effort led to more sales or another goal.  Performance reviews are when you’re supposed to toot your horn and tout your accomplishments. Don’t bring out the superiority, but do focus on your achievements.

When you’re writing a bio

If you blog, have a heavy online presence, or speak at conferences you’re going to be called upon to create a bio. Unlike your performance reviews, you don’t necessarily want to throw out all your numbers and talk yourself up too much, but it’s ok to list your community achievements to highlight your expertise. Bios shouldn’t be self-serving, but should be more about how you, as a community manager, or expert in the niche, can benefit the person who is reading the bio.

Online communities aren’t about the community manager at all. They’re about the people who make up the community, and, to a lesser extent, the brand. In many cases it’s a public role,  but that whole “public” thing can go haywire if we don’t keep our egos in check. Even so, there are times when it’s ok to inject a little of you into the community.

When do you make community about you? Is it ever OK?

You can’t force community. If folks aren’t feeling it – either the brand, the community manager, or the people who make up the community – they’re not going to be productive members of said community. No one likes to be pressured to join a group or made to feel inferior for not participating. So it’s probably best not to get pushy about it or beg  or plead for comments or activity, that just makes for an uncomfortable situation.

The best online communities achieve growth organically. That is, the community grows naturally without much pressure or prodding from the community management. That isn’t to say there isn’t much guidance, but definitely the community isn’t forced or made to feel as if they have to participate.

It’s not difficult to achieve organic community growth.

Content marketing

Using content to attract members and raise awareness for your brand isn’t new by a longshot, but the term “content marketing” is currently achieving buzzword status. The content you create, whether it’s blog posts, web articles, tweets, Facebook updates or discussions on Google+ all have the ability to drive traffic to your community. When you present interesting discussion topics or topics relevant to a particular niche, folks are going to want to come by to learn more. The content you create not only has the ability to catch the immediate eye, but it also has the ability to attract the attention of the search engines, which means you could be attracting new members via your content for years to come. To do this, read your stats, and all community discussions to determine why folks are coming by. Content Marketing pro Marcus Sheridan recommends taking the top 50 questions folks ask about your brand or product and turn them into articles or blog posts. This will catch the attention of the search engines, and also the people who you want to stop by and have a conversation.

Stimulating discussions

There’s an art to conversation. People don’t like to be talked down to, lectured or have their intelligence insulted. They like to discuss topics of interest with like minded people. They’re not into constant smackdowns or drama, but they do appreciate respectful disagreement. When you have the conversation thing down, and have a reputation for having the conversation thing down, folks want to be a part of that.  If your community is known for having stimulating discussion topics, you’ll notice more people are staying than leaving and achieve a good, steady growth.  You won’t have to beg for comments, mention a lack of comments and constantly direct people to your topics.

Evergreen topics

Though it’s good to have timely, current discussions, there are also topics that continue to generate interest long after the discussion is initiated. Unlike current events, “evergreen” topics have the ability to draw in members for years to come. Evergreen topics can include how to’s,  background information, history, caring for tools, and anything that won’t be obsolete in a couple of months. For example, if you run a culinary community it’s fine to discuss the latest scandals in the celebrity chef world, but the people who are truly interested in gourmet cookery want to get to the nitty gritty. They want to learn about foods, techniques and tools. And yes, while food does have the ability to be trendy, writing about, say, the healing qualities of garlic or providing links to 100 watermelon recipes doesn’t run out of style. This is what will catch the attention of the search engines, and also the people who are doing the searching. If your discussion topics are interesting and intelligent, folks just won’t search. They’re going to stop by for a chat, thus achieving community growth.

Community moderation

The most popular online communities aren’t filled with members snarking at each other or calling each other names. They’re filled with respectful discussion. This doesn’t necessarily happen without a good moderator to make sure folks are following the rules. When a community is filled with drama and negativity, the only folks sticking around are those who thrive on drama and negativity. Well moderated communities might have their share of drama, but it’s dealt with swiftly and effectively so that most members aren’t aware any negativity occurred. Positive communities yield positive growth.

Member advocates

Word of mouth marketing is a beautiful thing. When people love what you do, they share it with others. If they’re enjoying an online experience, they’re sure to recommend to family and friends. Create a positive, productive experience, and your members will do your marketing for you. ( But that’s not an excuse for laziness on your part.)

What are some of the ways your growing (not forcing) your community?

Last week a blogging friend and I were talking about comments and community. She wondered what she was doing wrong because her blog posts yielded very few comments and when there were comments they were along the lines of “I agree,” or “Yes I did,” or “no I don’t.”  Responses were brief and left no room for further conversation.

The Problem With the Yes and No

Here’s the thing about community. Sometimes they show up on their own, but most of the time they’re waiting for an invitation. They’re not invasive and most don’t like to share their opinions unless they’re asked to do so.  When your blog post only asks a “Yes” or “No” question, you’re only going to receive “Yes” or “No” answers. And, really, where’s the fun in that?

Yes and no don’t invite discussion. They invite one words responses. Folks coming to seek a good conversation aren’t going to stick around if a good conversation isn’t happening. It’s not enough to ask if someone disagrees, knowing why they disagree is just as important – and it’s when you get past the “ifs” and into the “whys” that the true conversational magic happens.

Do you take the time to ask your readers what they think? Or do you only ask if they agree?

The Problem With Making Statements

Statements don’t invite conversation. They mostly say, “this is how I feel but I’m not interested in knowing how you feel.”  For your readers to want to comment you have to go beyond the statement and into the conversation.

• Create blog posts that leave room for discussion
• Don’t be afraid to ask the kinds of questions that lead to in depth responses
• It’s OK to be controversial now and then as long as you’re inviting the right kinds of discussions and not turning your blog into a hotbed of negativity.
• Allow for respectful disagreement. Know it’s OK for folks to disagree, but draw the line at pettiness, fights, attacks and sniping.
• Don’t beg for comments, but be sure your community knows you value their opinion.

Statements don’t allow for the above. Instead they’re mostly pontificating and they tell your readers you don’t care enough about their opinions to leave them opportunity to  encourage conversation.

Do you blog to create a statement or do you blog to create a conversation?

Planning an Open Ended Blog Post

I think the key to blog conversation is in creating blog posts with discussion in mind.  When you’re planning out the post, plan out the conversation. What do you hope your readers will take away from the post, and what do you hope they’ll talk about in the ensuing discussion? These are things to think about before you begin writing.

For example, my hope with this post is to have a conversation about engagement and what bloggers can do to foster a discussion about the topic at hand.  If I did my job properly, you’re going to read this post and have an opinion that you’d like to share with this community. Also, if I did my job properly, the questions in this post will not only inspire conversation it will also inspire you to engage your own community. What I’m hoping won’t happen is to be met with the sound of crickets.

I answered these questions before I wrote this post:

• Why am I writing this post?
• Who am I writing this post for?
• Does anyone want this information?
• If I were reading this post, what would make me want to comment?
• What do I want to learn from my community about this topic?
• Am I the only one who feels this way?
• What questions are YOU going to come up with after reading this post?
• Did I offer an opportunity for other people to join in?

To me, it makes no sense to blog if comments aren’t going to happen, and comments aren’t going to happen if I don’t give you something to talk about.

What do you do to create an open ended conversation with your readers?

I love watching different online communities interact. I especially enjoy seeing different community managers do their thing.  It’s truly a position for the right personality and the most successful are funny, engaging and creative.  They’re not just going through the motions on Twitter and Facebook, they’re getting creative with the campaigns and thinking beyond social networking for their outreach. But I think there’s more to being a good community manager than Twitter and Tweetups. There’s also the ability to engage members beyond small talk.

As I observe community managers to gather thoughts and ideas  for my book and think back to  my own experiences, I notice the most successful community managers do one thing right: They don’t make the community about them.

Here are some of my thoughts about community management, and especially how the community manager goes about daily interaction.

• Community isn’t about the community manager, it’s about the people who make up the community: When we’re regulars in a community we know who our communnity manager is, but we also know she’s not the most vocal, in your face person there. Instead, she takes a back seat, allowing everyone to interact on their own unless she needs to step in to moderate a discussion, drop a discussion topic or launch something. She’s not making the community about her, she’s making it about them.
• There’s a difference between personality and TMI: Make no mistake, community managers need to inject a little personality into the gig, otherwise they’re just some boring moderator. However, it’s important to understand the difference between being yourself and forcing yourself on to your community. Being yourself is letting your personality shine through – if you’re funny, you use humor in your interactions with the community. If you enjoy a good read and discussion, you might find interesting links to share. That’s different from telling everyone about your home life, love life, partying habits.
• People can’t always relate to personal stories: One thing I learned is that people can’t always relate to my life, because my life doesn’t relate to everyone in the community. That doesn’t mean I can’t be myself or involve my personality, it simply means not everyone relates to my stories or my day or my life. I get the best reaction when I approach common ground.
• Negativity brings people down:  Something I really had to work hard at was in not bringing down the mood of the community.  I don’t think anyone sets out to do this on purpose, but when we talk about a bad day, complain about poor service, gripe about co-workers or family members or generally grumble about any state of affairs, it presents the wrong tone. Ditto arguing with others, posting depressing discussion topics, and keeping anything less than a positive tone. When I owned my freelance writing community I noticed the reaction to posts with a positive notes. Accusatory, lecturing, angry or depressing topics either got a bad reaction, no reaction, or led to the wrong type of reaction and my community let me know loud and clear it wasn’t what they were there for.
• Never forget why you’re there: All communities have a goal. The goal could be to teach  or it could be to sell. Perhaps it’s to drive advertising or traffic, but there’s still a goal. All interactions should be made with that goal in mind, even if we’re not so obvious with our intentions.
• Community management is a public gig, going way beyond the immediate community: Here’s a message that hit home in the worst way – However I conduct myself in public, whether that’s offline public at a conference or meetup, or online public on the social networks, it directly affects the brand and community I work for…even if I’m on a personal account. Now, I can say it doesn’t matter because it’s personal, but it does. People read stuff I write here and decide if I feel a certain way, BlogWorld, my employer, must feel that way too. The same with what I say on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, at conferences, etc.  They don’t feel the same way I do about a lot of things, but I have to be careful of what I write, say and how I act because there are times when it reflects upon the brand I work for.

As a writer, one of the hardest aspects of online community management was in checking myself and thinking before I typed.  Success came when I made it less about me and more about my community. It didn’t mean I couldn’t be myself or add my personality to the mix, but it did mean that I had to be more aware of what I was putting out there. What do you think about this?  How much of you do you put into your community, and how much do you keep in check?