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The why and how to participate in online communities.
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07/01/08 FastWonderBlog.com 2
What is this thing we call CommWhat is this thing we call Community?unity?
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Why Have an Online CommunityWhy Have an Online Community● People: gives people a place to engage with
your company● Product Innovation: get product feedback● Evangelism: help you grow evangelists for
your products from outside of your company.● Brand Loyalty: engagement can drive a
tremendous amount of loyalty for your products.
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Guiding Princliples: It's All About the Guiding Princliples: It's All About the PeoplePeople● Be Sincere: Sincerity = believability & credibility● Focus on the individuals: Participate as a person, not a corporate entity.
● Not all about you: Community is about conversation, which is by definition two-way
● Be a Part of the Community: Don't try to control the community
● Everyone’s a Peer: You are not the expert knowledge and ideas come from everywhere.
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Participate where it makes senseParticipate where it makes sense● Your own community● Related communities where your audience is
already participating● Blogging (personal and corporate)● Audio & video podcasting● Twitter● Facebook● Many others
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Why do people participate?Why do people participate?What motivates me, may not motivate you!
PassionPassion
DevelopDevelopSkillsSkills
LearningLearning
Status &Status &RecognitionRecognition
CareerCareerAdvancementAdvancement
SocialSocialFunFun
FinancialFinancial
GiftGiftCultureCulture
WorkWork
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Community Structures and AdoptionCommunity Structures and Adoption● Emergent
– Pros: Easy to implement, User buy-in, Unanticipated structure
– Cons: Writer's block, Off-topic● Highly Structured
– Pros: Control, Clear expectations– Cons: Restrictive, Inflexible, Community resistance,
Structure that doesn't work for community● Adaptive
– Pros: User buy-in, Some control, Evolve in unanticipated positive directions
– Cons: Less Control, User traction required
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Community ManagersCommunity Managers
What do we do?– Ongoing Facilitation– Content Creation– Evangelism– Community Evolution
What Skills do we need?– Patience– Networking– Communication– Facilitation– Technical Skills– Marketing– Self-Motivation– Workaholic Tendencies– Organization
““Jobs of the future, #1: Online Jobs of the future, #1: Online Community Organizer Community Organizer
...... If you were great at this, I'd imagine If you were great at this, I'd imagine you'd never ever have trouble finding you'd never ever have trouble finding
good work.” good work.” --Seth Godin--Seth Godin
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Reputation SystemsReputation Systems● The Good
– People like points & recognition
– Encourages participation
– Highlight and reward key members
● The Bad– They will game it!– Does this make it
worthless?
● The Practical– Transparency– Members award points– Adjust over time
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ResourcesResources● http://fastwonderblog.com/starting-point/● http://www.web-strategist.com/blog● http://www.onlinecommunityreport.com/● http://www.communityguy.com● http://bestengagingcommunities.com/
● Contact me: [email protected]
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