i should set the preface that i’m just a normal girl, working in an industry that i love, doing a job that i’m passionate about. i have as much as the next person to learn, but hey i’ve got fire in my belly, so just roll with me on this one…
i spent this afternoon doing my favorite sunday pasttime, reading blogs. yes i know, i really should get out more, but to be frank, it was just damn cold today. anyway, back to my original point, i came across this site where it taught you in 7 convenient steps how to build a community:
Step 1: Develop a networking plan
Step 2: Select a networking “platform”
Step 3: Market to your users
Step 4: Training and technical support
Step 5: Set up and manage a public online information forum
Step 6: Use networks for collaboration and problem solving
Step 7: Creat the spirit of the community
this is the part where i go into a bit of a ramble, so you might want to make yourself comfortable. whilst it’s all good and well to advise on building communities in 7 lovely steps and they make sense, there’s SO much more to it than that.
i’m often asked which sites i choose to build communities – the answer to which is whatever sites your “people” use (for me personally i’d use every site i could – every pocket of community is important no matter the size). I could go ahead and list sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Digg etc, but in honesty, I believe that social strategies should be fluid and always changing.
let me put that statement in context for you. when the likes of Tara Hunt, Kathy Sierra and Gary Vaynerchuk do their fantastic work to show people that communities are the way forward for organisations, i agree. i agree that 2 years, 1 year or heck ever 6 months from now, we’ll see a ton more community manager roles out there and i sincerely believe that’s a positive shift.
but, here’s the thing – i don’t believe that companies or individuals should try and build communities because that’s the cool thing of the moment. do it because you care, because you want that interaction and because you’re genuinely passionate about what you do, the service that you provide or the products that you sell.
i expect that the last thing that you want to hear is me telling you that you can’t just hire anyone to fill that role, but it’s true. you can’t just hope to pay someone enough for them to become passionate about your brand. they have to be your biggest advocate – to love what you do and embrace each and every community member – no matter the size of your community.
when i started work at Carsonified, i was taken on as event manager because of my experience in that field. at that point if i’m honest, i would have made a terrible community manager (even though i had a background of marketing). i didn’t know that much about the web or online communities, but the MOST important factor of all is that i didn’t have the fire in my belly (there’s that fire again 
).
within 6 months of doing the role, i had fallen truly and deeply in love with the industry and everyone within it and that’s when things finally clicked for me. i believe now, that i can build communities in any industry and i say that because i “genuinely” love bringing people together, empowering them to communicate and to create their identities. i’d like to think in return that people know that anything i associate myself with is genuine – i really care about what i do and i REALLY care about people.
you need to realise that you have to be able to “listen” as well as speak, there needs to be open dialogue and you won’t always get an ego stroke. the first thing that you should be doing is setting a google alert for your name or brand (including misspellings) and tweetscans. the reason that i say this is because it gives you a chance to reach out to people and put things right as soon as you hear they’ve not had the greatest experience – and trust me, that direct contact, showing that you care, will have a deeper and more meaningful connection than any “customer relations” you could do.
if people are interested, i can of course write a more detailed post about exact steps that i think are worth taking, but i leave you with my final thoughts. love what you do. do it from your heart. be open and transparent. collaborate. remember that every member is important. reach out to as many people as you can. care. be true to yourself.
ok, rant over, i’m off to have a nap – all this community stuff is exhausting. i’d love to hear your thoughts.
m
p.s it would of course be just wrong not to take this opportunity to thank everyone for taking 5 minutes out of their day to read my silly blog. i love you all. really
p.p.s there’s a spot prize for the first person to guess the amount of times i used “communities” in this post!
Luc says:
“communities” was used 6 (7 if you include the tag) times! Prize please! =] Also, are you going to hate me if I mention your lack of capitalisation is like a dagger to my brain?
June 16, 2008 at 8:26 am
Keri Davies says:
Why did I not know about Google Alerts! How useful. Many thanks for the tip.
June 16, 2008 at 9:02 am
Mel Kirk says:
@Luc – i think you might need to count again
sorry if the lack of capitalisation hurts your brain, but that’s my writing style… for me it’s intentional – it’s what i’m all about – informal, approachable and maybe a little bit jumbled.
i removed the snap ads as soon as someone mentioned it annoyed them, but i can’t go changing my writing. it just wouldn’t be me. sorry.
@Keri Davies – glad to be of service!!!
June 16, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Matt Brian says:
A great example of a company “listening” to their users is the team over at Mixx.com. Granted many see it as a Digg clone, they all are active on the site, they visit user blogs to comment on their suggestions for the site and they also participate in an unofficial forum called The MixxingBowl.
The credit users with their suggestions in their blog and it really helps make you feel part of the community, that your suggestions matter.
And the fact they roll out all the best features before Digg helps a lot
June 16, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Luc says:
@Mel I wasn’t counting the “communities” in the p.p.s. on purpose – honest! =D
June 16, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Tara Hunt says:
Great post Mel! Awesome gems in here…when are YOU going to speak at a Carson event?
June 17, 2008 at 1:35 am
J says:
Just sometimes (well, more than just sometimes really!), I’d love to be in your shoes, or at least have that feeling you seem to get out of your job. You’ve got more passion than a passion fruit and more fire than a…an open log fire in a country pub!
Brilliant post, Mel!
I want a fire in my belly, please. Maybe amazon.co.uk will start selling them when the nights start turning in again!
June 18, 2008 at 11:39 am
Justin Thorp says:
“if people are interested, i can of course write a more detailed post about exact steps that i think are worth taking…”
I’d be interested in reading the steps you’d take.
June 18, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Mel Kirk says:
@Matt Brian – Thanks for the tip, I’ll be sure to check that out.
@Luc – Okay, I’ll have a think about your prize
@Tara Hunt – Thanks for the lovely comment. Hopefully one day I’ll be asked to speak…
@J – Aw, you’re sweet. I spent years without the fire, it comes eventually – don’t fear. I’ve come to the conclusion that life’s too short to do something that you don’t truly love, you only get one chance at life. For me now, it’s not about a specific industry that I’m passionate about – but using the principles that I’m passionate about and proving they can be transferred no matter what industry you’re in (although web apps still make me tick, lol).
What is it that you do?
@Justin Thorpe – I’ll write another post
June 18, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Eddie Bovak says:
Good post Mel!
I was especially intrigued by the fact that the original page you spoke of that had the 7-step plan was published in December 1999 and was focused on how to build a community using dial-up modem bulletin-board technology.
It is amazing to me that we end up struggling with the same issues every time a new technology is used to connect people.
June 19, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Rob says:
Hi Mel,
An excellent quick read – picked this up off your Tweet – sweet!
So you mentioned “if people are interested, i can of course write a more detailed post about exact steps that i think are worth taking” – are you serious!? I reckon that would go down a storm!
Rob. (@jonesr)
June 19, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Mark says:
The first person (Luc) was wrong. You used “communities” seven times, not including the tag or the word “community” in the headline. Fortunately we can now just hit Ctrl-F and do a Find for any word in a Firefox browser so that was easy! I was impressed by your passionate writing here, Mel. Just a Twitter newcomer and fellow distance runner in NYC. Take care.
Mark (@marathoner)
June 25, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Mel Kirk says:
Eddie, Rob and Mark, thanks for your lovely comments. i haven’t forgotten the fact that i’ve promised specifics, watch this space, they’re on their way!
June 26, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Rebecca Saylor says:
Mel – I love this post, especially comm mgr to comm mgr, I’m glad you didn’t say “open a myspace account” – LOL Community is all about having a passion for the product and talking about it in real terms with the community members. Community is so much more than the technology. Well, sorry for the rambling. What I mean is…
well said!
XXXOOO
Rebecca
June 27, 2008 at 12:28 am
Pijoo says:
Geniunely enjoyed reading that. I also agree that anyone who thinks you can build communities in 7 steps is over simplifying it.
The last point in the linked article is by far the most important (imo) – “Creating a spirit of community” – which is a whole article in itself, which you could break down into 7 more steps… (engagement, trust etc..)
But.. if you’re strategising, you’re not communicating naturally, which is pretty important too.
June 28, 2008 at 9:43 am
deb says:
i would think that the hardest part in building a community is the starting stages. How do you get people to join a new/blank community? people always have this herd mentality that they’ll only join a community that everybody joins. (eg: who would wanna post threads in an empty forum?) How do i penetrate that mentality and convince ppl to join when the website is first starting out??
July 28, 2008 at 4:50 am