anyone can build a community
September 26th, 2008
the title of this post is a bit misleading, i’ll admit to that now – i believe the complete opposite, but it got your attention didn’t it?
bear with me as i write as i think, probably a little out of order and lots of personal views, often too strong, maybe too passionate… but this stuff makes me tick, so i’m hoping you’ll make allowances…
i was having a conversation with a friend yesterday and it struck me that far too many people think anyone can successfully build a community – there’s not too much to it right? interact on facebook and you’re most the way there? you couldn’t be further from the truth. think of it in wallpapering terms (i warned you this was random) – for a smooth effect there’s a hell of a lot of preparation that needs to go into it… you can’t just slap it up and hope it sticks. what do i mean? well funny you should ask…
research
research, research and research some more. i can’t stress how important this is. you need to know your offering inside out, know the community inside out and don’t be afraid to think big.
sure, everyone needs to be realistic at some point, but don’t be afraid to dream… don’t restrict yourself to creating something that’s achievable – why settle for something that’s okay when it could be amazing. the web is a fabulous place but in order for it to keep getting better, we need people to push the boundaries, to question existing standards and to reach for more. be one of those people.
think about what might be possible, who might be interested, where those people communicate and how, what tools are currently offered and what could be improved, what reach do you have, who could help, what do your community value, what can you provide that is different, fresh and new?
testing, testing, 1, 2, 3
in a world where beta is often just a get out clause for a product or service that’s already finished and shiny, this is still incredibly important. of course, it wouldn’t be sensible for you to put yourself out there in a totally unfinished state, but to the same extent, i can’t stress how important it is to build in user feedback to your product. by listening to your users and incorporating their suggestions and recommendations, you’re giving ownership and allowing them buy-in.
asking for feedback is pretty pointless if you never get together with the team to review – infact this can be more detrimental than not asking for feedback in the first place. communities mean handing over power to your users and if you’re not comfortable with doing that, i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re not ready for a community yet.
not all feedback will be a quick fix and plenty won’t always be welcome (especially if it’s costly) but you need to remind yourself that the site/product is for them and not you. it’s your responsibility to give your users what they want.
fuzzy warmness
set yourself goals. so often i hear social media described as fluffy and, well, quite frankly it makes me boil a little inside. no you might not be able to set financial goals against each of your actions, but there are plenty of things that you can measure. for example:-
- site traffic
- comments
- user behaviour (are they interacting in a positive manner)
- referrals to friends
- number of mentions in the webosphere (on other blogs etc)
- feedback. if you’re not getting any feedback, it doesn’t mean that you’re perfect, it’s more likely to mean that people don’t care – and you definitely don’t want that!
it’s time to step up, to bring something to the web, to look after your community – after all, as soon as you have one set of eyeballs reading your blog – you have a community and it’s your responsibility to look after them?
food for thought? i hope so…
September 26th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Couldn’t agree more (well probably, but it’d be embarassing for both of us) – I’m in the process of upgrading a community from a WordPress blog (previously a Blogger blog) to a fuller experience using Expression Engine, and constant interaction with the masses has been very helpful in deciding where to focus my energies. I’d have gone off at wild (ish) tangents without regard for what people actually wanted if left to my own devices.
I have some fuzzy targets for the site, but I’m pretty sure it’s not fulfilling it’s potential, and with a little nudge in the right places, it’s userbase could easily double and start edging out the competition.
It all falls down without some decent content though – good job the site’s founders are also the site’s evangelicalists (if that’s even a word).
+1 for http://www.uservoice.com / @UserVoice which has been a very helpful app for gathering feedback and suggestions.
September 26th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Sound advice – especially the measurements!
It really does my swede when people think ‘oooh let’s apply a bit of web 2 to this’, ‘let’s build a community for that’… without thinking hard (until it hurts!) about the need/motivation in the first place – and the work that’s involved!
I recently inherited a project that fell short on these fundamentals. Needless to say, the ‘community’ has been pretty slow to take off.
Communities on the web largely reflect communities in real life who share real passions/interests – the web is just an enabler to make sharing these things easier and with a richer mix of people than you would be able to in the physical world. If there’s no precedent for that, then you’ve got to question whether it will work.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:13 am
Good luck with that Luc, I’d love to hear how you get on and what you learn along the way!
Lisa – hope your swede is okay and not too done in
I couldn’t agree more, the web is in no way a replacement for real life interaction, but I think it enhances the relationships that you do have. Hope that your project is going well. Let’s catch up soon for those cocktails! xxx