Social Media and Building
Community (GF201)
Chris Brogan...
New Marketing Labs, LLC
twitter: @chrisbrogan
hashtag: #imu09 / #gf201

01_ it’s all about them
community is never about you, your product, or
anything else related to YOUR goals...
...except insofar as you serve to power theirs.

02_ community is a gift
if people form a community around your stuff,
be pleased. whether or not it’s on your site, under
your control, you have something to work with.

03_ be humble. always.
the moment you forget that you’re there as a
participant and think you’re the owner, you’re on a
fast ride down to nothing.

04_ listen. acknowledge.
listening is point 1. if you don’t listen, you fail.
but acknowledging people’s participation is the
most most most most most most most... most
important part of community. fail this and fail.

05_ it’s not about the where
a community isn’t a facebook community or a
twitter community or any social network in
general. it’s people who gather. tribes are always
nomadic in the new web.

06_ equip instead of sell
your community wants to succeed. they look to
you (if you’re lucky) as part of that recipe. give
them more and more success, not more and more
of the product you need to sell.

07_ celebrate them
if all you offer is a place to praise and talk about
your products and services, pack it in. seek out
your community’s personal and professional
successes and praise those, too. more so.

08_ the roi of community
community helps in several parts of the sales
cycle: lead generation, post-sale education,
support, and r&d for future products. any one of
these can be measured. measure them all.

09_ resource costs and team
community cannot be outsourced, but it can be
bolstered. support often make the best community
manager recruits. off-site some of the drudge
work.

10_ first steps
listen. find them where they are.
determine what they want.
decide if you join their community or make one.
or both.
introduce yourself. invite them.
ask them for goals and hopes.
share yours.
begin the journey. repeat. repeat. repeat.

xx_ chris brogan...
chris@chrisbrogan.com
twitter: @chrisbrogan
cell: 617.759.3639