Community Building: Finding Your Way

WebAchievers, LLC Marketing Services for the Social EraCommunity BuildingFinding Your Way in the Journey

WHY COMMUNITY MATTERS“No one gets out of here withoutfinding their own way, but you cant doit alone...” “You need community.” — Martin Sheen Listen to your DadWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 2

PEOPLE NEED COMMUNITYWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 3

CHRISTIAN’S STORYWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 4

HOW A WRITER FOUND SUCCESS THROUGH COMMUNITYhttp://whatwouldtotowatch.com/ Establish a Base Find Your Voice Network PAID FREE Strike a Balance Land Freelance Work Work Hard Get a Great Job!WebAchievers LLC | Community Building 5

CHRISTIAN’S TOP TEN TIPS Help out Write good headlines Attend meetups Silly stuff gets traffic “Click”Build community Promote yourself Post frequently Engage your audience Do a Barrel Roll Experiment with media Use rich keywordsWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 6

WHAT IS COMMUNITY?A group of people with a shared interest who interact and get toknow each other better over time.WebAchievers LLC | Community Building 7

HOW DO COMMUNITIES FORM? 6100+ 600,000 downloads forum Organically membersBy Accident 5304 Followers 20 800 Million Million Apps Active By Design Installed Users DayWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 8

5 BAD REASONS TO BUILD A COMMUNITY Money Low Effort Power Novelty EgoWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 9

NO ZOMBIES!WebAchievers LLC | Community Building 10

10+ GOOD REASONS TO BUILD A COMMUNITY Fill A Niche Innovate Help Others Give Back Share Collaborate Make an Learn Honest Living Have Fun Find Your Way Compete (Your Reason)WebAchievers LLC | Community Building 11

LIFE STAGES OF A VIBRANT COMMUNITY Conception Adolescence MaturityWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 12

REACHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY Get guidance from sponsors and people invested in goals • What are the big trends? • Who can speak to issues and opportunities facing the community? Group and prioritize the resulting list of topics and people Conduct interviews • Listen generously!

COMMUNITY ESSENTIALS Community building blocks are the same • Identity • Belonging • Connectedness • Social capital • Caring for the whole

SELECT TOOLS FOR THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY Focus on the building blocks — identity, belonging, connectedness Leverage social media where it makes sense Survey the landscape — look at competitors Focus on requirements, but be prepared to wear many hats • Design • User Experience • Copy Writing • Web Marketing • Usability and User Acceptance • Project Management

GET CONNECTED AND STAY CONNECTED Podcasts webinars Social Networking meetups email Community website blogWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 16

TO BRAND OR NOT TO BRAND? Do you possess brand equity? Protect the brand. • Trademarked names of products and technologies • Logos, colors, shapes No or little brand equity? • Build the community first • Let your member’s needs dictate choices

BUILD THE COMMUNITY PLAN Audience definition — primary, secondary, tertiary Content — taxonomies that define topics and relationships Data sources Moderators Working Groups Steering Committees Editorial Calendar

ESTABLISH A SOCIAL PROOF Follow people and adoption patterns Implement structures and processes that spur interest and growth Leverage sponsors and existing community base Roll up your sleeves — this is hard work! • Create interesting profiles for your “starter” members • Start discussion threads, write blog posts, set up wiki pages • Get people interested and excited, and ask for their participation

MARKET THE COMMUNITY Market within the organization and externally Outbound marketing is alive and well Leverage communication channels and customer touch points • eNewsletters • Email Signatures • Webinars Tap into existing systems used for digital marketing — SEO, CRM, SEM

MEASURE AND REPORT Be sure to tell the stories Unsolicited member praise or criticism is gold Don’t fixate on activity — it is not the only measure of impact Perceptions matter — be persistent, talk up the community at every opportunity Enlist champions — people who believe and can convert others The most useful feedback is rooted in truth. Be open and avoid defensive postures.

LESSONS LEARNED Manage expectations early and often Delivering high value content is critical Embrace your role as a cheerleader Expect course corrections, sometimes mid-stream Guard your time and attention with vigilance Be courageous and take risks Leverage will get you to your goal faster and with less effort

LEARN MORE ABOUT COMMUNITIES e-Mint: Association of Online Community Professionals http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/e-mint/ Managing Social Media http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Managing-Social-Media-1173397 The Community Roundtable http://community-roundtable.com/ CommunityChat https://twitter.com/cmtychat Fridays 1-2pm ESTWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 23

WE CAN HELP YOU BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY Strategy Design User Experience Training Community Management Media Production Writing Editing Project Management Contact Us: Lou Ordorica Social Media President, WebAchievers LLC Web Development lou@web-achiever.com http://web-achiever.com Speaking @lordoricaWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 24

WebAchievers, LLC Marketing Services for the Social Era 25 THANK YOU lou@web-achiever.com @lordorica web-achiever.comWebAchievers LLC | Community Building 25

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Community Building: Finding Your Way

by Lou Ordorica

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