A look at how communities can help build your business on the social web.

1. Social Networking and Community Building Kevin Palmer, Social Media Director Millennium Integrated Marketing [email_address] 877-873-7445 Become a Facebook Fan: Millennium Advertising Join Us on Twitter: Millennium_

3. Benefits of a Community Inexpensive Product Research (Lego) Customer Support (Microsoft, Zappos) Thought Leadership (Hitachi) Sales Support (Amazon) Create Customers Into Advocates (Lego) Organize People Internally or Externally

14. Loosely Formed Discussions Benefits: Next to zero moderation needed Very small amount of technology and no cost except time Drawback: Need to have or build a large personal network Takes time to build awareness of discussion Example/Tips: “ Chats” on Twitter using hash tags. #prchat is a solid example

15. Within Your Own Blog Benefits: Fairly inexpensive option You host it, not impacted by policies of other companies Drawback: Need strong blogging software and developer The blog needs to be less about the company and more about the subject Examples/Tips: Open up to guest bloggers almost exclusively Highlight comments of others Profile system and allow people to share their content

16. Groups on Existing Sites Benefits: Free except for time Strong platform and technology is already available Drawbacks: All the content and information is controlled by a third party Less control over the look, features, feel, and administration Examples/Tips: Facebook, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Google Groups

17. Message Board Benefits: Most software is free Can tie into blog People are used to format Drawbacks: Not as feature rich as other technologies Requires some technology know how Examples/Tips: Buddy Press can tie into WordPress Install

18. Your own social network Benefits: Robust community with multiple features More engaging, gives people a reason to come back Drawbacks: Much more of a technical and time investment Can be slow to grow Examples/Tips: Ning.com offers a “free” solution, great example communities

19. Thank You Kevin Palmer, Social Media Director Millennium Integrated Marketing [email_address] 877-873-7445 Become a Facebook Fan: Millennium Advertising Join Us on Twitter: Millennium_