Today, you cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the power of online communities and groups. The fact is, there are 80 million communities and groups online. Most of them existing within 2,000+ Social Networks. 250 million people are registered and active in at least one online community or group. Whilst the majority of online communities and groups have been created by individual users on Facebook, Ning, MySpace, XING, LinkedIN and Bebo, companies and brands are also playing and positioning themselves in this powerful social media channel. P&G have built over 2,000 communities over the past 7 years whilst Nestle has only a handful. Maria has been building off-line communities since 1992 and online communities over the past 5 years. As the former Director of Community Building at XING and now founder and CEO of [www.linqia.com] and [www.themoderatorcommunity.com], Maria will share with you the 6 essential ingredients for launching and maintaining vibrant, active and profitable online communities and groups. Her speciality and focus is on monetization and identifying value drivers to ensure the end users experience is a positive one.

1. Collaborative Communities 6 Key Ingredients for Companies Fostering Relationships through Online Communities By Maria Sipka | CEO www.linqia.com

2. The number 1 most exciting fact about online communities…

3. Databases & distribution lists are brought to life!

4. Before Now Collaboration Channel Sales Channel

5. Understanding the role of online communities in your sales cycle

6. Communities are not a direct selling tool but rather a relationship conduit

7. The Sales Cycle Offering The Sale Retention Milestones Resources Acquisition

8. Ingredient #1 What are you thinking of offering? Is there really a need for your offering? Who are your key stakeholders? How do they currently behave? Offering The Sale Retention Milestones Resources Acquisition

9. Ingredient #2 What does success look like? Over what period of time? How are they tied to your business goals? How and when will you measure success? Offering The Sale Retention Milestones Resources Acquisition

10. Ingredient #3 What is your budget? What internal + external people will you need? A community plan? Build or white label? Where will you gather content? Can you source sponsors? Offering The Sale Retention Milestones Resources Acquisition

11. Ingredient #4 Where do your stakeholders hang out? How are they segmented? What experience can you offer? How will you reach out to them? What next? Offering The Sale Retention Milestones Resources Acquisition

12. Ingredient #5 At what stage are you likely to convert? What role does your community serve for your customers? Formalized referral? Integrating your CRM? Offering The Sale Retention Milestones Resources Acquisition

13. Ingredient #6 Keeping your customers engaged Deepening relationships Loyalty initiatives? Evangelists Offering The Sale Retention Milestones Resources Acquisition

14. Embrace conflict, resist the urge to control, forget opinion leaders – and build your brand

15. The Numbers 2,000 social networks 80 million communities 1.4 billion people online 750 million social network members 280 million community members

16. Small Community Highlights: 24 hours to setup Free on Ning 4,026 members in 10 months

17. Medium Community Highlights: Built on Jive White Label Support community Integrated into existing site 22,000 members 10,000 page views daily

18. Large Community Highlights: No mention P&G brand Interest categories. Not brand categories. 4 times more affective than advertising $3 million a year to run $480 profit per girl!

19. Community = Transparency + Engagement + Consistency + Collaboration + Celebration + Simplicity + Measurement Take Aways for Success

20. Contact Details Maria Sipka Founder/ CEO www.linqia.com www.themoderatorcommunity.com Tel: +34 626768788 [email_address] Barcelona | Geneva | Silicon Valley Twitter: @mariasipka