Wendy Piersall

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Building a Community

• Wendy Piersall
• (Formerly eMoms at Home)

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Behind the Scenes

• Hobby turned to business
• Scaled to a blog network in September 2007
• Brand blowup
• Renamed relaunched

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Behind the Scenes

• Hobby turned to business
• Because community started to form
• Scaled to a blog network in September 2007
• Built channels based on what the community
  enjoyed the most
• Brand blowup
• Because the community had grown beyond moms and
  even dads
• Renamed relaunched
• Community is already expanding under new name

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Lets Build Some Community
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Build it The Foundation

• Forums
• Blogs
• Social Networks
• Content Management Systems
• Combine multiple social ecosystems
• Ratings/Reviews/Voting/UGC
• Social Bookmarking
• Digg, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us
• Conversation Platforms
• Twitter, Utterz

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Build it The Foundation

• vBulletin
• phpBB
• WordPress /MU
• TypePad
• Drupal
• Joomla
• Pligg
• Wikis

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Build it The Foundation

• Plan for Scalability

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Define Your Community Goals

• A community is a place to
• Build product awareness
• Connect your customers with each other
• Indirectly promote your products/services
• Educate your audience
• Support your customers
• Build monetize a niche forum

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Define Your Community Boundaries

• A community is usually not a place to
• Hard sell products or services
• Preach or lecture a message
• Build a leads database
• Use as a façade for a different purpose
• Post adverquestions or introtisements

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Answer this Constantly

• WIIFM

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Answer this Constantly

• Whats In It For Me?

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How Many Needs Can You Meet?
Communities form among people looking for a
solution to a problem/unmet need
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How Many Needs Can You Meet?
Communities form among people looking for a
solution to a problem/unmet need

• Need answers
• Need tech support
• Need emotional support
• Need connection
• Need significance

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Psychology 101 - Growth

• Those Who Need Answers Come to You For
• Facts, Figures, Reference
• Ideas, Brainstorming
• Advice (Peer/Mentor)
• Reviews, Ratings
• Driven by
• Specific Question
• Thirst for Knowledge

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Psychology 101 - Certainty

• Those Who Need Tech Support Come to You For
• Specific troubleshooting
• Upgrade/purchase planning
• Reviews, Ratings
• Ideas, How-Tos
• Driven by
• Specific Problem
• Passion for Product/Interest

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Psychology 101 - Love

• Those Who Need Emotional Support Come to You For
• Find people like themselves
• Tend to be vulnerable
• Frequently need anonymity
• Need both factual answers a place to vent
• Driven by
• Specific Stressor
• Need for love/connection

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Psychology 101 Fun/Fellowship

• Those Who Need Connection Come to You For
• Finding friends
• Self-expression
• Networking
• Driven by
• Boredom, lonliness
• Need to belong
• Self-promotion

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Psychology 101 - Ego

• Those Who Need Significance Come to You For
• A place to show off what they know
• Can be fanatical
• Are competitive
• Can be prone to too much self-promotion
• Driven by
• Need to feel important
• Rewards

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Build it Attracting Members

• Dos
• WIIFM!
• Ensure your site is easy to navigate
  understand
• Participate add value to other communities
• Give without expecting to receive
• Moderate negativity
• Be Exceptional

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Build it Attracting Members

• Donts
• Forget WIIFM!
• Expect to Build it they will come
• Recruit from other forums
• Hog the traffic
• Imitate existing communities

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The Really, Really Important Stuff

• People want to connect with People. Not brands.
  Not companies.
• Be authentic
• Dont pitch
• Be as personal as possible while maintaining
  relevancy

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The Really, Really Important Stuff

• Lay out the welcome mat
• Create sections for new members
• Encourage stupid questions
• Make it OK to be uncomfortable
• Dont make them have to think about it

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The Really, Really Important Stuff

• Give members a voice
• Conversation, not a lecture
• Solicit feedback, suggestions
• Ask questions
• Be inclusive

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The Really, Really Important Stuff

• Make your members Rock Stars
• Reward participation
• Give public recognition
• Create membership levels
• Showcase their talent

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The Good Problems to Have

• Listen to feedback suggestions
• This means they care enough to want more
• Unaddressed issues will alienate members
• Invest the members in the future of the
  community

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The Good Problems to Have

• Used Car Salesmen, Attacks TrollsYou have a
  growing community!
• Keep your cool
• Have easy to understand rules enforce them
  consistently
• Turn negatives into positives
• Mediate disagreements offline
• Ban members when necessary

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Evolve Grow your Community

• Surprise Delight
• Add free /exclusive features
• Give discounts, coupons
• Contests giveaways
• Keep content fresh, relevant valuable

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Case Study Dell

• 20 year-old Forum
• Empower their community through peer to peer
  support
• Rewards program for valuable contributors
• Blog was created to build relationships with
  customers, not sell products
• Participate add value to others communities
• Back up talk with action
• Give without expecting to receive

LIONEL MENCHACACHIEF BLOGGER, DELL
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Sparkplugging

• I LOVE my community!
• www.sparkplugging.com
• Sparkplugging.com/presentation-downloads/

• )