branded community - Cultivating Community2024-03-28T20:04:48Zhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/feed/tag/branded%2BcommunityCommunity Spotlight: Enrique Iglesias Rocks Over a Decade of Fan Engagement to Become One of the 50 Most Influential Celebrities on the Internethttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/community-spotlight-enrique-iglesias-international-fan-forum2013-07-15T16:10:55.000Z2013-07-15T16:10:55.000ZAllison Leahyhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/allisonleahy<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208265?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Spanish singer-songwriter, model, actor, and record producer Enrique Iglesias can teach us a thing or two about community. He is one of the</span> <a href="http://www.zimbio.com/Zimbio's+50+Most+Influential+Celebrities+Online+-+2013/articles/W8d9KhHQ1gi/Enrique+Iglesias+Grabs+46th+Spot+List+50+Most" target="_blank" style="font-size: 12pt;">50 most influential celebrities on the Internet</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, according to Zimbio's annual report. There's no doubt that a lot of this has to do with raw talent, longevity, and cross-cultural appeal, but we'd bet that plenty of it leads back to the fact that there has been some semblance of an international fan forum present at EnriqueIglesias.com since the</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/19981212024714/http://www.enriqueiglesias.com/" target="_blank" style="font-size: 12pt;">late 1990s</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The community moved onto the Ning platform over three years ago and has been thriving here ever since.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">To promote Enrique's new album and keep up with the changing times, the community recently underwent a site redesign. We caught up with the management team behind</span> <a href="http://EnriqueIglesias.com" target="_blank" style="font-size: 12pt;">EnriqueIglesias.com</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> and asked them to tell us a bit about the community's major milestones, its redesign, and the future.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3"><strong><iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F60881745"></iframe></strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>Tell us a bit about the Enrique Iglesias community?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p4"><span class="font-size-3">Some of the major milestones were launching a Spanish version community and this latest redesign.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>You've just given the community a makeover. It looks great! What kinds of changes did you incorporate into the redesign and why?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="font-size-3">We've optimized more of the design for mobile, particularly tablets. We've made photos and videos more prominent in the homepage of the site. This is because they are two of the most trafficked sections.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>You host <a href="http://www.enriqueiglesias.com/forum/topics/tonight-i-m" target="_blank">caption contests</a> and <a href="http://www.enriqueiglesias.com/profiles/blogs/fan-chat-is-happening-now" target="_blank">fan chats</a>, what other types of activities take place in the community? What have been the community's favorite events or most successful campaigns?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="font-size-3">We've done ticket and merch giveaways, user generated content promotions, and chats with Enrique in the forum.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>Enrique has some incredibly <a href="http://bit.ly/12twk0H" target="_blank">passionate fans</a> and many of them congregate in this online community -- what does it take to moderate a community of this nature and size? Is Enrique a very active member?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p4"><span class="font-size-3">It's a considerable amount of work. There are several of us on Enrique's management that monitor the site regularly. We are also in touch with a variety of fans who help bring our attention to things happening in the community.</span></p>
<p><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281848?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-right"></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>If you could leave a message for yourself back when you were just starting the Enrique Iglesias fan community and had 30 seconds, what would you say?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p4"><span class="font-size-3">Watch out for spam and use the filtering tools.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>What can Enrique fans expect next?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p4"><span class="font-size-3">Look out for <a href="http://enriqueiglesias.com/profiles/blog/list?promoted=1" target="_blank">announcements</a> about new music, videos and opportunities exclusively for fans who are part of the community.</span></p></div>Challenging the Traditional Music Marketing Model: An Interview with BandPage's Chris Wiltseehttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/interview-with-bandpage2013-05-28T15:30:00.000Z2013-05-28T15:30:00.000ZAllison Leahyhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/allisonleahy<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208209?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p><span class="font-size-3">Today is a big day for us here at Ning. We've just announced our <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/bandpage-partnership" target="_self">partnership with BandPage</a> and have been spreading good vibes and community cheer at the <a href="http://sfmusictech.com/" target="_blank">SF MusicTech Summit</a>. Music is in our blood, and we're excited to bring our social technology into the mainstream music scene. After flying cross-country to speak at the summit, <a href="https://twitter.com/cwiltseego" target="_blank">Chris Wiltsee</a>, Senior Director of Business Development at BandPage, took a moment to chat with us about music marketing and offer further context for the BandPage + Ning integration.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><strong>Thanks for agreeing to this interview, <a href="https://twitter.com/cwiltseego" target="_blank">Chris</a>! Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at BandPage.</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">I'm the Senior Director of Business Development at BandPage, which means that I lead BD and partnership activities for the company and have the opportunity to work with and report to our President, Jeff Amann. Currently, <a href="https://www.bandpage.com/" target="_blank">BandPage</a> is focused on two main initiatives: (1) content syndication <a href="http://www.bandpage.com/partners" target="_blank">partnerships</a> with leading companies like Pandora, Twitter, WordPress, and now Ning, to allow bands to seamlessly integrate their unique content across the top websites in the world, and (2) <a href="http://www.bandpage.com/fans" target="_blank">BandPage Experiences</a>, which is our new e-commerce platform allowing bands to engage with fans in unique, exciting and lucrative ways. We believe that putting e-commerce and syndication together is the secret sauce that will help bands around the world to make a substantially better living.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>In a 2012 article on BandPage, <a href="http://pandodaily.com/2012/12/04/bandpages-wants-to-sync-up-the-online-music-scene/" target="_blank">PandoDaily suggested</a> that “the Internet is still too fragmented a place for artists to have any real sense of home online.” How would you respond to that statement?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">I would generally agree with that. In fact, it's probably truer now than it was 3 or 5 years ago. Every 6 months, new and important services emerge that offer great value to fans and bands alike, which is great, but leads to further fragmentation. This is a challenge for bands, as they have limited time and may not be as technologically inclined or even very interested in social media. BandPage is very focused on developing tools and integrations that will help to vastly simplify this reality this for bands, by allowing them to very easily and elegantly setup their online profile with us, which will then syndicate out to a growing list of meaningful sites and services. It's great for the bands because they can better control the content that is representing them across the Web and on mobile devices from one dashboard. And it's great for the partners because they get a live feed of artist content coming direct for the source.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">With Experiences, we're beginning to marry to that strategy the ability build more fan relationships and to offer those fans experiences that they can't get anywhere else. New revenue generation and greater visibility are two things that matter now more than ever for musicians.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>Does the BandPage +Ning integration solve this problem of fragmentation?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">Bands want feature-rich flexible social networks and are eager to integrate their unique content into those networks. Ning is clearly striving to meet this need and BandPage is pleased to welcome Ning into its growing base of content partners.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>What do you feel are some of the biggest challenges for a musician who is trying to adapt to the digital environment?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">One thing I hear all the time is that bands struggle to know where to focus. Should they put all of their energy into Facebook? Twitter? Facebook AND Twitter? Do I even need a website? What about Instagram? Etc...</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">The truth is, it is all important.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">One great value to the Ning / BandPage integration is that it allows a band to pull all of these various networks and properties together under one roof where fans can follow their various social feeds, the blog from the artist, participate in a forum among other fans and keep up to date with the latest content being published by the band.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">Despite the complexity in the space, bands have never had such powerful and accessible tools to grow a fan-base, segment that base into casual listeners, fans and super-fans and then to be able to offer those fan segments amazing and relevant offers. The technology is evolving (thanks to the hard work of our teams) to make this process simple, intuitive and highly scalable.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>What is one thing a musician could do today to increase her reach or improve her online presence?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">Connect. It isn't enough to just spend all of your time in rehearsal, in the studio and then to put out an album every 12 months and expect fans to drop everything (including $12 for a CD) when you hit the road. Bands should be in constant communication with fans. They should be releasing all the time. This could be singles, videos, special offers or experiences, unique merchandise, or even just glimpses into their world through photos, blog-posts, etc. Fans want more. They want a personal relationship with the artist. For some artists this comes very natural. For others not as much. No matter how much a band wants to remain behind the veil, it is still possible for them to be in more communication with their fans, in whatever form makes sense for them. They don't have to cheapen it or give up their mystique. They just need to make that communication part of the art. Be artful about it. Make it entertaining, and engaging. Bands didn't have to think this way 20 years ago, but they certainly do today. Rather than resist it or resent it, I think bands would do well to embrace it, and see it as the necessary trade-off for having such unbelievable access to distribution and visibility now made available through technology.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3"><strong><br> More than 500,000 musicians use BandPage to build deeper relationships with music lovers everywhere. How are the most successful musicians using BandPage?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3"><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281779?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281767?profile=original" width="253" class="align-right" height="253"></a></strong>The best bands update their content often and have setup their various sites and services so that their freshest material is always up to date and available. They are engaged with their fans. They are using our technology to build a bigger fanbase and to stay better connected with that base. They are looking for new revenue streams and creating one of a kind experiences for their fans.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">Through the BandPage Experiences platform we’re seeing artists create really innovative engagement opportunities for their fans. For instance, country star <a href="https://www.bandpage.com/saraevans/experiences/sing-with-sara-evans-onstage-at-cma-fest-fan-appreciation-party/213012107661168640" target="_blank">Sara Evans posted a promotion</a> last week encouraging her fans to upload a video of them singing along with their favorite song of hers. Fan will then vote for the top video and that fan will get the opportunity to fly to Nashville to sing it onstage with her at a special Country Music Awards fan appreciation event. Amazing!</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>How could those musicians apply the same strategies on Ning?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">The same strategies apply. In fact, this integration is really valuable to bands because bands can have a site that stays up to date with content through their BandPage, but also has the additional features that Ning does so well, which is to have a blog and forum for the band and fans. Different members can have their own blogs, there can be forums around a tour, or a new song. These can evolve over time and it's all totally customizable and flexible. And it all lives under one roof. I think it is a very powerful combination that a lot of bands, managers and labels will take advantage of.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>What do you feel is the biggest benefit of an artist having a branded community?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">It is now possible for artists to invest in a web (and mobile) presence that is their own destination, but that is deeply tied to the social web with feeds pushing and pulling for platforms like Twitter & Facebook. With Ning’s blog and forum features, it is also possible to bring the fans into this site in a powerful and flexible way. It seems just a couple of years ago that many sophisticated digital folks had deprioritized the artists destination in favor of ‘fishing where the fish are’ on the major social networks. Now, it is really possible to invest in your own property, which you control the design and branding for, which isn’t subject to any big changes made by platforms (think Myspace, Facebook Timeline, etc.), but that takes full advantage of those major platforms, and having loops of content and social activities flowing between the artist site and social platforms. This allows for new fans to discover the artist’s content, while building a sustainable ‘home’ online.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>Are there any characteristics that make a band or artist especially cut out for an online community?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">The biggest characteristic is a band that is engaged with online media that enjoys sharing and connecting and does so in a thoughtful, artistic way. Done right, an artist can get a lot of ‘free’ marketing and build a huge amount of hype around new releases and projects by getting fans aware of and excited about what is happening before release day. How this is done, and doing it in the authentic voice of the artist varies from case to case. It is also important for the artist not to constantly be ‘selling’ but also just connecting and communicating with their fans genuinely.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>What are your greatest expectations for your partnership with Ning?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3">We are very pleased to support Ning’s 3.0 platform and think the integration with our BandPage Connect feature, which allows bands to sync their BandPage content to their Ning-powered site, is a powerful product offering. The ease of setting up an elegant site, that stays up to date, while offering massive functionality and flexibility in connecting with fans is a real breakthrough. My hope is that many bands with strong fan bases adopt it and that bands that are still growing their fan-bases use it as a valuable tool in that pursuit.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>Do you have any advice for an artist who is starting to cultivate her own community of fans?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="font-size-3">I think it is important to be in constant ‘release’ mode. Artists should challenge the traditional model of putting out one release per year and then touring to support it. It seems to me that putting out smaller, stronger releases backed by engaging social marketing and live components could generate much more fan excitement and engagement. Using tools like the BandPage / Ning integrated site is an easy to use and cost effective way to communicate all the activities of the band, and create a platform to harness and showcase the fan activity within the artists own network</span></p>
<p></p></div>Community Spotlight: Well-Adjusted, A Bridge to the Next Generation of Insurance Adjusting Professionalshttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/community-spotlight-well-adjusted-a-community-for-adjuster-pros2013-05-21T11:30:00.000Z2013-05-21T11:30:00.000ZAllison Leahyhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/allisonleahy<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208167?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Meet Daniel Kerr, COO of <a href="http://www.adjusterpro.com" target="_blank">AdjusterPro</a> and founder of</span> <a href="http://www.adjusterspace.org/" target="_blank" style="font-size: 10pt;">Well-Adjusted</a>, an online community of insurance claims adjusters<span style="font-size: 10pt;">. Well-Adjusted was created in 2007 as a place for both proven and rookie insurance claims adjusters to connect with each other, seek career advice, and find encouragement. Six years later, the community is thriving as a collaborative learning environment,<span> growing knowledge network, and a</span> bridge to the next generation in the workforce. </span></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><span>Most people don’t think much about insurance adjusters (or much of them), but despite the fact that the job title has a bit of a PR problem, there are a lot of </span><a href="http://www.adjusterpro.com/insurance-adjuster-blog/top-10-reasons-adjuster" target="_blank">good reasons to get into the insurance claims business</a><span> -- and the Well-Adjusted community is one of them. </span></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span>In this interview, Daniel <span>discusses the ins and outs of cultivating a community of practice in a tight niche.</span></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281704?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281704?profile=original" width="172" class="align-right" height="172" style="padding: 5px;"></a>Tell us a bit about your community.</strong></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><span>Unbeknownst to many, claims adjusters are not repressed bullies who delight in nickel and dime-ing poor old ladies. They're mostly good folks just like you, and like most folks, they like to stay connected. The community at </span><a href="https://adjusterspace.org" target="_self">adjusterspace.org</a><span> helps keep claims adjusters from a variety of backgrounds connected. A good percentage of our community is made up of aspiring adjusters who are seeking information on how to become a working claims adjuster. Why on earth would someone want to do that? Here's a little known secret: catastrophe claims adjusters make well over $1,000 a day while on deployment. And they're compensated in direct proportion to the claims settlement amount - which means they're incentivized to write a generous settlement that helps people get back on their feet! So, adjusting offers a surprisingly lucrative, stable, and fulfilling career path and </span><a href="http://adjusterspace.org" target="_self">adjusterspace.org</a><span> (or Well-Adjusted as it is more commonly called) is a place where conversations about this career take place. We're currently at about 6,000 members.</span></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><strong style="font-size: 10pt;">What made you start a dedicated online community?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2">I started Well-Adjusted in part as an antidote to an existing community within our niche. This community was comprised largely of veteran adjusters who seemed to be dueling with one another over who could be the surliest crank on the block. That's fun for a pretty small number of people. So, I wanted to start a community that offered a positive, supportive, and encouraging environment to adjusters of all levels of competency including those who are just getting started.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><strong>What other options did you consider?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2">This is going back to 2007 so my memory is a bit fuzzy but honestly I don't think I considered any other options. Facebook was still in it's growth stage and I wasn't an active member (still not) and Myspace seemed ill-fitting somehow. I wanted a dedicated community that was all about adjusting. I had been introduced to a Ning Platform through a high school alumni group and I was immediately very impressed with how robust and user-friendly it was.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><strong><a href="http://adjusterspace.org" target="_blank"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281714?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="273" class="align-right"></a></strong>Have you achieved your original objectives? </strong></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2">This would assume I had original objectives! I suppose the answer is yes and no. We've succeeded in building a fairly large and valuable resource within our niche that connects people. That's a win. I'm a big fan of Scott Stratten and the principle of <a href="http://www.unmarketing.com/" target="_blank">UnMarketing</a>. Honestly that's at the core of what this community was and is about. Well-Adjusted compliments my core business, AdjusterPro, which offers licensing, training and CE to adjusters. It does that by giving a lot of value and building trust and credibility. I rarely bring AdjusterPro into the conversation at Well-Adjusted (which is often hard to do!). On the other hand, no I haven't achieved the original objective of becoming THE community in my niche. Like most entrepreneurs, one of my core objectives is world domination. I'm still working on that...:)</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><strong>How do you measure success or the ROI of the time and effort you put into cultivating your community?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2">This is a great question and I can't answer it directly. There is a very good new book out called <a href="http://www.feverbee.com/ning.html" target="_blank">Buzzing Communities</a> by Richard Millington. He makes a compelling case for being able to measure ROI for a community but it takes a full-time dedicated community manager and some analytics I'm not currently using. At this point, I'm more in the Scott Stratten camp where I know the ROI is there but I'm also not worried too terribly about putting a precise number on it. How do you measure trust? How do you measure credibility? How do you measure good will? I'm not sure and I'm not terribly worried about it. I do know my business has done well and I attribute no small part of it to Well-Adjusted.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><em>(Richard Millington leads a <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/community-management-talks" target="_self">Community Management Talks</a> series with Ning. He also blogs here at Cultivating Community and has been kind enough to allow our readers to download half of his new book <a href="http://www.feverbee.com/ning.html" target="_blank">Buzzing Communities</a> for free!)</em></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281838?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281838?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="309" style="padding: 5px;" class="align-right" height="171"></a>How else has your community helped you and your business, brand or mission?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2">One of our core values at AdjusterPro is serious commitment to serve others and Well-Adjusted has afforded a vehicle to do just that. It's helped our business in so many ways. One rather pleasant and unexpected development has been that it has positioned us within our industry as being the gateway to the Millennials. There's a lot of value in being considered the bridge to the next generation in the workforce.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><strong>What features of the Ning Platform are most important to you and your members?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2">Obviously the Forum is critical and is the heart of our community. We're working on making Events and a Jobs Board plugin more relevant.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><strong>Any advice to someone considering building an online community?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2">I'm a big reader and so my recommendations usually consist of book recommendations. In this case I have two. First, is UnMarketing by Scott Stratten. Second is Buzzing Communities by Richard Millington. The latter is a super practical step-by-step guide to building a successful community. Takes you from your first member through to community maturity. Stratten's book is just a gem from an overall strategic and philosophical perspective.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2">Beyond that, don't let fear or lack of confidence dissuade you from action. Most people sell themselves short. Failure is glorious, don't fear it. The only thing you'll regret is not trying. (Wow, that sounded pretty grandiose and self-important coming from the manager of a small niche community in the insurance industry.) Seriously though, rely on experts like Millington and Stratten and don't be afraid to make a start. Good luck!</span></p>
<p class="p1"></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-2"><em>Image credits: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/6860000500/" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMy1hODAzOGM2ZTZiNWVjNGQx" target="_blank">I'm All Caught Up</a> via someecards; <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/6860000500/" target="_blank">Skagit Flood, 1932</a> courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives via Flickr; and Daniel Kerr via Daniel Kerr</em></span></p>
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