community - Cultivating Community2024-03-29T09:46:06Zhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/feed/tag/communityOpen and Closed Questionshttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/open-and-closed-questions2014-04-29T16:54:28.000Z2014-04-29T16:54:28.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208311?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>You usually get a bigger response by asking closed questions. </p><p>It's easy to answer a specific, closed, question. Do you think that {x} is better than {y}?How many times have you {x}? </p><p>Open-ended questions require you to think. They require you to risk having entirely the wrong answer. They require more time and mental effort. That can be off-putting. </p><p>It's often better to ask a few closed questions that people can answer to build their confidence before asking open questions. </p><p>Think about this when you're stimulating discussions in your community.</p><p>Think about it in your profile questions too. Do you want to ask broad, generic, questions and solicit a personal biography? Or do you want a few specific, closed, answers to help people get started? </p><p>So if you're struggling to get much of a response asking open-ended questions, try asking closed questions for a while instead. </p></div>The Problem With Community Platforms (and asking the right questions)https://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/the-problem-with-community-platforms2014-03-27T15:00:00.000Z2014-03-27T15:00:00.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><p><b><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.discourse.org/">Discourse</a></b> looks interesting. It looks sleek, modern, and displays most of what people need. It's also open-source. It might be a fantastic new community platform. </p>
<p>It's going to tempt a lot of people to switch platforms...and this is the problem.</p>
<p>Switching community platforms is one of the riskiest things you can do. The benefits are usually minimal and the dangers are colossal. Unless you picked a terrible platform initially, changing a platform won't help you much.</p>
<p>If you want a better community, it's rarely a new platform you need, it's a new and better approach to community management.</p>
<p>How are you <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/concentrate-activity" target="_self">driving activity</a> and growth in that community? </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282092?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282092?profile=original" width="539" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p>What are you doing to recruit members? Whom are you approaching? What are you telling them? What is their reaction? What tactics have you tried/not tried? How are you encouraging them to invite others?</p>
<p>How are you initiating and sustaining discussions? What topics have you tried? <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/how-to-help-members-overcome-their-fear-of-participation" target="_self">Who and how are you prompting people</a> to respond to these topics? What types of discussions work best? What does your audience analysis tell you will be most interesting?</p>
<p>What <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/14-events-you-can-organize-and-celebrate-in-your-community" target="_blank">events are you facilitating</a>? Have you scheduled regular, live, events? Are you reaching out to and inviting the top people in your community and sector to participate in these events? </p>
<p>Are you <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/the-psychological-impact-of-interactions" target="_self">building relationships</a> with members? How are you building these relationships? What is working/not working here? </p>
<p>Have you diagnosed your community? What specifically does your data tell you is going wrong? Is it growth, activity, or <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/creating-a-sense-of-belonging-in-your-online-community" target="_self">sense of community</a>? </p>
<p>Are you embracing the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.feverbee.com/2012/09/community-management-framework.html">full community management framework</a>? Or are you just doing a tiny sliver of the work you should be doing. </p>
<p>Too often, we jump straight to the conclusion that the platform is the problem. That's rarely the case. It's almost certainly the activity you're doing on the platform that matters. </p>
<p>This is why new platforms have made it easier to build communities, but haven't helped us build <i>better</i> communities. </p>
<p>The answers to these questions are far more important than the platform or its features. </p></div>A Simple, Effective, Community Platform Designhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/a-simple-effective-community-platform-design2014-03-20T16:00:00.000Z2014-03-20T16:00:00.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><p>Too many communities focus on content. They place the content at the top of the page and bury the community either beneath the fold or behind a community tab. This might look great, but it's not effective for building communities. </p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.plugincars.com/" target="_blank">Plugincars</a> is a notable exception. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282156?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282156?profile=original" width="500" class="align-full"></a></p>
<p> This site balances the content, with the community, with the current activity. If they removed the advert in the top right, it would be perfect. </p>
<p>There are five things I want to highlight here:</p>
<p><b>1) The content appears on the landing page on a regular basis</b>. Members always have a reason to come back and visit the community to see what's new.</p>
<p><b>2) The community appear highly active</b>. They choose to show the number of discussions, photos, fans etc...this gives the impression of momentum. </p>
<p><b>3) The latest discussions also appear on the right of the page</b>. This shows the latest activity that members can immediately click to participate in. </p>
<p><b>4) The community balances the social needs with the need for information</b>. In addition to the landing page, members can see guides that they can download. </p>
<p><b>5) The community also seperately lists the one key thing that members want to know:</b> where can they charge their car? What is the one key, major, thing the members in your community want to know? </p>
<p>Also note that within the guides themselves they have guides for people that are <i>new to the topic</i> and for those looking to purchase cars. Most communities neglect the people that are new to the topic, yet it's these people that will be the biggest source of growth for most mature communities. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282200?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282200?profile=original" width="500" class="align-full"></a></p>
<p>Plugincars also does a great job of highlighting the key contributors to the community. This is on the landing page of the community. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282285?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282285?profile=original" width="299" class="align-full"></a></p>
<p> Finally in the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.plugincars.com/cars">cars section</a> of the community, they give an instant overview of the topic. They provide a list of rechargable cars, upcoming cars, and the basic details of each car. This provides members with a glance of most of what they want to know about the topic.</p>
<p>If you're looking for what essential elements build a great community, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.plugincars.com/">Plugincars</a> is a good place to start. </p></div>3 Reasons Why Community Needs a Process-Driven Approachhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/process-driven-approach-community2014-03-11T20:12:06.000Z2014-03-11T20:12:06.000ZSarah Judd Welchhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/sarahjuddwelch<div><p dir="ltr"><span>While in the trenches of community management, it’s sometimes challenging to take a step back, evaluate your efforts and determine strategic next steps. Being heads down in our craft is certainly respectable, however, sometimes a step back and a fresh perspective is all that’s necessary to recognize a missed step, spot a new opportunity or take our work to the next level.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>While there are tons of tools for building community, there are simply no band-aid solutions that will magically create or grow a community overnight. That’s why community needs a</span> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://loyal.is/community-process/"><span>process-driven approach</span></a><span>. Specifically:</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span class="font-size-3"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282098?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282098?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400" class="align-right"></a><strong>1. Every Community is Different</strong></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>What works well for one community, cannot be exactly replicated for another. Each community has its own values, purpose, goals, demographics and cultural norms. The success of an ambassador program for one community may be poorly incentivized for another. As such, the specific tactics, tools and approach for each community should be unique.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong><span class="font-size-3">2. Community is Both Strategic and Tactical</span></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Community is well known as a jack-of-all trades execution role, but it’s strategic, too. At some companies, such as Airbnb, TaskRabbit, and Etsy, community is core to the product and even built into the business model. As such, community efforts are centralized around more strategic approaches with complementary execution rather than strictly social media and support. This requires a higher-level view point than one that can only be seen from the trenches.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong><span class="font-size-3">3. Measure, Iterate, Repeat</span></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>If you’re always heads down and reactive, how do you know what’s working? Taking a more process-driven approach allows you to define measurements of success upfront, evaluate progress against concrete benchmarks and then iterate both your strategies and execution accordingly.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>At</span> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://loyal.is"><span>Loyal,</span></a> <span>we look at building community as not so different from human system design. As community folks, we’re structuring and enabling ways for people to engage with each other within specific product, platform, budget and time constraints to reach specific business goals. And, as such, we approach our work with a process</span> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://loyal.is/community-is-a-job/"><span>not too different from design processes</span></a><span>. This is what our process looks like:<br class="kix-line-break"></span></p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr"><span>Understand the vision for success</span></p></li>
<li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr"><span>Define the problem or challenge</span></p></li>
<li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr"><span>Determine the goals</span></p></li>
<li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr"><span>Understand the constraints</span></p></li>
<li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr"><span>Research -- What does the data tell us? What do we intuitively know? What do users say?</span></p></li>
<li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr"><span>Set the strategy with the above in mind</span></p></li>
<li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr"><span>Execute</span></p></li>
<li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr"><span>Test, Measure, Iterate Repeat</span></p></li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr"><span>While community might not be repeatable from community to community, this process is repeatable and allows us to tailor recommendations for our clients accordingly. Internally, community managers can also use this same process for project sprints. What’s your community process?</span></p>
<hr>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>About the Author:</strong></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Sarah Judd Welch is the Founder // Head of Community Design + BD at</span> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.loyal.is/"><span>Loyal</span></a> <span>where she designs communities for startups, brands, and Fortune 100s. Find her on Twitter at </span><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.twitter.com/sjw"><span>@sjw</span></a><span>.</span></p>
<p><span>Read more stories like this one at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://loyal.is/">http://loyal.is</a>.</span></p>
<p><em>Image via iStockphoto.</em></p></div>Creating Healthy Communities in Social Media [Video]https://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/creating-healthy-communities-in-social-media-video2014-01-16T22:43:25.000Z2014-01-16T22:43:25.000ZCrystalhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CrystalC<div><p>On Thursday, we had the pleasure of hosting Ric Dragon, CEO and co-founder of DragonSearch, for an enlightening hour on Creating Healthy Communities in Social Media. From the origins of the term "community" to how dysfunctional communities are like families, this was a fast-paced hour packed with information. Check out the video below and read on for highlights.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lA8yhNDAO4U?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://vimeo.com/84343642">Creating Healthy Communities in Social Media with Ric Dragon</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/ning">Ning</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
<p>The most interesting takeaway from this talk for me were the analogies between functional families and functional communities. All healthy families will have a small amount of dysfunction. Ric argues that the essential elements for functional and healthy communities are: </p>
<p><strong>Empathy</strong> - Being able to feel the pain of others and identify it. When large groups of people have a lack of empathy, bad things happen. </p>
<p><strong>Addressing the Elephant in the Room</strong> - a taboo or big element that members don't want to talk about can be the downfall of a community.</p>
<p><strong>Boundaries</strong> - Blurring of the boundaries that mark what's appropriate interaction between community members can be a slide down a dysfunctional hill. </p>
<p><strong>Conflict Extremes</strong> - While conflict can be healthy, too much conflict can be detrimental and needs to be addressed. </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">What did you appreciate most in this webinar? </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Other resources mentioned by Ric:</span> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/01/13/asch-elevator-experiment/" target="_blank">The Asch Conformity Experiments</a> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.thekmiecs.com/marketing-advertising/the-5-types-of-roles-you-need-in-your-community/" target="_blank">Adam Kmiec's 5 Roles in Community</a> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.moxnes.com/" target="_blank">The Deep Role Model (Paul Moxnes)</a> </p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckman's_stages_of_group_development" target="_blank">Tuckman's 5 Stages of Group Development</a> </p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number" target="_blank">Dunbar's Number</a> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together.html" target="_blank">Sherry Turkle, Alone Together (TED Talk)</a></p>
<p><a href="http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=nN5DFNT-6ToC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=dunbar+gossip+theory&ots=7_L9506OTd&sig=tL3tbjzc74T3ZvDcIoPXu2Gf9dw#v=onepage&q=dunbar%20gossip%20theory&f=false" target="_blank">Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language</a> (Robin Dunbar)</p>
<hr />
<p><span>Creating Healthy Communities is part of the </span><a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/community-management-talks" target="_self">Ning Community Management Talks</a><span> series. Past presentations cover topics including strategies for generating activity, managing growth, facilitating member engagement, </span><a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/metrics-and-measurement-for-community-health-video" target="_self">metrics and measurement for community health</a><span>, and the science behind it all.</span></p>
</div>Community Spotlight: Aquaculture Hub, a Community of Aquaponic Enthusiastshttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/community-spotlight-aquaculture-hub2013-10-07T16:00:00.000Z2013-10-07T16:00:00.000ZCrystalhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CrystalC<div><p class="p1">Fish farming, or aquaculture, is the fastest growing agriculture method, making over $80 billion just a few years ago. In this swiftly growing industry, <a href="http://www.aquaculturehub.org/" target="_blank">AquacultureHub</a> brings together people interested in their goal to <b>"</b>help advance the development and implementation of aquaculture programs around the world that promote sustainability, food security and food safety, research and advocacy." Network administrator Dr. Barbara Payne McLain, ATOLL Project Director at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, spoke with us about the passionate aquaculture community behind AquacultureHub. </p>
<p class="p1"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281979?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281979?profile=original" width="200" class="align-right" style="padding: 3px;"></a>Tell us a bit about the AquacultureHub Comunity.</b></p>
<p class="p1">Aquaculture Hub was started in 2009 by Dr. Tetsuzan Benny Ron at the University of Hawaii-Manoa as community outreach for anyone around the world who is interested in fish farming, aquaponics and related environmental topics. I serve as an additional administrator on the site, which now has about 4,430 members. We’re adding about 50 per week recently.</p>
<p class="p1"><b>What was your biggest challenge in starting your community?</b></p>
<p class="p1">When the community first began, our biggest challenge was naturally attracting new members. We formed many interest groups and Dr. Ron and I wrote several unique blogs per week. We had some other student help that was assigned to comment on everything and welcome every member who joined. I felt we needed to have unique content and information on the site, that could not be found anywhere else in the world. I think we’ve done that.</p>
<p class="p1"><b>What are some of your favorite stories or testimonials from community members?</b></p>
<p class="p1">At a recent national conference, members of AquacultureHub from all over the world gathered in person - at a bar in Nashville, TN - to meet for the first time. We sold t-shirts to commemorate the occasion.</p>
<p class="p1"><b>How do you spread the word about AquacultureHub?</b></p>
<p class="p1">We really haven’t done much advertising, but when I write a blog about a topic or video, I try to contact the company or author to tell them I featured their product or content and invite them to join. Dr. Benny Ron is the ultimate networker, and via email and conferences around the world, he has spread the word that this is a gathering place for everyone in the profession. We’ve also hosted live audio and video presentations on the internet on various topics and mentioned our network.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281993?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281993?profile=original" width="328" class="align-center"></a></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><strong>You also run <a href="http://uhatoll.ning.com/">uhatoll.ning.com</a>, a community for the non-credit course your teach through the University of Hawaii. </strong><strong>How do the communities and your management of them differ?</strong></p>
<p class="p1">AquacultureHub.org is an open community. Anyone with interest and a decent profile can join. Dr. Ron and other instructors also use the Hub for academic discussions for hybrid on-campus undergraduate classes. We will be working to integrate some existing association websites into our Ning network over the next year, as almost all of the members of these associations visit our Ning network. It makes sense for them to stop paying web hosting fees and move their association business into our network site. We are getting great traffic!</p>
<p class="p1">Our UH ATOLL program is very unique. We are offering non-credit training in aquaculture and aquaponics via a large video library embedded on pages inside our Ning network site. The class is open to anyone ages 16 or older. The 85 lecture videos are streamed from an Amazon server account using JW Player -- the pages are hand-coded. We are also using an external quiz tool for practice quizzes and final examinations leading to a certificate, and embedded polls so students can rate the videos they watch. UHATOLL is a closed network, based on those who pay the small registration fee to our <a href="http://videolearning.uhatoll.com" target="_blank">University of Hawaii Outreach College</a>. </p>
<p class="p1"><b>How do you vet and manage the community blog?</b></p>
<p class="p1">On both networks, all blog posts, photos, and videos require administrator approval. This can be quite time consuming - especially on AquacultureHub. We feel it is important to the quality of both sites. The Hub has had some members become quite annoying, rude, verbally abusive, etc.. and they were quickly suspended. We also do not allow any commercial advertising on either site. This maintains the academic integrity of our networks.</p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282123?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282123?profile=original" width="474" class="align-center"></a></b><em>Community compiled map of Aquaculture farms, worldwide.</em></p>
<p class="p1"></p>
<p class="p1"></p>
<p class="p1"><b>What aspect of your Ning Network has proved most valuable to your community?</b></p>
<p class="p1">I think that the answer to this question will change, depending on the member. I think most members most like the ability to ask questions of “the crowd” who shares their interest in our topics. This is true networking-- many people who answer a question on either of our sites do not know the person who is posing the question. They answer the question anyway and help someone who may be on the other side of the planet. I think that's very cool!</p>
<p class="p1"><b>On the design side, do you give much thought to the user experience or have any design-minded people to help with it?</b></p>
<p class="p1">We asked a user-design firm (<a href="http://www.ikayzo.com/" target="_blank">iKayzo.com</a>) to take a look at both networks and made changes based on their advice. AquacultureHub is so large, with many, many groups -- it can get a bit cluttered and occasionally we’ve had to adjust and move things, delete groups, etc.. I highly recommend an annual “housecleaning” for all large social networks. Our UHATOLL site has not changed in the past 3 years, and we get no complaints about the user interface. Everything is pretty self-explanatory for the students on that site.</p>
<p class="p1"><b>What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned from your community?</b></p>
<p class="p1">Through our networks, I’ve learned how spoiled we are in the United States. Information about aquaculture and aquaponics can be extremely important to those who live in very remote locations on the planet. We have members from every continent, and over 100 different countries. Getting help with growing food or troubleshooting a farmer's problem can save lives.</p>
<p class="p1"><b>What’s the best piece of advice you have for someone looking to start an online community?</b></p>
<p class="p1">I would tell them to have a plan before you begin. Specify a mission and don’t make it too broad... or too narrow. Make sure that you create a destination that a web visitor cannot duplicate elsewhere. Ensure that it is a place they will want to spend several minutes each week visiting to get all caught up on events, activities or news about your topic. Use the social network buttons on your site and get a Facebook page as well. Update the Facebook page at least once per week and update your network with new material every 2-3 days for at least the first year. If you have an advertising budget… use it!</p></div>Community Spotlight: Bearded Gents, a Brotherhood of The Beardhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/community-spotlight-bearded-gents-a-brotherhood-of-the-beard2013-09-30T16:00:00.000Z2013-09-30T16:00:00.000ZCrystalhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CrystalC<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208337?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p class="p1"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281956?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281956?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="120" class="align-right" style="padding: 5px;"></a>Beards aren't just for lumberjacks and pirates. In fact, they have a long history as the facial hair of choice for statesmen, educators, and philosophers. Look no further than <a href="http://beardedgents.com/" target="_blank">Bearded Gents</a> for a new generation of bearded wisemen. The site's creator, Gary W. Norman, took a moment to speak with us about the Bearded Gents Community, beard history, and bringing together a community from around the world. </p>
<p class="p1"><strong>Tell us a bit about the Society of Bearded Gents.</strong></p>
<p class="p2">Our community is a large group (3K+ members) who share a love of The Beard. We either wear them or admire them. In this day and age of so many companies with anti-beard policies, we strive to show society that The Beard is a positive thing and to help men overcome harassment from family and friends, learn grooming techniques, and foster camaraderie.</p>
<p class="p2"><strong>What was your biggest challenge in starting your community?</strong></p>
<p class="p3">Just learning how to do that! I kind of taught myself by reading blogs, NING Forum posts, and getting advice from other webmasters I reached out to. We grew out of another website whose webmaster had decided to call it quits and shut the site down. Well, there's a brotherhood of the beard and we wanted to keep together as a group. Starting this site was my idea to do just that: keep us together. The site has grown far beyond my original thoughts and I couldn't be happier!</p>
<p><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281977?profile=original" width="363" class="align-center"></p>
<p class="p1"><strong>What are some of your favorite stories or testimonials from community members?</strong></p>
<p class="p2">I get many 'thanks' from members for the site. Many guys claim they would have shaved had it not been for the support and knowledge they get from the site.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong>You have an extremely detailed welcome guide to orient new members with the community. How did you develop this and what kind of response has it gotten?</strong></p>
<p class="p2">I started this page by explaining things that were different from other sites, how this site operates, and it grew from there becoming an Orientation Guide to the site. I have so much on the site, members were missing things, things of value and interest, but the members couldn't figure out how to get to them. It seems to get a good reaction from new members who claim it's helped them get familiar with the layout of the site and where to look for product reviews, news related to beards, etc The page is an evolving process; as new questions arise, I make the needed graphics to explain them!</p>
<p><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282013?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="150" class="align-right" style="padding: 5px;"></p>
<p class="p1"><strong>Every month, you highlight a member as your Bearded Gentleman of the Month. How is the Monthly Gentleman selected and how is he recognized?</strong></p>
<p class="p2"><br> I have 2 sponsors for this program; Bluebeards Original (beard care products) and Beard Token. The person chosen each month gets about $60 worth of products from Bluebeards, and they get a token from 'Beard Token' too. The token is an historically accurate replica of a token issued by Peter the Great of Russia in 1705 when he instituted a Beard Tax. The pewter coin reads on one side 'The beard tax has been taken' and on the other side the token reads 'the beard is a useless burden,' in Russian, of course. In Russia then, if you had a beard and were asked to see the token, you'd best have it on you, lest you be shaved.I use a combination of things to choose the Bearded Gent of the Month. I look at the leaderboards first, then choose a few and follow their trail of comments, posts, pic submissions, and comments left on their pages. I also look at the 'personality' of the person as best I can through the internet and make a decision 'Is this person a good 'Ambassador for The Beard?' If my first response is 'yes,' then that person gets the 'nod!' and I make the graphics to post and they get a crown icon on their page for the month they are chosen.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong>Do you see an influx of members related to Movember?</strong></p>
<p class="p3">I do see an influx of members during Movember, but I get more new members from Word of Mouth at Beard Competitions. Competitions are held all over the world throughout the year, and after any major competition, I see a large influx of new members.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong>You have sponsors featured on your home page. How do you choose and vet potential sponsors?</strong></p>
<p class="p3">I've searched and proposed to those who sponsor my Bearded Gent of the Month program (Bluebeards Original and Beard Token) and then other ads from beard related sites, products, etc. I've approached half of them and the other half came to me.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong>In addition to the Bearded Gents community, you also run <a href="http://beardedgents.me/">beardedgents.me</a>, a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Society-of-Bearded-Gentlemen/317184504224?ref=hl" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/The_BeardedGent" target="_blank">Twitter</a> account, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/BeardedGentsdotcom" target="_blank">YouTube</a> account, and <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/buddhabear62/boards/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> boards. How do you juggle the various communities? Do you find that they each help the other communities grow?</strong></p>
<p class="p3">It is a LOT to juggle and I'm not so dexterous, but I manage! I actually have 3 Facebook pages; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bearded.gents" target="_blank">my personal page</a>, and two dedicated to my site in addition to the others. I definitely see a connection of all the sites. They work off of and for each other. I get many new members who are Fans on my site's Facebook Fan Page. Folks who didn't know that my site existed discovered it on Facebook. I also 'share' links with several other beard related sites, and beard groups all over the World, so that's another source of new members for me. On Sept. 6th and 7th, 2013 was the 4th Annual National Beard and Mustache Championships hosted this year in New Orleans, LA. Once I registered and started posting on all of my pages, the members started coming! I had over 250 members join in about 5 weeks time.</p>
<p class="p3">My site is Public, though only the front page is visible to non-members, so google and other search engines can't crawl the site. I supplement that with the other sites and pages I run. When the decision was made to make it Public or Private, this was put to the Members the site had in the first few months. I let them make that decision.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong>Do you organize any community events surrounding the various competitions and gatherings for Bearded Gents?</strong></p>
<p class="p3">I have not as of yet, organized any events around the site. My members are from all over the United States, the UK, Europe, Australia, Russia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, etc. Very difficult to create events I'd think, but I do make many announcements if I am going to be at any particular competitions so members in those areas, have an opportunity to come out and meet me.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong>What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned from your community?</strong></p>
<p class="p4">I've learned many things from my community, mostly pertaining to how I deal with situations that arise. I cannot react to things as I would on my personal profile pages on other sites. I have to be much more diplomatic and less emotional about situations. It's done a great deal for me in my personal growth and how I handle situations on the internet and in my personal life as well. I've also learned of 'The Brotherhood of the Beard.' Bearded folks are so nice it's amazing. :D</p>
<p class="p1"><strong>What’s the best piece of advice you have for someone looking to start an online community?</strong></p>
<p class="p3">By all means, start your own site! But do note that there is much more work involved then many folks think, and certainly more than I had anticipated! lol I love it though, it's a labor of love and has brought me a sort of Fame. At the competition in New Orleans, introductions were easy: I'd start to introduce myself, and most everyone finished it for me! They knew of my site and my 'fame' on Facebook, within my community. They knew of my efforts to spread the 'Beard Love' as we say, and help further our goals of putting us in a better light in Society.</p>
<p class="p3">Thanks, Gary. You're definitely a fantastic Beard Ambassador! Visit the Society of Bearded Gents at <a href="http://beardedgents.com/" target="_blank">http://beardedgents.com/</a></p>
<p class="p3"><em>Headshot of Gary W. Norman by Greg Anderson Photography, courtesy Gary W. Norman. </em><i>Lead Image: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/betsyweber/5901804853/">Sugar Cookies - Beards and Mustaches</a>, a Creative Commons <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en">Attribution (2.0)</a> image from betsyweber's photostream. Other images: The Society Bearded Gents.</i></p>
<p class="p3"></p></div>The 5 Worst Community Guidelineshttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/the-5-worst-community-guidelines2013-09-27T16:00:00.000Z2013-09-27T16:00:00.000ZCrystalhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CrystalC<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208299?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>Community Guidelines can be a struggle to write, especially since they're so specific to your community and its members. Inspired by a recent <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=cmgrchat&src=typd&f=realtime" target="_blank">#CMGRChat</a> on developing community guidelines, here are some really terrible ways to phrase your guidelines. </p>
<p><strong>Don't be a nOOb</strong></p>
<p>Really? That's how you're greeting your new members... with admonishment that they might not even understand? Take a minute to think about what annoying behaviors you lump into the idea of a "nOOb" and figure out how to preempt that behavior. </p>
<p><strong>Don't [this], Don't [that], Don't [this thing, too]</strong></p>
<p>A focus on the negative can make members overwhelmed and almost afraid of the community they're joining. Try to focus on positive reinforcement instead. </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>Instead of "don't troll," it's "be awesome to one another." Focusing on encouraging positive action, not restricting. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23cmgrchat&src=hash">#cmgrchat</a></p>
— Matt Fairchild (@Scav) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scav/statuses/382938552436154368">September 25, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" type="text/javascript">
</script>
<p><strong>Only moderators are allowed to tell people when they're doing something bad.</strong></p>
<p>In a well-established, vibrant community, members will become pretty good at discouraging unacceptable behavior from newcomers. Obviously, you don't want your community ganging up on new people, but allowing them the freedom to say "Hey, that's not really cool... here's how this community works" to potentially disruptive members can be more effective than a moderator stepping in immediately. </p>
<p><strong>Having 16 pages of guidelines... for a brand new community.</strong></p>
<p>While you want to make sure that some ideal behaviors are laid out from the start, community guidelines should be heavily influenced by your community. How can you know what those guidelines will need to be until your community has actually gotten started? </p>
<p><strong>404 - Page Not Found</strong></p>
<p>And the worst community guidelines are the ones you haven't actually written. Relying simply upon a Terms of Use document, with no guidelines on how members are expected to behave within the community is basically letting the Wild West run free within your community. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Now that you know what not to say, check out this article from The Community Manager for ideas on getting your Community Guidelines started or refined: <a href="http://thecommunitymanager.com/2013/09/26/how-to-write-effective-community-guidelines/" target="_blank">How to Write Effective Community Guidelines</a>. </p>
<p></p>
<p><em>Lead Image inspired by the <a href="http://forums.roadbikereview.com/womens-cycling/1895-rules-female-cyclists-298333.html" target="_blank">list of Rules for Female Riders</a> from an 1895 edition of The New York World. </em></p>
</div>Designing The Perfect Newcomer To Regular Journey - Step Three: Registration and Participationhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/newcomer-to-regular-journey-step-three-registration-participation2013-09-03T16:00:00.000Z2013-09-03T16:00:00.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><p><span class="font-size-3">Most communities have terrible newcomer to regular conversion ratios. If you can improve this, you can rapidly increase the number of active members in your community. Most other problems you think you have in your community pale in comparison to a terrible newcomer to regular conversion process. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">In this five step process, you can design the perfect journey for your members from newcomer to regular. Treat these each as unique steps. You can optimize each one in turn. These steps are also numbered in the priority of importance. If you get the first step right, the rest might just take care of themselves. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><br></b> <em>Previously - <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/newcomer-to-regular-journey-step-one-awareness" target="_self">Step One: Awareness</a>; <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/newcomer-to-regular-journey-step-two-first-visit" target="_self">Step Two: First Visit</a></em></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Step 3) Registration and Participation</b></span></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-3"><b>Goal</b>: Get members ready to participate within 1 minute.</span></em></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281777?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281777?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="500" class="align-center"></a>Speed is the key element of this stage. Any longer than 1 minute and you lose a lot of people. The ideal journey goes like this: a member clicks on a thread they want to reply to, they click <i>reply</i>, they are taken to the registration page, they enter their name, e-mail, password and an anti-spam question (e.g. "<i>What colour is a banana?"</i>), then they're taken back to the thread to reply. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Most of all, just keep it simple. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">In practice, few platforms have optimized this. Too many ask for more information than they need. If you have a platform that can't take people back to the same page, then take them to a specific page created for newcomers that highlights an activity they can participate in straight away. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">If you have to use a confirmation e-mail, then edit the content of that e-mail to direct members to a community activity they can participate in. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The goal at this stage isn't to persuade members to create an online identity for the community. Don't ask any questions that don't relate to the name, e-mail, and password. The goal is simply to get them through this stage and back to participating. Letting members register through FB/Twitter accounts works well too.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Don't write personal welcomes from the community manager to every member. That's not very effective. Focus on making a difference. Either write personal messages to members that have made one contribution already and are likely to become regulars, or members that haven't made a contribution so you can put them on the right path. Be systematic. Collect data and figure out if it's working, if it's not, stop doing it. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><i>The registration to participation process is extremely quick. Every extra second loses a lot of members. If you reduce the time this takes and direct members toward a specific activity, the number of active participants should skyrocket. </i></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Next Step: Return Visit</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">To view all the Newcomer to Regular Journey steps, <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/list/tag/newcomer+to+regular+journey" target="_self">click here</a>. </span></p></div>Unpopular Communitieshttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/unpopular-communities2013-08-23T19:13:13.000Z2013-08-23T19:13:13.000ZCrystalhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CrystalC<div><p>Everyone wants to be liked. But maybe being liked by everyone isn't the best thing for your community. </p>
<p>I recently read "The Power of Unpopular" by <a href="http://erikanapoletano.com/blog/" target="_blank">Erika Napoletano</a>, the no holds barred brand strategist who makes a splash in the marketing world with her frank, uncensored advice. While the advice in her book is primarily aimed at brands and companies, I found that much of the wisdom could easily be applied to online community. Here are my favorite takeaways for cultivating an "unpopular" community:</p>
<h3>Get in the pool with the haters.</h3>
<p>In customer support communities, a large amount of negativity is common. Many companies are hesitant to start a community or even cultivate one through social media in fear of this backlash. Erika thinks they're making a big mistake. "You screwed up, here's why" can be the best kind of customer feedback. <em>Even a person who's upset clearly has a lot of passion about your company</em> - if they didn't, they wouldn't bother joining/commenting/emailing, etc. The same goes for any community that encounters an upset member. The key is in figuring out what people are asking for in between their need to blow off steam.</p>
<div>
<img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281954?profile=original" width="500" class="align-center">
<h3>What's your story?</h3>
</div>
<div>
Napoletano describes a brand's "secret sauce" as something in particular that attracts one group and possibly repels another. Your community needs a secret sauce, too. You have to make it clear to your prospective community members who your community, why you're different and, most importantly,
<em>why people should care</em>. There are an abundance of running communities but the
<a href="https://www.zombiesrungame.com/" target="_blank">Zombies, Run!</a> community has logged over 11 million kilometers in only a year and a half because they've brought a unique story to their community.
</div>
<div>
<h3>The Recipe for Unpopularity</h3>
</div>
<div>
Erika suggests a five ingredient recipe for unpopular brands: Personality, Approachability, Sharability, Scalability, Profitability. Every ingredient is just as vital to a successful community.
</div>
<div>
<strong>Personality</strong> - If your community is dry and bland, members won't develop an attachment to it.
</div>
<div>
<strong>Approachability</strong> - Making your moderator team accessible, friendly, and eager to welcome new members means members will feel like they've found a place where they belong.
</div>
<div>
<strong>Sharability</strong> - You want your community to be a place that people are excited and proud to invite like-minded friends to join.
</div>
<div>
<strong>Scalability</strong> - From the early days of your community, make sure to keep an eye out for members that would be great additions to the moderator team; if all goes well, you might need them one day.
</div>
<div>
<strong>Profitability</strong> - Even if you're not creating a community for the express purpose of making money, you
<em>are</em> investing in it - whether it's money on a platform or hosting, or just the time that you put into making the community great. You need to be getting something in return, at the very least the leadership experience it will bring you and satisfaction at bringing people together.
</div>
<div>
<em><span class="font-size-3">How are you embracing or encouraging the unpopularity of your community? </span></em>
</div></div>The Online Community's Ecosystemhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/online-community-ecosystem2013-07-19T16:00:00.000Z2013-07-19T16:00:00.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><p><span class="font-size-3">Your community lives within an ecosystem. This ecosystem is the broader topic, industry, area, field, or group which encompasses the community. Communities about karate live within the martial arts ecosystem. Communities about World of Warcraft live within the gaming ecosystem.</span></p><p> </p><p><span class="font-size-3">The ecosystem includes:</span></p><ul><li><span class="font-size-3"><b>Brands/Companies.</b> Brands/Companies that operate in this sector. Notably those that sell to individuals within the sector.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3"><b>Media</b>. <b> </b>The major media publications in this sector.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3"><b>Groups/communities</b>. Other groups and communities within that sector.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3"><b>Influencers</b>. The influencers who help shape and create the issues within the sector.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3"><b>Relationships</b>. Who likes/doesn’t like who? What are the relationships between the organizations and individuals listed above?</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3"><b>Issues</b>. The most important one, what are the major issues in the sector? What are people talking about?</span></li></ul><p><br/> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pierrepocs/5480153734/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5132/5480153734_0b406c88b5.jpg?width=500" width="500" class="align-center"/></a></p><p><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><b>React and participate in the ecosystem</b></span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">The ecosystem has a significant impact upon the community. It provides both inspiration for material in the community and opportunities to foster a closer sense of community.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">The ecosystem provides inspiration for content, discussion topics, activities and events. You can set up interviews with key influencers, ask for sample/review products for members from brands, host polls on major issues in the sector, discuss media articles in the community, etc.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">In the early stages of the community life cycle, the community should be highly <em>reactive</em> to its ecosystem. It should aim to solicit opinions from members about issues in the broader ecosystem and summarize them into a community consensus. This creates a unique identity for the community within its ecosystem. It aims to forge a sense of community amongst individuals based upon common thoughts and feelings. </span></p><p><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The latter stages of the community life cycle - influencing</b></span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">In the latter stages of the community life cycle, the community should become very influential within its ecosystem. This means ensuring the individuals, issues, groups, media within the community become influential individuals, issues, groups, and media within the ecosystem.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">This means the community manager must be <em>proactive</em> in their efforts for example:</span></p><ol><li><span class="font-size-3">Build relationships with the groups, influencers, and companies in the ecosystem and bring your top members into those relationships.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Promote the major issues in your community to the major media channels.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Initiate events/activities and invite the broader ecosystem to participate (this is by far the easiest and most effective means of influencing the ecosystem – especially with offline events).</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Ensure the major media channels rely upon your community for news about your sector (send them regular updates about issues they should notice).</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Issue regular statements on behalf of the community which summarize feelings on topical issues (look to welfare/special interest groups for inspiration on this). These can range from responses to topical issues to highlighting under-reported or unnoticed issues within the community.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Campaign on issues which matter to the community.</span></li></ol><p><span class="font-size-3">The more influential your community becomes, the stronger sense of identity members will feel. They will be more active and feel a greater sense of community with other members. More people will join the community to achieve a sense of ownership with the community’s success and ability to impact it’s environment.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">(<i>Image: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pierrepocs/5480153734/">Micro Ecosystem</a>, a Creative Commons <a rel="nofollow" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en">Attribution Share-Alike (2.0)</a> image from pierrepocs's photostream</i>)</span></p></div>Understanding Conceptualization: The Process You Go Through Before You Launch An Online Communityhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/understanding-conceptualization2013-06-26T16:00:00.000Z2013-06-26T16:00:00.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><p><span class="font-size-3">Everything between the moment you establish the objectives and the moment you begin doing outreach to your members is the conceptualization phase.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">This is when you decide who you're targeting, what the community will be about, what type of community it will be, and how you get it going. </span></p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/furryscalyman/291249520/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/119/291249520_1a3921cf90_m.jpg?width=240" width="240" class="align-right" /></a></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">If you get the community concept <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.feverbee.com/2011/08/another-concept-error.html">wrong</a>, nothing else you do matters. A community can't overcome a terrible concept. A community about something that isn't a really strong interest can't possibly succeed. Too many communities are created by organizations for customers to talk about their products.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b>The Conceptualization Phase</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Conceptualization is a phase, a process...it takes time. It's not a series of instant decisions to be made in a meeting one afternoon. It's a steady process of testing ideas, analyzing the audience, and understanding the community ecosystem.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Organizations make many common mistakes at this phase. They make the community about their brands, products, or service - as opposed to making the community about their audience and a strong common interest. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Some questions you will want to answer here include:</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>1) Identify the target audience</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">In the beginning, you need an extremely focused target audience. You're aiming to get a fewer number of members who share a stronger common interest. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">You're looking for <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.mint.com/blog/how-to/make-more-money-sethi-02032011/">at least two-qualifiers</a>. You want a community for {people who} who are {qualifier 2}. This qualifier will be a demographic, habit, or psychographic. So it will be a community for people that {purchase a product} who also {believe in whole food diets}, for example.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">This demographic is identified by understanding the strong common interest. You can't ascertain that strong common interest without interacting with members of that target audience. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><em>If your target audience doesn't already talk about the topic online, then you have the wrong topic.</em> During this phase you should also have an extensive understanding about the strong common interest. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>2) Determine the type of community</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Will it be a community of place, practice, interest, action, or circumstance? </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Don't default to a community of interest. This is the most competitive. It's easier to build a community of place or action. There aren't many things we're interested in. You can make it a community of people who want to change something in the world, or a community for people who live in a certain location and use a product/service. </span></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-3">Review the existing ecosystems. Make sure that yours is the only one of its kind.</span></em></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>3) Positioning</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">If a community like this already exists, the positioning becomes important. The type of community can help, but so does having a unique tone of voice, unique goal or unique benefit.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The positioning problem will not be solved by technology. People won't join a community solely because it offers picture-sharing. Having a better platform doesn't help you much here. <em>What helps is a social-related change.</em> Targeting unique groups, being exclusive, unique tone of voice/personality, etc.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>4) Benefit</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">What will be the benefit to people from participating in the community?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Will members learn about a topic? Will they become an expert? Will they receive attention for their expertise? These self-interest related benefits do better than utopian statements of connecting, making friends, or sharing your knowledge.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The only way to understand the benefit a community needs is to be deeply embedded within the ecosystem. This means speaking directly to members of the target audience. Don't avoid this. <em>You need to identify what people want.</em></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>5) Unique environment</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Now we need to conquer the amateur-competition problem. Amateurs can always do things that you can't. They can criticise your brand, for example. <em>You need to use your resources to configure an exclusive environment.</em></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">This will mean providing exclusive news, unique information, introducing your contacts, have your employees participating, among other unique value propositions you can provide.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>6) What will members do in the community?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">What will community members talk about? What are the major topics to build discussions, events, activities, relationships, and growth around? Gather data on your audience's current habits and from other trade press to identify the major topics here. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Have a very clear idea of what the general themes are going to be in the opening stages of the community and a plan for testing/refining what works best. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<p>(<i>Image: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/furryscalyman/291249520/">Pavilion in Red</a>, a Creative Commons <a rel="nofollow" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en">Attribution Share-Alike (2.0)</a> image from furryscalyman's photostream</i>)</p>
</div>7 Cycling Communities for Bike to Work Dayhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/7-cycling-communities-for-bike-to-work-day2013-05-09T17:47:54.000Z2013-05-09T17:47:54.000ZCrystalhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CrystalC<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208200?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>Here in the San Francisco area home of Cultivating Community, May 9th is the <a href="http://www.youcanbikethere.com/" target="_blank">19th Annual Bike to Work Day</a>. In honor of this awesome occassion, we've rounded up the best cycling communities around the internet. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.thechainlink.org/" target="_blank">The Chainlink</a> - This Chicago-centric cycling community is almost 9,000 members strong and coming up on their fifth anniversary. The community is thriving, recently raising over $15,000 in a campaign to help use member input to take the site to the next level. They're really an inspiration to all communities - cycling or not. </p>
<p><a href="http://nabcyclists.ning.com/" target="_blank">National Brotherhood of Cyclists</a> - Want to get more serious about your cycling? The NBC is the place for you. Their mission statement describes their goals as "To create a network of people and resources that promote an appreciation of cycling and its health and fitness benefits, particularly targeting those communities disproportionately affected by health issues. Second to identify, develop and support athletes who will compete in domestic and international cycling competitions for the purpose of bringing about more diversity in the sport of cycling." </p>
<p><a href="http://ask.bikeradar.com/" target="_blank">BikeRadar</a> - Need advice on what to upgrade next on your bike? Ask the BikeRadar community and answer some questions while you're at it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bikewire.net/" target="_blank">BikeWire</a> - Want to compare your stats with other cyclists? BikeWire is the place to go for your competitive side. </p>
<p><a href="http://beachescyclingclub.ning.com/" target="_blank">Beaches Cycling Club</a> - Canadian lover of cycling? Check out the Beaches Cycling Club and join one of their rides. </p>
<p><a href="http://naplesvelo.ning.com/" target="_blank">Naples Velo Club</a> - Traveling further south to Florida, the Naples Velo Club welcomes all levels of cyclist. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.urbancyclistworldwide.com/" target="_blank">Urban Cyclist Worldwide</a> - For those commuters, messangers, and urban cyclists across the globe, Urban Cyclist Worldwise is the place to gather to discuss specialized concerns of cycling in the urban jungles. </p>
<p>Did we miss your fave? Share in the comments!</p>
<p>(<i>Image: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/boegh/5676964602/">Bicycle-theme...</a>, a Creative Commons <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en">Attribution Share-Alike (2.0)</a> image from boegh's photostream</i>)</p>
</div>The Psychological Impact Of Interactionshttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/the-psychological-impact-of-interactions2013-05-07T16:59:31.000Z2013-05-07T16:59:31.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208194?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>When you reply to a fun, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.feverbee.com/2011/02/open-and-closed-questions.html">closed</a>, question on Facebook it doesn't affect you on a deep level. </p>
<p>It doesn't increase your connection to the organization or fellow likers. It has little influence on your future actions (and certainly not your buying habits). The only thing that changes are the engagement stats. They skyrocket.</p>
<p>If you were to look at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.facebook.com/visitsweden">VisitSweden's Facebook page</a>, clearly they have high engagement rates. They have hundreds of people liking posts, commenting on posts, and even sharing posts. It looks terrific. </p>
<p>Therein lies the problem. It looks so much better and more active than their community did. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.communityofsweden.com/footer/editorial/community-of-sweden/close-down/">They decided</a> to close the community and focus on social media platforms. </p>
<p>If look at engagement metrics, this makes sense. Closing struggling communities is a good idea anyway. But it's mistaken to believe that the types of interaction are interchangable between platforms.</p>
<p>In dedicated community platforms people talk to each other, not just the page admin. They build relationships with each other. They visit daily to satisfy their social needs. This has significant, long-term, impacts on future actions and, yes, buying habits. </p>
<p>The FB page has few discussions. No-one is getting to know other people on the page. This is an audience, not a community. Despite all the engagement, it will be tough to demonstrate any measurable impact. </p>
<p>Interactions aren't equal. Interactions <i>between</i> members are very different from interactions <i>with</i> members. Responding to a Facebook post has a far weaker psychological commitment than participating in a discussion with other people. Likes have no beneficial impact. </p>
<p><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281905?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"> </p>
<p>You can look at the interactions themselves above. They don't bring the same value as discussions which take place in community platforms. They don't bring new value, new information, encourage high levels of self-disclosure, build relationships between members, nor build bonds between members. </p>
<p>This presents a problem for a community professional. You're going to get pressure to move to social media platforms. You're going to find it easier to develop a page that looks really active and pleases the boss. Yet you also know this page doesn't have the same impact as community platforms do. This is a really, really, tough argument to make. But if we don't make this argument, we'll find it impossible to build communities.</p>
<p>(<i>Image: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/2866399803/">Last Conversation Piece</a>, a Creative Commons <a rel="nofollow" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en">Attribution (2.0)</a> image from nostri-imago's photostream</i>)</p></div>How To Help Members Overcome Their Fear of Participationhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/how-to-help-members-overcome-their-fear-of-participation2013-05-02T19:00:00.000Z2013-05-02T19:00:00.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208160?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>If you could increase the number of members initiating discussions, the level of activity and engagement would rise sharply. </p><p>The percentage of members who initiate discussions is usually small. This limits activity and the level of engagement members have in the community.</p><p>Members need both the motivation to initiate and to overcome their fear of starting a discussion. Their motivation to initiate will be to either learn something (e.g. <i>"Does anyone know how to....?"</i>), to impress others (e.g. "<i>does anyone else think business class travel isn't as great as it used to be?</i>") or to bond with others (e.g. "<i>I'm upset Kelly got fired from the Apprentice</i>").</p><p>Motivation comes relatively easy in active communities. It's social anxiety which prevents most members from initiating discussions. This social anxiety comes in three forms:</p><ol><li>I might ask a dumb question or make a dumb statement.</li><li>My comment won’t receive any reply and I will appear unpopular.</li><li>I might be criticised by members of the community.</li></ol><p>A community can overcome much of this anxiety in a few simple steps:</p><ol><li><b>Regularly ask members who write a good response to publish it as an initiated discussion</b>. This creates a habit for members to start discussions. </li><li><b>Feature highly active discussions prominently on the landing page</b>. This showcases the potential rewards (popularity) for initiating a successful discussion and acts as social proof to overcoming the fear of no responses.</li><li><b>Send members the unwritten rules of the community when they join</b>. Make sure they know how to start discussions, what discussions are usually about and a few tips on how to make a good impression. Automatically edit/correct any questions which are a little off the mark.</li><li><b>Respond to discussions which have not received a response in 24 hours</b>. The appearance of a community in which every discussion receives a response reduces the fear. You may also contact members directly to respond to these discussions. Another option is to have an 'unanswered questions' box. You can even congratulate the initiator on thinking up a question that your community's experts haven't yet been able to answer.</li><li><b>Make heroes of initiators</b>. e.g. <i>"Also this week Joe Smith started an interesting debate about....if you have some expertise, be sure to let him know".</i> This, again, acts as social proof within the community platform and helps other members to know that it's safe to participate.</li></ol><p>Social anxiety within a community platform is low compared to offline situations. Yet, it is still high enough to persuade most members never to participate at all. You should be actively working to overcoming this fear. </p><p>(<i>Image: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanready/4829673528/">worried sidewalk</a>, a Creative Commons <a rel="nofollow" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en">Attribution (2.0)</a> image from ryanready's photostream</i>)</p></div>7 Tips for Developing Your Community Guidelineshttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/7-tips-for-developing-your-community-guidelines2013-05-01T21:00:00.000Z2013-05-01T21:00:00.000ZCrystalhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CrystalC<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208164?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p class="p1">It's the boring part of developing a new community: setting the Dos and Don'ts. While Community Guidelines will be an ever growing part of your community, getting some basics down will not only give users a clear idea of what's right and wrong, but it can also go a long way toward developing your community culture.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3">1. Accentuate the Positive. </span></p>
<p class="p1">Instead of focusing on the Don'ts, think about the Dos first. What kind of behavior do you want from your users? You want them to be nice to each other, you want them to refrain from four-letter words, you want them to help out other users and answer questions?</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3">2. Check out the guidelines of the communities you like. </span></p>
<p class="p1">As well as some communities you may not like. Read through their guidelines. Note what you like about them, as well as what you don't like.  It can even be helpful to try and determine what prompted a particular guideline and consider if that situation might occur within your community.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3">3. Consider your community as it is right now (or will be from the start). </span></p>
<p class="p1">What are the special concerns of your community? Instagram (<a href="http://help.instagram.com/477434105621119/">http://help.instagram.com/477434105621119/</a>) and Flickr (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne">http://www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne</a>), being photo sharing communities, put a big emphasis on making sure that the content you upload is your own. In contrast is Get Satisfaction (<a href="https://getsatisfaction.com/corp/help/community-guidelines/">https://getsatisfaction.com/corp/help/community-guidelines/</a>) who mentions content rights toward the end of their guidelines, but, as customer service community, they focus more on how to interact with other users.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3">4. And then think about how you'd like it to grow.</span></p>
<p class="p1">Adding in a few guidelines that might seem like overkill right now may come in handy if you find yourself scaling up quickly.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3">5. Talk like a person</span></p>
<p class="p1">The Terms of Use or Terms and Conditions are for jargon and lawyer-speak. The Community Guidelines are where humans come to find out from other humans what's cool in your community. Don't talk over their head.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3">6. Provide ways for the community to self-regulate. </span></p>
<p class="p1">If you can build in (or turn on) flagging functions or provide a venue for easy reporting, you community will let you know when you need to step in, freeing you up to grow the community instead of playing referee. Make sure to point to these in the community guidelines.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="font-size-3">7. Don't overedit. </span></p>
<p class="p1">Think of the Community Guidelines as your site's Constitution. While the ability to add amendments is important (especially when major new functions are released, for instance), some things don't need to be handled at that level. Don't make a super-specific rule just because of one incident in your community. Look how well that worked with prohibition. </p>
<p>(<i>Image: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/savingfutures/8124845798/">Law code of Hammurabi - King Hammurabi with Shamash</a>, a Creative Commons <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en">Attribution (2.0)</a> image from savingfutures's photostream, edited</i>)</p>
</div>The 10 Principles Of Professional Community Managementhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/the-10-principles-of-professional-community-management2013-04-29T16:00:00.000Z2013-04-29T16:00:00.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208152?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p><span class="font-size-3">We've reached the era of the professional community manager.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">Those that run communities for organizations will be expected to know what they’re doing, not learn on the job.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">I like <a rel="nofollow" href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/07/naive-or-professional.html">Seth's definition here</a>. Professionals have deep and broad knowledge of their sector. They know the theory behind their work. They know the case studies of success and failure. They test, measure and adapt. They work to understand what is/isn't working (and why).</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">In communities, professionals will be expected to excel in key skills. They will be expected to guide their organization through the community development process. They will be expected to prove their value numerically. </span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">Successful amateurs will still thrive, but organizations will want the reliability of the proven professionals. As part of FeverBee’s Professional Community Management Course, we have developed our 10 principles of professional community management.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">We’re happy to share them with Ning:</span></p><ol><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>build a strong sense of community</em> amongst a specific group of individuals.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>work from proven templates</em> to develop their community through the community development process (they are proactive, not reactive).</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>excel at building relationships</em> both with and between members.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>master their data and use their data</em> to optimize every activity and stage of the membership life-cycle.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>have deep knowledge</em> of technology, sociology, social-psychology, anthropology, network science, psychology, group dynamics and community development.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>build internal and external systems to scale their communities</em> without incurring a large financial burden.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>integrate the community</em> with the organization's systems.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>excel at stimulating and sustaining</em> high levels of participation per member.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>excel at conflict resolution</em> and work from proven techniques to resolve potentially detrimental disputes.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>deliver a clear ROI</em> to their employers (not fuzzy statements concerning <i>engagement)</i>.</span></li></ol><p><span class="font-size-3">These 10 principles might change over the next few years, but I think we've made a good start. If you're hiring a community manager, does this sound like the type of person you would like to hire?</span></p><p> </p><p>(<i>Image: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/generationbass/4827013488/">Pen, Diary and Glasses</a>, a Creative Commons <a rel="nofollow" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en">Attribution (2.0)</a> image from generationbass's photostream</i>)</p></div>The Secret Of Awesome Contenthttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/the-secret-of-awesome-content2013-04-25T15:10:00.000Z2013-04-25T15:10:00.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208156?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p><span class="font-size-3">In March 2003, I was hired by the VGA (Virtual Gamers Association) to write content for their site.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The first month was dull. I researched gaming-related news from across the web and compiled it into one place for readers. It was arduous, dull and time-consuming. Few people ever read the content. Nobody replied.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">One night, short on content, I reported on a small competition held in one of the gaming centres. The next day, we had 12 comments from the participants. A week later I arranged an event, reported both before and after it, the comments began to flood in.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">This content expanded into profiles of the winners, predictions about the results, analysis of the games. We had stumbled upon the secret code of online community content.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><i>The best content for an online community is content about the online community</i>.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Stop copying content from bigger or smaller news sites. Instead, write about what your members are doing. Do round-ups of what they’re doing and refer to members by name.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Try a gossip column about the community. Report on the rivalries, the top debates and make predictions for the future. And if your members aren’t doing much, initiate things for them to do.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The purpose of content is not only to inform. Content about the community helps establish a social order and gives the community a narrative members can follow.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">For more tips on engaging your community, read <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/how-to-increase-activity-in-your-community" target="_self">How to Increase Activity in Your Community</a>.</span></p>
<p>(<i>Image: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/e-coli/2366966291/">Cimitero di Staglieno - Ouroboros</a>, a Creative Commons <a rel="nofollow" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en">Attribution Share-Alike (2.0)</a> image from e-coli's photostream</i>)</p>
</div>How To Convert Mailing Lists Into Active Community Membershttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/how-to-convert-mailing-lists-into-active-community-members2013-04-23T17:19:14.000Z2013-04-23T17:19:14.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208151?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>You might be lucky and have a big mailing list at your disposal to get your community started. It's tempting to announce the launch of your community to this entire list. This is a mistake.</p><p>Nobody cares. Nobody is looking to join a community. Worse, you will waste your first impression. Those potential members are gone for good.</p><p>Use these steps to improve the conversion rate of mailing list recipients to active community members.</p><ol><li><b>Seed the community.</b> Before you promote the community to this list, you need to have a community already there. You need to seed your community. You need to have people who already consider themselves members and have something to show your mailing list.</li><li><b>Give potential members something to do.</b> Here is an important lesson. Never promote a community, promote something members can do <i>in</i> the community. Initiate something in the community that members can be involved with. This might be a discussion or an event.</li><li><b>Segment your list.</b> You're not going to message everyone in one e-mail. Divide your list into relevant groups. Decide who you want (and why) and what you want members in your community to do. There are several ways to can segment your group. You want those you know best, most passionate and closest to you to be invited first. Your first few groups should be 10 to 25 members.</li><li><b>Craft your approach.</b> Your approach must be short and specific. Explain why you're approaching them and what you would like them to do. Don't feel compelled to explain everything. If they have questions they will e-mail you. This is the start of a conversation. Conversations are great.</li><li><b>Test different approaches.</b> This is key. Measure the success of each approach and adapt each time. You can give people different things to do. You can make the e-mail shorter or longer. You can try different subject lines.</li><li><b>Follow up, once.</b> After a few days have passed, send a follow up e-mail updating members on how the activity you asked them to participate in is going, include an update about what people you approached contributed.</li><li><b>Plan the first 3 weeks.</b> For those that participated (and you need to sign up to participate), plan the first three weeks. Build personal contacts with them. Schedule the next 3 discussions, events or contributions they can make. It generally takes 3 weeks for something to become a habit. Make sure you perfect your welcome for these 3 weeks.</li></ol><p>The key here is to give potential members something they can do (something that they want to do) and to test different approaches. Start with a small segment of the mailing list and slowly approach larger and larger segments.</p><p>(<i>Image: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/horiavarlan/4514164700/">@ or at sign made of puzzle pieces on white background</a>, a Creative Commons <a rel="nofollow" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en">Attribution (2.0)</a> image from horiavarlan's photostream</i>)</p></div>Social Media Responds to Tragedy with Tacthttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/social-media-responds-to-tragedy-with-tact2013-04-18T15:00:00.000Z2013-04-18T15:00:00.000ZCrystalhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CrystalC<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208136?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>The social media response to Monday's tragic Boston Marathon bombings was, for the most part, one of tact, community, and cautiousness and shows the power that social media and online community can have in times of crisis. While there was the <a href="http://www.mrmediatraining.com/2013/04/16/tragedy-in-boston-what-the-hell-was-epicurious-thinking/" target="_blank">inevitable brand misstep</a>, the majority of conversations happening around social media communities were positive ones.</p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Communities in Action</span></p>
<p>The Boston PD utilized the new broadcast channels that social media allows, <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/04/15/boston-marathon-police-tweet-video/" target="_blank">tweeting their request for video from in and around the Boston Marathon area</a> (Mashable). While law enforcement agencies have long sought witnesses and video evidence from crime scenes, the megaphone effect of social media and the large number of people who were likely to have been filming (either for later uploading to social platforms anyway or for their own personal memories) will result in an abundance of footage for investigators to work with. </p>
<p><a href="http://google.org/personfinder/2013-boston-explosions" target="_blank">Google implemented its Person Finder</a> service (previously deployed after the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami) to assist friends and family reconnecting with each other after the explosions. An <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bostonites-offer-rooms-meals-rides-stranded-marathon-tragedy-article-1.1318264" target="_blank">unknown Samaritan used Google Drive's Form tool</a> to create a Need A Place to Stay database, connected stranded visitors with Bostonians willing to open their spare beds and couches for the night. </p>
<p>With cell phone service unavailable or overloaded for many, others (including Foursquare's Dennis Crowley) were <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/100645753" target="_blank">still able to use their social networks</a> to let worried friends and family know they were okay. An "I'm ok," tweet replaced hours of phone calls and missed calls and worry. While misinformation <em>was</em> being distributed, it was quickly fact-checked and debunked before spreading too far.  <a href="http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/boston-technology-social-media-enable-rapid-provider-response/2013-04-16" target="_blank">Area hospitals also utilized social media</a> to keep people apprised of the developing situation.</p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Response Pieces</span></p>
<p>Jon Loomer, in <a href="http://www.jonloomer.com/2013/04/16/social-media-marketing-tragedy/" target="_blank">Social Media Marketing in Times of Tragedy</a>, revised a previous post, addressing what he feels is the proper response from brands post-tragedy. He emphasized the importance of not running your community as a one-person show lest you get caught unavailable when social feeds need to be paused:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Some brands left their auto-posting on. In many cases, I completely get it. Maybe they hadn’t heard the news yet. Or maybe they were not in a place where they could turn this off.</p>
<p>That’s why it’s important to have a backup who can turn this messaging off if necessary. It could be an employee, but it could also be a spouse or friend.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Stephanie Fusco shared <a href="http://stephaniefusco.com/2013/04/when-tragedy-strikes-a-community-managers-checklist/?hubRefSrc=twitter#lf_comment=69177887" target="_blank">When Tragedy Strikes: A Community Manager's Checklist</a>, which included two steps I found especially resonant:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Ask: how will our fans be affected? </strong>Once you’ve paused all communication efforts, ask yourself how your fans will be affected by this tragedy and how, if at all, you can help. One of my favourite examples of putting this into action is trampoline company Springfree’s response to Hurricane Sandy. Knowing that their fans would be nervous about securing their trampolines, the company posted a helpful<a href="http://www.springfreetrampoline.com/blog/tag/hurricane-sandy-tips" target="_blank"> blog post with Hurricane Sandy Tips</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Call decision makers. </strong>When tragedy strikes, our first instinct is to help. For many, this includes reaching out to large corporations or local companies in hopes that they can provide funds or services to aid in recovery. Once you have your communication ducks in a row, call up key decision makers and ask how, if at all, they are able to help. For a company like Google, this meant creating a person finder tool for those in Boston after the <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/04/15/boston-marathon-person-finder/" target="_blank">Boston Marathon bombings</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Chris Brogan took to <a href="http://humanbusinessworks.com/radioshow/69boston/" target="_blank">his podcast</a> to voice a contrasting opinion, insisting that business as usual is not necessarily insensitive in times of tragedy and we should stop being judgmental about the choices businesses are making. Quote transcribed from podcast: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What got to me was this notion... that <strong>now </strong>this was something we should be thinking about and yet there were explosions and death that happened in Iraq... and Somalia that same day. And that doesn't take away from what happened in Boston... if we're gonna tell marketers and businesses to stop doing what they're doing because there's tragedy, well there's tragedy all the time. And you can say 'yes, but this is close to home,' but that's the very thought... you're not giving the same thought or level of respect to other countries. That nationalism... is frustrating to me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Your Community</span></p>
<p>At a time like this, an online community can be a place of comfort for many members. Running and fitness-centric communities especially may find that the attacks hit very close to home for them emotionally. Even if off-topic conversation is normally verboten in your community, you may want to designate a thread for people to share their thoughts, feelings, and stories related to this event. A quick reminder of the Code of Conduct or Community Guidelines that you've set in place might be necessary if the topic becomes inflammatory. Gauge what's right and appropriate for your community... they'll probably tell you what they need from you.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>(Image: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityofbostonarchives/8224218721/in/set-72157632114111561/" target="_blank">Ariel View: South Boston</a> from the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityofbostonarchives/" target="_blank">City of Boston Archives</a> on Flickr, Public Domain)</em></p>
<p> </p>
</div>Business Fights Poverty: A Community With a Causehttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/business-fights-poverty-a-community-with-a-cause2013-02-28T07:21:20.000Z2013-02-28T07:21:20.000ZAllison Leahyhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/allisonleahy<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208127?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p><span class="font-size-3">Business Fights Poverty was established in March of 2008 to pioneer new ways of fighting poverty utilizing economic and business opportunities by groups and individuals. Founder and Director, Zahid Torres-Rahman discovered and implemented the perfect platform for his idea through a chance conversation and a day’s worth of work. “A technology guru friend of mine first told me about Ning over breakfast, and by dinner I had set up the community." Since its creation, the community has continued to evolve and expand its public profile. Business Fights Poverty has bloomed from 1,000 members after one year to more than 10,000 members today.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Openness, community, professionalism, respect, and integrity are the five core values that drive this vibrant network of business professionals, academics, philanthropists, and non-government organizations – all of whom share a passion for fighting poverty through business. Business Fights Poverty utilizes inspiring blogs from members, face-to-face events, and a powerful resource hub to captivate potential members and engage current ones. Their community also serves as the central station for public outreach via social outlets like Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin. All these components have come together to make it the largest organization of its kind and a vital resource in the fight against poverty.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">We reached out to Zahid Torres-Rahman to get the inside scoop on how his community has grown and helped created a brand with public impact:</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><a href="http://blog-o.ning.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013-02-07_1100.png?width=176" target="_blank"><img src="http://blog-o.ning.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013-02-07_1100.png?width=400" width="400" class="align-right" /></a></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>What made you start your Ning community?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">All around the world exceptional people are finding new ways to fight poverty – by creating new jobs and economic opportunities in low-income communities.   The challenge we set ourselves back in 2008 was to help turn these individual acts of inspiration into a broader movement for change.   We wanted to build a sense of community by connecting these intense, but often dispersed pockets of energy.  We wanted people to be able to find, engage with, learn from and be inspired by like-minded peers.  Ning made this all possible for us – by offering an affordable and easy way to build an online community.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Have you achieved this original objective?  How else has your community helped you and your business, brand or mission?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">I think we have come a long way. We’re now the largest community of our kind, with a brand that is steadily growing in profile.  We publish a great story every day, and pretty much all of these come from community members.  We are increasingly active in the real world too, with face-to-face events and publications.  At the same time, I feel that we are only at the beginning of an exciting journey.   We are constantly trying to learn and improve.  We recently hired <a href="http://www.feverbee.com/">FeverBee</a>, following a Ning webinar (<a href="http://www.ning.com/blog/2012/12/how-to-grow-an-online-community-%E2%80%94-recorded-for-those-who-missed-it.html">which you can watch again here</a>), and they have been giving us some great advice on enhancing our member engagement.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>If you had to pick one measure of the success or impact of your community, what would it </b><b style="line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;">be?</b></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">We track all the usual metrics about visits and member engagement, but for me nothing beats the personal stories that I hear from members about howthe community has helped them – whether to find a new job; connect with potential project partners; or just to be inspired by what others are doing.  I enjoy reading what our <a href="http://www.businessfightspoverty.org/profiles/blog/list?user=3u7jk8jijwj2g">Members of the Week</a> say they hope to get out of being part of the community.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>How long did it take your community to reach critical mass?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">It took us a year to reach 1,000 and four more to reach 10,000.  But one thing we have come to appreciate is that it’s the number of actively engaged members that matters, and that’s where our energy is now focused.  The great thing about Ning is that by massively bringing down the costs of organizing online, it has made it possible to create successful, small, specialist communities.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>What tactics drove the most growth and activity in your community?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><img src="http://blog-o.ning.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013-02-07_1131.png?width=213" width="213" class="align-right" /></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">We have focused our energy on three areas. The first has been on building the community brand.  We worked with professional graphic designers to develop a strong look and feel for the site, and we invest in great photography to illustrate stories on the site. The second area is around content.  We have put a lot of energy into our editorial calendar – to build up a strong flow of timely, high quality and interesting content, primarily from our own members.  We drive traffic to this content through our weekly broadcast messages, and we are also very active on Twitter (@FightPoverty) and other social media sites. The third area is around member engagement. Every year, we have an active programme of face-to-face and online events, such as webinars.  Through our “Member of Week” and “Star Member” initiatives, we profile our most active members.  We have high hopes for our new member’s Forum, and have other ideas in the pipeline to encourage member interaction.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>What feature(s) are most important to your members?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Right now, our blog is the most popular feature on our site, followed by our events.  Over the next few months, we are looking to grow our forum as a way to generate more member-to-member engagement. We’ll also be more closely integrating our offline and online activities – so for example, we’ll be running online discussions linked to our face-to-face events. Following member feedback, we’ll also be launching a jobs board.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Do you have any advice for other people building online communities?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">We recognized early on that community management is a full-time and professional activity!  Continuous investment of time and effort is needed to encourage member activity and network growth. On top of that, listening and responding to what your members want is critical.   Recognizing when things are not working is important too! For us, we have been on a continuous learning journey, and are constantly looking to improve the site. I am a fan of the <a href="http://creators.ning.com/">Ning Creators Network</a> – and have picked up many great tips there.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>What’s the craziest story you have about your community?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The craziest story is from our first day. A technology guru friend of mine first told me about Ning over breakfast, and by dinner I had set up the community. I was the first member and my wife was the second. I remember telling the third member – a colleague of mine who was working for a charity at the time, “I know you are only member number 3, but I promise that one day there will be many more of us!”</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">There is an African proverb that has been an inspiration to me: <i>if you want to travel fast, travel alone. If you want to travel far, travel together</i>.  For me that is at the heart of what the global Business Fights Poverty community is about, and I am excited about what the future holds.  I believe that for all the amazing things we are doing individually, if we can do more together – as part of a movement for change, the possibilities are limitless.</span></p>
</div>Looking Back at 2012: Identifying Successhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/looking-back-at-2012-identifying-success2013-02-28T05:56:20.000Z2013-02-28T05:56:20.000ZAllison Leahyhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/allisonleahy<div><p><em><span class="font-size-3">Written by <a href="http://creators.ning.com/profile/MayraPacheco" target="_blank">Mayra Pacheco</a></span></em></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">As the year comes to a close, it's a great time to look to a few Ning Networks that have had great success throughout 2012 for inspiration. <a href="http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/it-s-time-to-brag-about-2012">We asked Network Creators</a> on our <a href="http://creators.ning.com">Creators Network</a> to let us know how their year went, and we received some exciting stories of success and lessons learned.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">These Ning Networks were led by creative, hard-working teams and have achieved their own forms of success due to their dynamic leadership. Using the words of <a href="http://wellkunnected.com/">wellkunnected.com</a> Network Creator, Armani Rouse: "There isn't a hack for had work and creativity!"</span></p>
<h3><span class="font-size-3"><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281637?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281637?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-right"></a>eCoronado.com</strong></span></h3>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-3"><a href="http://eCoronado.com">eCoronado.com</a> is the most popular newspaper website and online community resource for Coronado, Calif. During 2012, the eCoronado team looked beyond their online tools and developed successful strategies to incorporate their community with offline events/ giveaways/ discount cards/ sponsors/ pretty-much-anything-they-set-their-mind-to.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">In brief, they hired two paid writers, a site admin, and interviewed many candidates to bring on their 13th intern. They now have 20+ paid sponsors and have launched over 40 physical photo/scavenger hunt <a href="http://www.ecoronado.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=photocontest" target="_blank">contests</a> to drive activity. In their spare time, they hosted an <a href="http://www.ecoronado.com/profiles/blogs/member-appreciation-ecoronado-com-102220121239?xg_source=activity" target="_blank">anniversary party</a> and bought hundreds of local members ice cream, created a <a href="http://www.ecoronado.com/csf" target="_blank">local discount card</a> in partnership with public schools and started rewarding <a href="http://www.ecoronado.com/profiles/category/photo-star" target="_blank">top photo contributors</a> with badges and <a href="http://www.ecoronado.com/coronado-shirts-hats-92118" target="_blank">company schwag</a>.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">We're not sure when the eCoronado.com team finds time sleep between advancing their development strategy and hosting ice cream giveaways!</span></p>
<h3><span class="font-size-3"><strong>IAVA.COMMUNITYOFVETERANS.ORG</strong></span></h3>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><a href="http://iava.org/" target="_blank"><img src="http://theponyhof.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/iava-logo.jpg?w=300&width=300" width="300" class="align-right"></a>Some networks define their success by the number of members they attract, while <a href="http://iava.communityofveterans.org">iava.communityofveterans.org</a> has amassed 24,500+ members, this is not where they see their triumph. The IAVA community is part of the largest nonprofit organization helping Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The IAVA community team sees their triumph in the very real resources they have developed for their members. They implemented a Crisis Response SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) this year which was used to connect members with suicidal urges to life-saving resources. As Jason, the Network Creator, puts it: "Running a mental health / veteran network provided endless excitement. It's been a crazy year on our network."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">They also had the opportunity to personally officiate a wedding of two long-time and active members of the community — who actually met because of the network — and secure a couple of grants to get some part-time support and a redesign for 2013. We look forward to continue to hear inspiring stories from this community in 2013. If you'd like to support an organization that <em>Time</em> magazine says remains the most important organization representing the new generation of veterans, please head to their <a href="http://iava.org/their-service-our-stories">donate</a> page.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><img src="http://theponyhof.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/sound-check.jpg?w=300&width=300" width="300" class="align-right"></span></p>
<h3><span class="font-size-3"><strong>FOTOGRAFIAPUNTODINCONTRO.COM</strong></span></h3>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Italian photographer network <a href="http://www.fotografiapuntodincontro.com/">fotografiapuntodincontro.com</a> defines its success by the elegant, clean and efficient community they have created thanks to their decision this year to enable the option to have all new photos approved by administrators before they become visible. <a href="http://www.fotografiapuntodincontro.com/profile/RiccardoRossini">Riccardo</a> believes this enables <a href="http://www.fotografiapuntodincontro.com/">fotografiapuntodincontro.com</a> to deliver the highest quality photos to enrich the member experience. "We are proud to offer in Italy something different about photography site, thanks to approval photo."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Check out some of their <a href="http://www.fotografiapuntodincontro.com/photo/photo/listFeatured">featured photos</a>; they truly are stunning. We'll be keeping an eye on their network to see them grow and to enjoy more of their masterful shots in 2013.</span></p>
<h3><span class="font-size-3"><strong>PARENT-CHAT.COM</strong></span></h3>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1281647?profile=original" width="300" class="align-right" height="112"></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Three weeks ago, self-proclaimed web novice Jennifer realized her dream of managing an online parenting community with <a href="http://parent-chat.com">parent-chat.com</a>. Having no</span><br> <span class="font-size-3">experience whatsoever, she set about getting her network up and running and now has a solid founding-member base. The Network Creator, Jennifer, promises: "I am only related to 5 of them!" Creating something tangible from an abstract idea is definitely a great leap forward, so we'd like to congratulate parent-chat.com for launching their network in 2012!</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<h2><span class="font-size-3"><strong>Defining Success for Your Community in 2013</strong></span></h2>
<p><span class="font-size-3">It's important to remember that each community defines success differently. The end of the year marks a great point to look at your own community and decide what you define as success. Whether it is defined by page views, engagement, or financial profit, we wish you the best of luck in 2013!</span></p></div>