crisis - Cultivating Community2024-03-28T09:29:42Zhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/feed/tag/crisisOrganizing an Unruly Community: Share Storieshttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/organizing-an-unruly-community-share-stories2013-11-12T17:00:00.000Z2013-11-12T17:00:00.000ZCarrie Melissa Joneshttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CarrieMelissaJones<div><p class="p1"><a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/organizing-an-unruly-community-a-5-step-series" target="_self">By now</a>, you've <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/organizing-an-unruly-community-open-up-lines-of-communication" target="_self">opened up lines of communication</a>, written and shared <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/organizing-an-unruly-community-lay-down-the-law-write-some-simple" target="_self">solid guidelines</a>, and <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/organizing-an-unruly-community-establish-benchmarks-and-goals" target="_self">established benchmarks</a>. You're bound to have made a few in-depth connections with community members. Now is the time to harness these connections, get to know people more deeply, and share their stories.</p>
<p class="p1">Stop what you're doing and send a few emails to schedule calls or Google Hangouts with users this week. You should keep doing this periodically or create an easy automated way for people to share stories in an ongoing</p>
<p class="p1">On these calls, ask your community members about their lives and why they do what they do and how you can help them. Don't just talk about your product or service. Invest your time in them as human beings. Ask them what they love and what ticks them off. With their permission, I highly suggest recording these conversations. Over a smartphone or in-person, I recommend an app called "<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.recordertheapp.com/" target="_blank">Recorder</a>". On the computer, there are a few plugins you can use to record your audio for later use (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.evaer.com/" target="_blank">Evaer</a> for Skype is one I've used). <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/" target="_blank">Google Hangouts</a> lets you record things On Air, so that's a great option. Again, get their permission first.</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282035?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282035?profile=original" width="600" class="align-center"></a>If you want to do something a bit more "scaleable," create a series of questions (say, 5 of 'em) and simply email them to 5-10 people and have them respond with their answers. This will create instant content. I like to ask for photos as well so I can include them with the content. It just makes the piece that much more personal. People are generally more than happy to provide one.</p>
<p class="p1">Once you have some stories to share, do a quick check to make sure you have plans for distribution of the stories. If you're lucky, you already have someone on your team working on these efforts or you walked into them already set up. But if you're just starting out, you may be a lone ranger. That's okay, just start simply with:</p>
<ol>
<li>Blog</li>
<li>E-mail newsletters + links to subscribe shared out</li>
<li>Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and/or any other social profiles that make sense for your community</li>
</ol>
<p class="p2">Now, write like you're going mad. Share the stories out in multiple ways. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.vocus.com/blog/repackage-reuse-content-lead-gen/" target="_blank">Keep re-purposing your content and re-imagining it</a>. Write a blog post, but then also create presentations to post on Slideshare, upload it to Scribd, share it out on all your social profiles... there are so many ways to share and keep the stories alive.</p>
<p class="p2">Get your whole team in on the sharing and have them send out the stories to people they know on their social networks. Send it out to other online communities with similar purposes that you may be a part of. Just get that community out there.</p>
<p>These are the stories that will sell your community to others. This is community as a growth engine. Make it awesome. Make it accessible. Make your community members feel like they're part of something and that you care about their story. If you invest in them, they're much more likely to invest in you.</p></div>Organizing an Unruly Community: Open up Lines of Communication from Community Manager to Customerhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/organizing-an-unruly-community-open-up-lines-of-communication2013-10-22T16:00:00.000Z2013-10-22T16:00:00.000ZCarrie Melissa Joneshttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CarrieMelissaJones<div><p>In this 5-part series, Carrie explains how to take your community from unruly to organized, positioning you for scalability and growth. You can find the <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/organizing-an-unruly-community-a-5-step-series" target="_self">full introduction here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Step 1: Create a clear line of communication from yourself to the community.</strong></p>
<p>The first step is surprisingly simple. If you're managing an unruly community, the very first thing you need to do is throw people clear communication channels. This can be scary and unpredictable, but it is necessary.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282047?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282047?profile=original" width="457" class="align-center"></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282076?profile=original" target="_self"><br></a> Here’s a great way to get started:</p>
<ol>
<li>Send out individual emails to all current users. Use a program like Mailchimp or Constant Contact to monitor response rates and open rates. Follow up with those who don’t open the email. Before sending, get input from your design team (if applicable) and product team in order to make sure you're all on the same page about messaging. It's best to throw in your picture so they know you’re a real person and give them several ways of reaching you (Twitter, G+, email).</li>
<li>For community members who have been sending out angry messages, write a special (super short!) note in addition to that email. Tell them how important their input is. Whatever they request, make it happen if you can or make sure they know you're advocating for them higher up if you can't.</li>
<li>Create a platform for people to talk to one another. Involve your product, engineering, business, and any other relevant teams in this discussion. Take some time to think about where your community is most likely to feel comfortable and start there. Choose a platform that's free or cheap so you can transfer if necessary or integrate into your product later. This is a pilot. Ning, Mightybell, Google+, and Facebook are all great starting points.</li>
<li>Continue outreach on a regular basis via email or private message as well as the platform to the following groups of people: newcomers, anyone who has commented and started a good discussion, anyone with customer service issues, and anyone with product feature suggestions.</li>
</ol>
<p>Now wait for the responses. Dedicate yourself to replying to each one at some point in the day or funneling them to the right people (preferably after lunch so your blood sugar is up). Once you've established a relationship, funnel future queries to the community itself and have people send their questions to the community platform. That will release you from answering a bevy of emails and allow the community to gather together and help one another. Choose a few people who are positive and encourage them to take care of others. Send swag if you must!</p>
<p></p></div>Organizing an Unruly Community: A 5-Step Serieshttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/organizing-an-unruly-community-a-5-step-series2013-10-15T16:00:00.000Z2013-10-15T16:00:00.000ZCarrie Melissa Joneshttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/CarrieMelissaJones<div><p>Today, I'm starting a series about organizing an active community that's never before been managed. This situation is growing more common, since many companies with successful products realize late in the game that they need someone onboard to organize the (messy, disorganized, broken) communities that have grown as a result. If you’re just starting out, there is hope.</p>
<p>I'm here to answer the question: Where do you begin when you're tasked with something so overwhelming? You have so many questions and yet you have very little time to ask them. </p>
<p>I’ve been there. I picked up the never-before-managed expert academic communities for Chegg’s homework help products. It's been an interesting road. But I’m now successfully through the crisis stage and onwards on a journey toward community unity and awesomeness.</p>
<p>Your users may be angry, they may be frustrated, or they may be breaking rules that don't even exist yet. It's tempting to jump in and start responding right off the bat. Instead, you should arrive with an action plan.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282005?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1282005?profile=original" width="600" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p>This will be a five-part series, organized in the following steps that you should take if you're facing too many roads to travel down all of them at once:</p>
<ol>
<li>Create a clear line of communication from yourself to the community. </li>
<li>Create rules and guidelines. Distribute them widely.</li>
<li>Survey the current community for sentiment to get a sense of what motivates them to leave or keep coming back. Institute end surveys for people who decide to leave.</li>
<li>Pick out the positive examples in your community and tell their stories a bunch of different ways and through a bunch of different channels.</li>
<li>Create long-term strategy, outreach, and content efforts for the community. Begin to tell the community's history. Make it badass.</li>
</ol>
<p>Now, before you begin this journey, take a moment to breathe and remind yourself that each person you help is a victory. Make your users feel amazing and you will reap the rewards. Don't let the detractors get you down. </p>
<p>Take another moment to be thankful. If your company has created products that are engaging enough to build an organic community, that's a very good sign that you're working on something worthwhile.</p>
<p>And, finally, after you're done deep breathing and being thankful, decide today what success will look like for you in your new role. So many community managers skip this step and end up working tirelessly toward some nebulous endpoint that never presents itself. Instead, decide now what you will see as a success at the end of the week, in one month, and in six months: a specific growth goal, a specific number of replies sent, a specific number of engaged comments. Take things from there so you have a concrete goal to work toward.</p>
<p>Now go out and wow 'em. </p></div>