objectives - Cultivating Community2024-03-29T02:16:46Zhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/feed/tag/objectivesSetting Objectives For Your Online Communityhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/setting-objectives-for-your-online-community2013-07-03T17:30:00.000Z2013-07-03T17:30:00.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><p>Fight the pressure to set clear objectives for your online community. Especially objectives with measurable metrics.</p><p>When you set fixed objectives (e.g. get 50 great product ideas, increase repeat buying by 15%, 250 mentions on blogs) you create a chasm between what you and your community members want.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmgimages/4881844153/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4117/4881844153_debf711b41_m.jpg?width=240" width="240" class="align-right"/></a></p><p>Did members join to give product feedback, buy more or get you mentioned on blogs? No. They joined to meet others like them and have a good time. When you start pressuring members to give ideas, buy more or help promote you – you’re asking them to do something that they don’t want to do. That doesn’t end well (for you).</p><p>Every major successful online community has its objectives aligned with what members want. This is usually <i>being awesome</i>, like getting exclusives, arranging meet-ups, having influence over the topic itself etc..</p><p>Here is the important thing to understand. <i>The benefits you get from thriving online communities are the derivatives of its success.</i> They should not be the objectives for the community itself. You still get what you want, but they get what they want first.</p><p>First you have to create a successful online community – then you can enjoy its benefits. If you can understand this, your online community will be so much better.</p><p>(<i>Image: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmgimages/4881844153/">Success is this way</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 rmgimages's photostream</i>)</p></div>