community management

The Purpose of Community Platforms

Posted by Richard Millington on July 16, 2014 at 11:00am in best practices

The platform for a community performs a single function: to facilitate interaction between members. An excellent community platform improves the quality and quantity of interactions between members. A bad community platform inhibits interactions between members.

Power and Influence

Posted by Richard Millington on July 2, 2014 at 9:30am in quick tips

You can’t use your power to get any member to do anything. Much of what we recommend is impossible unless you have influence. You can have influence in one or two ways.

Guest Post: How We Measure Content for Community Success

Posted by Shannon Byrne on April 8, 2014 at 11:01am in tools and tech

We believe that healthy communities consist of networks of relationships and that content is simply a tool, a vehicle by which to deepen these relationships for community success. If you’ve been following Loyal for a while, you may have noticed that we’ve recently put a considerable amount of attention towards our content, and we’re seeing great results. Most importantly, we’ve seen increased engagement and interactions with members of our community — results tied directly to our goals and values as a company, as we put people at the center of our work.

Getting Started with a Community Roadmap for the Entire Team

Posted by Sarah Judd Welch on April 3, 2014 at 4:45pm in best practices

As community managers rise in the ranks, we're often tasked with strategic planning for our entire team. This is our opportunity to align the greater organization around community goals while demonstrating how community initiatives reinforce business goals. Where to start?

The Problem With Community Platforms (and asking the right questions)

Posted by Richard Millington on March 27, 2014 at 8:00am in best practices

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. If you want a better community, it's rarely a new platform you need, it's a new and better approach to community management.

Upcoming Webinar: Richard Millington Answers Your Community Questions

Posted by Crystal on March 21, 2014 at 3:37pm in community management talks

On April 3rd, Richard Millington will host a free webinar answering your community questions he hasn't covered before. Want to learn more about how to pull the best content from your community, how to enlist volunteers, or how to develop your community strategy?

3 Reasons Why Community Needs a Process-Driven Approach

Posted by Sarah Judd Welch on March 11, 2014 at 1:12pm in best practices

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 process-driven approach.

Why I Don't Like The Term "Troll"

Posted by Crystal on February 26, 2014 at 9:57am in social media

I'm finding more and more that I'm uncomfortable with the way that the term "troll" is becoming a catch-all term for "person who's doing something I don't like." It's an easy word to use: say "troll" and everyone says "Ahh," and nods their head in empathy. I've used this shorthand myself. And I'm resolving to stop using it and find out what's really behind the "troll."

White Paper: 5 Questions for Selecting an Online Community Platform

Posted by Crystal on February 21, 2014 at 2:00pm in best practices

Today, we're proud to announce a project that's been in the works for a while. A collaboration with Community Pioneer F. Randall Farmer to produce this white paper: "Five Questions for Selecting an Online Community Platform."

CMX Summit 2014: Trust, Collaboration, and Community

Posted by Crystal on February 14, 2014 at 9:52am in best practices

Last week, David Spinks and the team at TheCommunityManager.com gathered together over 300 community professionals for a first year conference that proved to be highly polished and extremely informative - CMX Summit. Here are our takeaways:

8 Signs Your Community Is In Trouble

Posted by Richard Millington on February 4, 2014 at 3:59pm in quick tips

Your online community won't die overnight. That never happens. Most communities end with members gradually drifting away. There are some clear danger signals that your community is going downhill, these are a few to watch out for.

Techniques to Help Measure the ROI of Online Communities

Posted by Richard Millington on January 15, 2014 at 1:44pm in quick tips

If an organization is investing in a community, they deserve to know what they’re getting for their money. The most common objections to measuring this ROI are 1) You can’t measure everything 2) it’s not about ROI. The first is right, but you can still be accurate. The second is misguided (what does engagement eventually lead to if not greater profits?). There are a few techniques that can really help here.

How To Handle Troublemakers

Posted by Richard Millington on January 13, 2014 at 12:53pm in quick tips

This topic comes up a lot. How do you manage people causing problems in your community? There are remarkably few options.

What To Listen For (and how to act on it)

Posted by Richard Millington on December 3, 2013 at 12:17pm in quick tips

If you know what sort of information members seek for and the format they like it, you can create areas in the community solely for this. If members frequently ask questions related to a specific issue and like simple tips, you can create a place in the community for this.

First Class Lessons from The Ritz-Carlton Employee Community

Posted by Crystal on November 26, 2013 at 1:50pm in quick tips

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company prides itself on being the gold standard for hospitality across the world and their record backs up that pride: the list of awards bestowed to their properties is quite impressive. Their service has received note, as well, making them only hotel company to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from the United States Department of Commerce twice. What can you, as a community manager, take from their example?

Concentrate Activity

Posted by Richard Millington on November 22, 2013 at 11:47am in quick tips

When you launch a community you want to focus your activity in as small a place as possible.

[POSTPONED] Upcoming Webinar: Creating Healthy Communities in Social Media with Ric Dragon

Posted by Crystal on November 18, 2013 at 12:17pm in community management talks

Edited 11/19: Due to technical issues, this webinar has been postponed. We look forward to announcing the new date and time shortly.

Organizing an Unruly Community: Share Stories

Posted by Carrie Melissa Jones on November 12, 2013 at 9:00am in best practices

By now, you've opened up lines of communication, written and shared solid guidelines, and established benchmarks. 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.

Big Launch Syndrome

Posted by Richard Millington on November 7, 2013 at 9:10am in quick tips

A big launch establishes a bad first impression, wastes a lot of money, sets too great expectations, focuses on the wrong metrics and is a massive gamble. Worse still, the Big Launch Syndrome is fatal.