online community

Best Practices, Community Spotlights, Community Management Talks, Ning News, Social Media, Quick Tips, Tools & Tech

online community (9)

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.

The Online Community Lifecycle [Video]

Posted by Allison Leahy on August 29, 2013 at 4:29pm in community management talks

The goal of every community manager is to progress your community through its lifecycle. If you achieve this, you maximize what your community can be, the benefit it brings to your organization, and the benefits that members gain from the community. Watch the recording of Richard Millington's presentation to learn more about The Online Community Lifecycle and improve your approach to community management.

Upcoming Webinar: The Community Lifecycle

Posted by Allison Leahy on August 21, 2013 at 4:32pm

The Online Community Lifecycle is the single most important thing a community manager can know. Attend our upcoming webinar on August 29th, and at the end of one hour you will have a full understanding of this concept. It might just completely change the way you approach your community.

The Online Community Lifecycle - Stage Four: Mitosis

Posted by Richard Millington on August 6, 2013 at 9:00am in best practices

Your goal, and the goal of every community manager, is to progress their community through the lifecycle. If you achieve this, you maximise what your community can be, the benefit it brings to your organization, and the benefits that members gain from the community.

The Online Community Lifecycle - Stage Three: Maturity

Posted by Richard Millington on August 1, 2013 at 9:00am in best practices

  If there is one single thing every community manager should know about communities, the lifecycle is it.   Using the lifecycle you can identify exactly where you are now and where you need to go next.  In this series of posts, we're going to explain the full online community lifecycle.   The maturity phase of the online community lifecycle begins when members of the community are generating 90% or more of activity/growth, and there is a limited sense of community.

The Online Community Lifecycle - Stage Two: Establishment

Posted by Richard Millington on July 30, 2013 at 9:00am in best practices

If there is one single thing every community manager should know about communities, the lifecycle is it.   Using the lifecycle you can identify exactly where you are now and where you need to go next.  In this series of posts, we're going to explain the full online community lifecycle.   The establishment phase of the online community lifecycle begins when the community has reached critical mass.

The Online Community Lifecycle - Stage One: Inception

Posted by Richard Millington on July 25, 2013 at 9:00am in best practices

If there is one single thing every community manager should know about communities, the lifecycle is it.   Using the lifecycle you can identify exactly where you are now and where you need to go next.  In this series of posts, we're going to explain the full online community lifecycle.   The inception stage begins when you begin interacting with the target audience and ends with the community achieving a critical mass of growth and activity.

The 90-9-1 Rule: Dead, Different, or a Distraction?

Posted by Crystal on July 8, 2013 at 10:00am in quick tips

There seem to be two different conclusions that people have come to regarding the current state of the 90-9-1: either it's completely dead or it needs to be updated. I propose a third option.

Community Spotlight: Rokkus Radio, A Radio Station With a Story to Tell

Posted by Allison Leahy on June 24, 2013 at 11:10am in community spotlight

Rokkus Radio is more than a radio station, it's a community with bucket loads of personality, a lot of heart, and a dedication to trans-media storytelling. We caught up with the charismatic founder of Rokkus.com, John Starr. In this interview, John takes us through aspects of the launch and daily operation of a narrative radio station and alternate reality entertainment-based community.

Community Picks

Webinar: Community Platform Design and Development

Community Spotlight: The Peace and Collaborative Development Network

Series: Organizing an Unruly Community

Infographic: The Value of Online Community

Ning News: Unleash the Power of Groups on Ning 3.0

Every few weeks, Ning invites a leading expert to discuss trending topics and best practices for community management. Watch the recordings here.

More than two million people have built a branded social network on Ning. Many of these customers now enjoy thriving online communities. You can find a few of those success stories here.

Learn what it takes to thrive and see what it is possible to achieve with Ning.

Growing a thriving online community is one of the most rewarding things you can do.

Our goal at Ning is to make building a community dead simple. We provide an incredibly reliable, popular, and easy-to-use platform so you can focus on cultivating your community.

Learn how to start your community in minutes.

Have you considered monetizing your community? Download your free copy of Monetizing Online Forums by Patrick O'Keefe to learn what methods are available, how to implement them, and how you can benefit today.

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