Online Community Training

transcript

03/26/09 FastWonderBlog.com 1

Dawn Fosterdawn@fastwonder.comFast Wonder Consulting

http://FastWonderBlog.com

Agenda● Introduction and Guiding Principles● Planning and Getting Started ● Content Roadmaps● Online Community Management● Summary

Communities are Different● Websites can be created and left alone ● Online communities require constant attention

and management

● Websites with few visitors look the same as a website with many visitors

● Online communities with no participation fail publicly

Why Have an Online Community● People: gives people a place to engage with

your organization● Innovation: get ideas and feedback● Collaboration: work jointly with people

toward a common goal● Evangelism: help you grow evangelists for

your efforts● Loyalty: engagement can drive a

tremendous amount of loyalty toward your efforts 4

Guiding Principles: It's All About the People● Focus on the individuals: Participate as a

person, not a corporate entity● Be Sincere: Sincerity = believability & credibility● Not all about you: Community is about

conversation, which is by definition two-way● Be a Part of the Community: Don't try to control

the community● Everyone’s a Peer: You are not the expert;

knowledge comes from everywhere 5

Play Nice

Translation:Play Nice: Be polite and respectful in your interactions with other members

"I'm the Lorax who speaks for "I'm the Lorax who speaks for the trees which you seem to the trees which you seem to be chopping as fast as you be chopping as fast as you

please. please.

NOW...thanks to your hacking NOW...thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground, there's my trees to the ground, there's not enough Truffula Fruit to go not enough Truffula Fruit to go

'round.'round.

And my poor Bar-bar-loots are And my poor Bar-bar-loots are all getting the crummies all getting the crummies

because they have gas, and no because they have gas, and no food in their tummies!"food in their tummies!"

What Makes a Community Work?● Open, inclusive and transparent● An organization who listens (to good and bad)● Actively engaged in the community● Encouraging new members● Making it easy for people to participate● Integration into other relevant areas of the

site● Responding to criticism rather than deleting

constructively critical comments7

Barriers to Community● Community is lip service, not a serious

endeavor● Pushing messages takes precedence over

2-way collaboration● Community software / configuration /

policies that get in the way of collaboration● Neglected communities where no one in

the organization monitors or responds● Stale content and lack of participation

Planning and Getting Started● Objectives● Functionality● Structure● Seeding Content and Beta Period● Example Communities

Planning and Objectives● What is your overall strategy and how does

the community fit with it?● What do you hope to accomplish and what

are your goals for the community?● What are your plans for achieving your

goals and how will you measure it?● Do you need to build new or can you join an

existing community?● Do you have the resources (people & $) to

maintain it long-term? 10

Spend as much time as you need in this stepSpend as much time as you need in this stepIf you can't answer these questions, a community might not be the best choice.If you can't answer these questions, a community might not be the best choice.

The Right Functionality● Not every project needs to be an online

community● Not every community needs the same

functionality

● Match functionality to your requirements– Do you need discussions or just a blog?– Do you need wiki documents?– Do you need something new?

Appropriate Structure● Start with as few topic categories as possible● Discussions spread across many categories

look sparse● Discussions spread across a couple of

categories make the community look more active

● Add new topic areas when you need them

Seeding Content is Important● You never want to launch a community without

content.● Few people want to be the first to participate in

an empty community ● People will also use the existing content as a

model for how they should participate.● All community functions should have some

content: blog posts, discussions, resources, wiki pages, etc.

Seeding Content and Beta Period● Timing: 1-2 weeks prior to announcement● Seed the community with at least 5 pieces of

content in each area (discussions, wiki, blog)● Invite a dozen people from outside of the

organization to join. Pick people with a passion for the topic who will participate

● Ask them to participate by responding (discussions, blog posts) and creating new content (new discussion topics, wiki pages)

Promotion● Use existing promotional vehicles to reach

your audience (email, webinars, newsletters, customer lists, etc.)

● Encourage people from beta phase to help promote it to others

● Augment traditional community efforts with social media where appropriate (other blogs, audio, video, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

● Incentivize people to join & participate15

Example Communities – Good and Bad● No community is perfect● Flickr● PC World● Navy for Moms● Clearstep

No Community is Perfect● Every community has strengths and weaknesses● Things will go wrong

– People are human and will make mistakes– Your community software, like all software, will have bugs– Someone will get defensive or irate– Companies have PR nightmares (Intel Pentium floating point)

● In great communities, the company responds effectively– Addresses the issue and works to resolve it quickly– Keeps the focus on summarizing and fixing, instead of blaming and

justifying– Maintains open communication channels

Flickr: Community Done Well● Clear and simple guidelines (ex. Don’t be

creepy. You know the guy. Don't be that guy.)● Easy to use and intuitive to participate

(comments, favorites, tags, notes)● Transparency about people (profile, favorites,

groups, etc.)● Private, public● Little things: Comments you've made

PC World Community● http://forums.pcworld.com/index.jspa ● Good

– Plenty of activity– Good content– Focus on members– Questions answered quickly by other community

members● Improvement

– Too many subcommunities; some with little activity– Sometimes slow to identify and remove spam

Navy for Moms● http://www.navyformoms.com/● Good

– Active– Filling a need– Community answers each other's questions– Good use of all features (video, blogs, photos, etc.)– Good use of guidelines

● Bad– Too many communities: some with little activity– Cluttered interface / hard to find content (Ning)

Clearstep● http://www.jivesoftware.com/clearstep/● Good

– Small number of subcommunities– Active community– Good information

● Bad– Too much company participation, not enough members– Difficult to navigate– Huge banner pushing content down the page

Content Roadmap● Process● Overview● Content Types● Example Format

Content Roadmap Process● Rolling one month plan● Community manager puts the roadmap together

and works with people on assignments and due dates

● Everyone provides suggestions for content● Community manager reviews it weekly, makes

adjustments, and plans an additional week● Content roadmap is not set in stone:

– If a great idea comes to you, just write it!– Adjustments and substitutions are OK.

Content Roadmap Overview● 1-3 posts per week in each area:

– Blog posts– Discussion threads– Resources– Wiki pages– etc.

● Written by a variety of people with expertise● Covering a variety of topics – usually pick 3-4

topic areas and make sure that you stay focused and cover all of those 3-4 key topics each week

Content Types● Stimulate Discussion

– Blog posts and discussion topics should focus on engaging people in discussion and debate or encouraging them to share information

● Thought Leadership is Important (Blogs) – Thought leadership posts are interesting to others in

your industry and to people who are not members– They should by interesting, thoughtful, analytical, and

forward looking.● Inform

– Resources, web page updates, and wiki pages

Example Format

Due Person Category Type TopicJan 03 Joe Helping BlogJan 04 Jim Product Discussion Help us improve our shoesJan 05 Beth Helping Blog Partnership with non-profitJan 06 Sally In the field Blog Customer showcase: Joe Climbs a MountainJan 07 Jane Helping Discussion Share your stories about giving back to a good causeJan 08 Tim Product Document New product line brochureJan 09 Ben Product Blog Environmentally friendly new product lineJan 10 Jill In the field Document Case Study of Distribution Partner

Apparel Inc

Eco Friendly Approaches to Manufacturing

Community Management● Participant Motivation● Responsibilities and Skills● Dealing with Difficulties

Why Do People Participate?

● Motivation is complex (multiple influences)● If people aren't motivated, they won't participate● Promotion must take motivation into account 28

PassionPassion

DevelopDevelopSkillsSkills

LearningLearning

Status &Status &RecognitionRecognition

CareerCareerAdvancementAdvancement

SocialSocialFunFun

FinancialFinancialWorkWork

Community Managers

Responsibilities– Welcome Wagon– Ongoing Facilitation– Content Management– Evangelism– Community Evolution

Skills– Patience– Networking– Communication– Facilitation– Technical Skills– Marketing– Self-Motivation– Workaholic Tendencies– Organization

Dealing with the Difficult● Negative Comments: Do not delete negative

feedback. Respond constructively● Spammers: Put aggressive measures in

place to deal with spam● Trolls: Don't feed the trolls. They want

attention. Resist the urge to give it to them● Highly Critical: Put them to work if possible● Bad Behavior: Clear guidelines allow you to

delete content that is sexist, racist, hateful, etc. 30

Make it Fun

Translation:Have fun! Lighten it up occasionally!

Why do you sit there like that?Why do you sit there like that?I know it is wet.I know it is wet.

And the sun is not sunny.And the sun is not sunny.But we can have lots of good But we can have lots of good

fun that is funny!fun that is funny!

I know some good games we I know some good games we could play.could play.

I know some new tricks.I know some new tricks.I will show them to you.I will show them to you.

Your mother will not mind at Your mother will not mind at all if I do. all if I do.

Q & AAdditional Resources:● http://fastwonderblog.com/starting-point/● http://www.web-strategist.com/blog● http://www.onlinecommunityreport.com/● http://www.communityguy.com● http://bestengagingcommunities.com/

About Dawn:● Online Community Consultant● More Info: http://fastwonderblog.com/consulting● Dawn@FastWonder.com● @geekygirldawn on Twitter

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