Building Community: Lessons Learned from Social Media Club

Building Community.
Lessons From
Social Media Club
Kristie Wells
Founder, Social Media Club
socialmediaclub.org
twitter.com/kristiewells

Thursday, April 21, 2011

August 2005
After attending the
ﬁrst Barcamp,
we launched
Brainjams.org to
encourage sharing.

But that wasn’t
compelling enough for
the foundations of the
community.


We set out to embrace a
more speciﬁc purpose.


March 2006

We buy the domain.

Our Mission:
Promote media literacy.
Encourage ethical behavior.
Share best practices.


Lesson #1:
Deﬁne your purpose.

aka: don’t try to be all
things to all people


June 2006

My husband took a
road trip.


London. Miami. New York. D.C.
Boston. Portland. Seattle.
Vancouver. Los Angeles.

Found like minded
people who connected
with our mission.


If you get it,
share it.
Not a tag line, it is a way of life.


We inspired others to
believe they could
build community too.


Focused on quality
over quantity.


Lesson #2:
Don’t try to be
everywhere.

Build the number of points of
contact as resources allow.


We gave the
community the power
to help one another
directly.


We encouraged.
We supported.
We connected people.
We watched.
We learned.


Lesson #3:
People like guidance.
Don’t be afraid to give it.


They localized the logo.

We embraced it.

We provided guidelines, but
let go of control.

Grew to 230+ cities in 5 years.

Lesson #4:
Don’t try to control
everything...

Truth is, you can’t.


Seed it. Water it.
Nuture it.
Trim when needed.


Lesson #5:
Remove access if
someone is not a healthy
participant in the
community.


Be there to guide.
Offer assistance.
Communicate.
Empower.


Building a healthy
community takes
time.


What does YOUR
community look like?


Where do your
customers, partners,
investors, and
competitors
gather online?


http://www.briansolis.com/2008/08/introducing-conversation-prism/


Audit your
infrastructure.
(1) What can they do on your site?

(2) What are they doing on 3rd
party websites?

(3) How can you bridge your
website and 3rd party sites?


Lesson #6:
Don’t wait until your
infrastructure is perfect.

Truth is, it may never be.


“Participation
is marketing.”

- @ChrisHeuer


Participate on THEIR
blogs, Facebook
groups, meetups, etc.


Add value to the
conversation(s).


Just don’t be
spammy.


Develop real
relationships.


They love you enough
to invest their time in
you, your product,
your service.

Get to know them.


Ask your customer
service reps about
‘vocal’ customers.


Vocal customer =
someone passionate
about making your
product/service
better
(usually)

Help a ‘vocal’
customer become
your evangelist.


Evangelist =
Promotes the use of a
particular product or
technology through talks,
articles, blogging, user
demonstrations, or the
creation of sample projects.

Thanks Wikipedia.


Give evangelists early
product info, inside
tracks, rewards when
it makes sense.


Empower them to
help others.


Lesson #7:
Keep an open dialogue
with your evangelists.


There is no perfect
way to do this.


Building a healthy
community requires a
lot of trial and error.
#failFAST


Recommendation(s)

aka: Lessons #8-19


Lesson #8:
Produce your own
content.

Great way to show yourself as
an industry expert.


Lessons #9-13
Be Open. Be Honest.
Be Human. Be Aware.
Be Respectful.


Lesson #14
Dedicate time in your
community
EVERY DAY
(even 15 minutes
makes a difference)


Lesson #15:
Deal fairly, and openly,
with others.


Lesson #16:
Be honest when you
cannot deliver on
promises.


Communication = key.

Internally
*and*
externally.


Lesson #17:
Empower people inside
*and* outside your
company to respond.


Lesson #18
Educate. Nurture.
Let go of control.
(you heard this earlier,
it’s super important)


Old Chinese Verse
Go in search of your people:
Love Them;
Learn from Them;
Plan with Them;
Serve Them;
Begin with what They have;
Build on what They know.
But of the best leaders
when their task is accomplished,
their work is done,
The people all remark:
"We have done it ourselves."

Author unknown


To move beyond Social
Media 101, I invite you to
become a member of
Social Media Club
and participate in your
local chapter...


...and that’s the
most important lesson,


Lesson #19:
no matter how wonderful
your community
or purpose is, you must

invite participation


@KristieWells
001.415.577.9022
kristie@socialmediaclub.org
http://socialmediaclub.org/


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