Trust plays a huge role in interaction whether we realise it or not.  In physical settings interaction is easy because we feel more connected.  Eye contact is involved, hand gestures, smiles and especially the handshake that sets everyone at ease.

All of these actions make a person feel like they are being listened to and appreciated.  So how do we implement these social norms into the virtual world?

Members don’t need to be patronized – so don’t turn into your 3rd grade teacher who patted you on the head and said, “Good job”.

Ask questions that will lead into a discussion between the members.  When commenting on a post, write your opinion while also leaving room for others to voice theirs.

In the beginning, interaction can seem like a daunting task.  It sort of reminds me of my first dances as an adolescent.  For the first couple of hours everyone stood against the wall waiting on that one person to make the first move.

By Robin Ray – robin@schmooz.me

While this is a logical idea, businesses should really think hard before implementing it.  Sometimes the shoe doesn’t always fit as well as we want.

Businesses that aren’t succeeding offline are probably not likely to succeed online – especially if they are attempting to create their social business community on their own.

It’s best to analyse your strengths and weaknesses before jumping on the band wagon.   For example, some highly regulated companies are constrained in their ability to provide feedback to customers.

Constraints such as these do not work in the social world.  The whole idea of an online community is to provide feedback and to engage with your consumers.

If you already have limitations before you even begin, it’s not likely that your community is going to develop properly, but have no fear! This is what we are here for!

With Schmooz.me we can help you understand where you fit in this social business world.  No need to dive in alone and hope for quality results.

We can help you form a strategy that fits your business the best, analyse your strengths and weaknesses, understand how to reach your potential clients and guide you through the steps of engagement.

Just because developing an online community may not be as easy for some businesses as it is for others, doesn’t mean it is impossible.

Robin Ray – robin@schmooz.me

So if your online community appears to be managed well, then yeah, you probably will attract a good crowd, but once members start engaging and trying to connect they will soon realise that beauty is not enough.

It’s not only important that a community manager has personality, but also that his or her personality matches that of the community.

Once this is established, the personality bit should come easy.  Personally, I know if I am asked to engage people on a certain topic that I am enthusiastic about I am able to do it with flare.

Here are some quick tips on how to let your personality shine through:

Be friendly – Talk to your community as if you were speaking to your mates.  This will make everyone else in the community feel comfortable to do the same; which in return will let other personalities shine through.

Be opinionated – Don’t just post a topic and be done with it.  Let the group know what you think about it while also encouraging them to share their thoughts.

Be thoughtful – Try to put yourself in your members’ shoes.  Think about what they would want and if you aren’t able to come up with an answer, then ask them.

Community management is all about ensuring that there is a safe platform for members to communicate.

Robin Ray – Head of Community Development – robin@schmooz.me

Sometimes too much of a good thing can be overwhelming.  Just the other day I was in the grocery store shopping for some cereal.  Seems like a simple task; however it wasn’t.  I stood there for at least 30 minutes starring off into the cereal abyss.  There was just too much!  Too many colours, too many flavours and way too many cartoon characters trying to lure me into their sugary coma.

I finally just gave up and grabbed one.  As I was walking to the check out point, I started thinking about when variety works.

Variety in online communities is a definite must!  No one should have to settle for a community that is only so-so.  The whole point of a social community is to be able to learn, grow and interact – no one is going to participate if they don’t feel satisfied.

So how do you find that perfect online community?  First, you should decide what type you are searching for. B2B & B2C offers you two choices.

You can choose from communities that serve their market and/or communities that serve their customers and  clients.  These external communities open the door for people to discuss their interests, concerns and ideas.

Internal communities serve their employees and partners.  Say goodbye to the suggestion box!  Employees and partners now have a safe platform to speak their mind (within reason of course).  This type of community is designed to create a strong relationship within the business.  After all, happy employees equal happy customers.

Melting pot communities - or better known as hybrid communities – are all of these delightful platforms blended together.  If you can’t choose just one, pick the community that gives you everything.  The advantage of these communities is that the individual has more power.

One last thought, if none of these communities peak your interest, go out and make your own!  That’s what is so great about the digital world!  You can create your own community that tailors to your needs.

Robin Ray

I miss the days where if a person said something then it was good as gold.  Nowadays we shrug everything off as if words are meaningless.  With this ideology, businesses have it pretty tough.  If it’s hard for me to trust an individual, then it is sure as heck going to be hard for me to trust a corporation.  With that being said, my cynicism is slowing slipping away.  I’m beginning to look at businesses differently and I’m more willing to try their product or service because I believe they really do want me (the consumer) to benefit from what they have to offer.

Online communities give me the trust that I need to become a loyal customer.  The best way to trust a brand or believe that a product works, is to hear about it from a regular Joe.  While cutesy commercials are entertaining and listening to a celebrity talk about something is inspiring, it’s not enough to make me trust a business.  Of course their commercial is going to praise them and of course the celebrity is going to swear by the product – if you pay me enough, I’ll convince you that grass isn’t green – but seriously hearing another regular everyday person talk about a product, makes me want to try it.

When businesses take advantage of online communities they are sending a message out to their consumers saying, “hey, we may not be perfect, but at least we are willing to listen to what you have to say about us.”  And to be honest, that’s really all I need.  I don’t want some flashy gimmick or some beautiful person telling me what I should do, I want to make my decision on my own.

I want my online community to provide me with security – the type of security that allows me to feel confident and safe to post my personal ideas and thoughts.  Not everyone is as excited or willing to start up a conversation with complete strangers, but if the community’s platform is managed correctly then people would be more willing to dive into a conversation or start one of their own.  It’s all about making the members feel like what they have to say is not only interesting, but necessary.  Community Managers can do this by asking questions and posting relative topics about the industry that the community is formed around.  Getting off topic can leave a lot of members wondering, “why did I join this group to begin with?”

While you may not develop the typical type of friendship in your online community that you would in the ‘real world’, you will definitely form business friendships.  Online communities can help people network better than ever before because you are guaranteed to meet people who are currently in your industry.  This offers you the option to explore different opportunities within your field; which could ultimately result in a career change or a chance to expand your business.  The more people you connect with who are also in your industry provides you with a business friendship that can stretch out across the world.  Understanding how different people operate within your selected field will help you become an expert in your profession.

Support has to be the most helpful quality an online community can offer you.  The business world is so competitive that at times we do not connect with out colleagues as much as we may want.  We are too worried that they could steal our ideas and pass them off as their own; or even worse they could view our questions as ignorance and try to use our weaknesses against us.  I know that sounds a bit harsh, but when you think about it, if there is an opportunity for a promotion and the candidates are you and one other person there is no telling what you or the other person would do in order to secure that position.  So, online communities takes all that stress away!  In your community you can share ideas, discuss best practices and get opinions on how you should better perform.  It truly is a win-win situation!

Written by Robin Ray

If you have done everything right (in how you have positioned your community or group), then we don’t think it’s hard to grow or build a community — just time consuming! Here are two, free and relatively simple strategies to help you grow your community or group.

Growth strategy #1:

Do everything you can do to attract (bribe, manipulate, flatter) high-profile members to join. When your community starts getting well-known bloggers, authors, high-profile leading consultants & executives (the kind that seem to be keynote speakers at industry conferences every week) to join, your community starts doing something very magical.

As with the Pied Piper, when the “big cheeses” join, their connections, followers, network and friends will soon start joining. These heavy hitters give you community validation.

How? Research your target market; make a list of “high-profile” people; and then write highly personalized emails/messages, explaining why being part of your group would be a good idea.

If they don’t take up your offer and join your community after your first outreach, be patient but also be persistent. Message them again in a month or two, this time telling them how well the community has grown, who else is now involved (big cheeses – like to be around other big cheeses) and any other key reasons why they should join.

Growth strategy #2:

Here is how we recommend you get the majority of your early members – use LinkedIn! It’s free, pretty easy, a little time consuming, but works a treat. This method can be applied both to building LinkedIn Groups, or any other community on any other platform.

How do you invite people using LinkedIn?

Did you know that you can message anyone that belongs to the same LinkedIn Group as you (except for the rare cases where someone has blocked that option)? Here is a great video produced by the UK Marketing Lounge showing you how:

As you can see from the video, the trick is joining the same groups as the people you want to invite into your community/group. The best way to work out which groups you should join, is to search out the people you want to target and at the bottom of their Linkedin profile is a list of the groups he or she belongs to.  Go through your search result and join all the groups that your target belongs to (LinkedIn allows you to join 50).

Once you are in the same group as your target, you can directly message/invite him to join your community or group. What’s vital when using this LinkedIn technique is always to add high levels of personalization in each and every invitation/message. Always use the invitee’s first name, mention the mutual group(s) that you both belong to and add a reference to his current position and the company he works for.

Besides LinkedIn, the principle of locating your targets on other social networks and inviting them with personalised invitations works exceptionally well.

There are a number of other growth strategies — which we will cover in future blogs — but for all those interested in starting and building their own groups and communities, you won’t go far wrong when implementing these two growth strategies.

If you would like to learn more about growing and building LinkedIn Groups and other communities I suggest joining the Social Business Communities Group on LinkedIn. It is a group dedicated to helping people interested in starting, growing and managing social business communities.

Remember – target well and always make it personal.

Written by Regan George

The saying “the lowest hanging fruit” should resonate with most entrepreneurs and small to medium sized business owners when the subject of marketing and marketing budgets comes up.

Its hardly rocket science, right? Exert the least amount of effort and budget for the greatest results.

However with so much social media and internet marketing noise not only clogging the airways but trying sucker you for your marketing budget — where is the REAL low hanging fruit these day?

For me and the majority of my entrepreneurial friends and buddies working in small to medium sized companies the answer is simple LinkedIn.com.

With LinkedIn you can choose to not pay a penny and stay a basic user but as long as you are willing to commit your time to being proactive —we have lots of BANG for NO BUCK!

Here are three basis actions you should be doing on a near-daily basis

1. Join the same groups as your potential customers and clients
2. Grow your network, connect with those potential customers and clients that are in the same groups
3. Actively communicate with potential customer and clients that are in the same groups – yes you are able to do this without paying! Make sure you DON’T go into overt sales mode when you do communicate – remember there is a subtle line between networking and sales!

If you spend half an hour every day doing two & three on this list you will start seeing why a lot of people think the lowest of all hanging fruit for B2B marketing is LinkedIn!

Written Regan George