Two years ago I needed to have my backyard deck stripped of paint and stained. I had been looking online and could not find any companies that wanted to do the work I was requesting. A good friend of mine works for a home and door company in my area, so I asked him if he knew anyone that could do my job. He gave me the name of a company that he worked with in the past that does decks. I contacted them, and they were able to recommend a company who could fill my need. The deck came out great, and I could not be happier. A few months later I decided to have my front porch replaced. I ended up using the same deck guy, and was very happy with how the front porch came out initially. Actually the the front porch came out so nice that both my parents and my in-laws hired him to do work at their houses, thanks to my glowing recommendation. Two years later, I have a leaking roof and two sets of unhappy parents. Turns out he took a few short cuts, and while his work looked great initially, it did not last over time. Now I have to constantly listen to both my parents and my in-laws complain about how the deck guy screwed them. Lesson learned; word of mouth is a two way street. In business, and life in general, you are responsible for the recommendations that you give, not just the service that you provide.
Word of Mouth Is A Two Way Street
Building An Online Community: Part 3 – Nurturing Your Community
Welcome back for the final part of our series on how to build an online community. In our previous posts, we talked about Choosing the Right Platfrom and Growing Your Community. Now we will discuss the critical step of nurturing that community that you have worked so hard to build.
Have you ever seen the show “Yard Crashers” on HGTV? It is a backyard remodel show, where the host waits at home improvement stores looking for the perfect weekend warriors who could use his help. People go in thinking they’re just buying a bag of mulch, but instead come home with the host and his team, who completely transform their landscape. It happens to be one of my favorite shows on TV right now (and I don’t even have a backyard. Go figure), however, at the end of every show, I am left wondering, “what now?” What happens when the experts all leave and these people, who previously neglected their yard to the point of it needing a complete makeover, are left to handle it all themselves? Building a beautiful, lush, garden is hard work, but it all goes to waste if you do not continue to care for, and nurture it. Well, the same can be said about your online community. You can put all the hard work, time, and effort in the world into picking the right platform and building your community. But if you don’t continue to nurture that community, it was all a giant waste of time. Here are a few key tips to focus on once you have built out your community.
Building An Online Community: Part 2 – Growing Your Community
Welcome back to the NxtGen blog and our series about building an online community. Last week we started things off by explaining the importance of choosing the right social media platform in order to build your community. Now that you have done your due diligence, and decided what platform you are going to use to broadcast your message, we are going to look at the next step of the process: Growing Your Community. Below are some key areas to focus on when starting to build your community.
Act Like a Host
Picture this. You get this amazing invitation to attend “the party of the year”. It promises to be filled with a ton of people, and all kinds of fun and entertaining events. You decide to go to the party, even though you don’t know anyone else going. When you arrive, nobody greets you, or introduces you to any of the other partygoers. You walk around for a while awkwardly introducing yourself to a few people trying to figure out if you have anything in common. A half hour into the party, you are so bored, you end up sneaking out while nobody is looking. Sounds pretty awful right? Well how is that any different than joining a group online, where they promise you all kinds of great stuff in order to get you to join, and then once you do, nothing! No interaction. No engagement. No perks. Nothing! When trying to build an online community, you have to act like a (good) host. Be courteous to members. Thank them for being a part of your community. Introduce them to other members that they have common interests with. Offer them unique and exclusive content or specials. Make sure they know you are there for them and that you are happy to have them!
Building An Online Community: Part 1 – Choosing a Platform
I am sure you are sick and tired of everyone telling you that you need to start using social media for your business. Hopefully by now you’ve read all the articles, seen all the numbers, and are ready to jump on board the social media train. If so, good for you! In order to help you get started, I have put together a 3 part series on how to build an online community. This week, we are going to start off with maybe the most important element in your social media plan: Choosing a Platform.
I am lucky enough to have had the pleasure of seeing Scott Stratten, author of the book UnMarketing, speak a couple of times in the last year. In his speeches, as well as in his book, he talks about the importance of picking one platform when starting out in social media. Scott says, “Build a small stage-your platform-that you’re going to stand on and get people to come to. Pick one place where you want people to find you and play your best “show” there for as long as it takes to build a solid following”. This advice really stuck with me, and is something I always recommend to people who are starting out in social media. Especially small business owners, who already feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to do everything they need to get done. The last thing they need is to have to commit to updating several different social media sites. People tend to jump onto multiple platforms right away (whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn, etc.), and then expect to have a huge following just because they are “on social media”. The reality is, unless you are a huge, recognizable brand, this is not going to be the case. However, if you choose one platform to really invest your time and energy in, you can create a really great, engaged, and interested community, that in time will allow you to expand into other platforms as well. So, how do you know what platform to start with?
Lessons Learned from the NBA Finals
While watching game 6 of the NBA Finals Sunday night, the last thing on my mind was business. I am a huge basketball fan, and as a basketball fan, I couldn’t help but appreciate the level of basketball that was being played in this series. I must admit, I was a pretty happy guy as those final seconds ticked off the clock. I, like so many other people in the country, wanted to see LeBron James and the Miami Heat go down. I was enjoying it so much, that I decided to stay up a little later and check out some of the post game report. It was during the post game report, that I heard Magic Johnson, one of my all-time favorite players (and fellow Michigan State Alumni!), say something that really stuck with me. Since it was kind of late at the time, I didn’t really give it much thought that night. But as I watched more and more coverage the next day, I realized what a great lesson it was, and how it applies to life and business, as well as sports.