Online Community Building is one of the most sought after and elusive goals in a Web strategy. Companies budget huge sums to perfect Online Community Building strategies as they seek to build customer relationships that create loyal consumers. Online Community Building is the concept of convening people in virtual space and describes a range of online activities including electronic collaboration, virtual networks, web based discussions or electronic mailing lists. Most of our communication takes place visually.
Many people jump into Online Community Building without identifying what they hope to accomplish with it. They are so eager to get people talking through an electronic mailing list or web discussion board that they forget to set goals and expectations. The result is a waste of time and resources with very little to show.
Commercial organizations harness Online Community Building to improve business efficiency and effectiveness. Similarly, modern Online Community Building provides both community information and a means of communication within and between communities. Building online community of users and customers is arguably as difficult as populating a real community. You are not just asking these folks to buy your product or service. You are also inviting them to stick around and talk. You are asking them to live there.
In any successful Online Community Building, the goals of the site owner and the needs of members must intersect. Your members need a reason to come back to your community time and time again. They have precious little time to devote to their entire web experience. If you can identify and fill a need in the lives of your community members then you can go a long way on very little technology. If you miss this, no amount of technology is going to make you successful as an Online Community Building.
Yet the Internet cannot build human networks faster. In fact, the Internet cannot build these networks at all. People must build them by investing time in planning and managing. When an organization builds a presence on the Internet, it competes with millions of Web sites, discussion forums and other online distractions. Fortunately, once a company has defined its goals and audience and committed staff resources to growing its online community, most of the remaining work involves developing proactive strategies to promote and engage the community.