You don’t need a website to have a community. You just need a group of people who feel they are in a community.
Most communities don't have a central website. Even the online community community (not a typo) doesn't.
It's cheaper if you don't and you can launch your community today.
Invite your current customers to talk to each other online. Write some guidelines for doing it well and coach them where needed. Give them plenty to of topics to talk about.
Now make it dead simple to find other customers to talk with.
Create a list of the top members of your online community and where they can find them. This can replace your testimonial page. If you're a small business, add a few top community bloggers to the purchase receipt or invoice.
Agreed, it's as simple as that. A community is made up of people, not necessarily a website, book, building, brand name, etc.
Posted by: Henk-Jan van der Klis | Friday, 02 January 2009 at 08:20