Month: March 2011

Lets banish two phrases from the branded community vocabulary.  “Tell us what you think”  “We want to hear from you”  (or any mixture of the

Outsourcing your community to a marketing agency is a terrible idea.  There are many, many, reasons for this. 7 of the most important are: Agencies

People join communities to learn. Your members are thirsty for knowledge – especially about your community’s topic. Your community must provide that knowledge. You must

The overwhelming temptation for brands is to push to get the benefits they want from a community. You want feedback right? Perhaps increased sales? Maybe

This is an extreme version of how most brands go about starting discussions and increasing activity in their community. Please don’t do anything like this:

Launch your community on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.  I prefer Tuesdays.

Asking members to tell their friends about the community never works. Members might tell their friends, but not because you asked them to. So stop

Don’t try to please your community’s vocal critics. I’ve had a few conversations recently with owners of large communities worried about their vocal critics. The

Rachel Happe and Jim Storer at the Community Roundtable have released the State Of Community Management report. It’s free to download and worth reading.