Why Most Organizations Shouldn’t Try To Create An Online Community

April 27, 2010Comments Off on Why Most Organizations Shouldn’t Try To Create An Online Community

Most organizations really want a big following, not a community.

A following is an audience that interacts with you. A community is an audience that interacts with each other.

A big following suits organizations that sell commodity, non-sociable, products. Coca-cola is a great example. Huge following, but no community. Likewise nearly all bloggers have followings, not communities. Many politicians, authors, salespeople also have great followings. Big followings are built by engaging with as many people as possible, creating great content, promotions/discounts, coverage in top blogs etc…

A community suits organizations that sell sociable and highly engaging products/services. Communities are small, highly engaging and exclusive. Software products often benefit from communities. As do manufacturers of niche products (e.g. Samurai swords, metal detectors etc…). Communities are built by interacting with a small group of people, initiating events and discussions that foster interactions between this group and soliciting ego, time and emotional investments from members.

You only need a community when your audience has a desire to talk to each other and when there is a benefit (to the audience!) from talking to each other. Very, very, few organizations fit this criteria. Perhaps as low as 1 in 10. 

If you hope to build a community with a following approach, you're going to be disappointed. If you hope to build a following with a community approach, you're going to be even more disappointed. 

Most of the time you're better off trying to build a big following. Just don't mistake the two.

Comments Off
©2023 FeverBee Limited, Apartment 2410, 251 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 6FN England FEVERBEE

We’d like you to join us.

We’re a group of community professionals who push each other to the cutting edge of our work. Every day we share our experiences, highlight new expertise, and push one another to become the best community builders we can be.

The day you join, you’ll get access to 1000+ practical tips, dozens of resources, and unlimited access to the top experts in our space. You’ll also get to see how we go about building a community amongst our own audience.

It takes just 30 seconds and doesn’t cost a thing.

CLICK HERE AND JOIN FEVERBEE

Level Price  
ALL COURSES $750.00 per Month.
Select
Community Development Program $1,100.00 per Month.
Select
Director of Community $8,770.00 per Month.
Select
Free Trial - Accelerator Program Free.
Select
Community Accelerator (founding members) [annually] $250.00 per Year.
Select
Community Accelerator and FeverBee Intelligence [monthly] $45.00 per Month.
Select
Community Accelerator and FeverBee Intelligence [annually] $450.00 per Year.
Select
Full Community Upgrade (Large Enterprise Only) [monthly] $750.00 per Month.
Select
Full Community Upgrade (Large Enterprise Only) [annually] $7,600.00 per Year.
Select