Have you ever wondered how you could build a community around your business? It would be nice to have a bunch of people who willingly come together and share their thoughts and opinions about your business, wouldn’t it? Before you think it’s impossible to create such an environment around your company, let me explain.
A community can be defined as a group of people sharing the same interests and ideas. That’s what makes social media so amazing because it allows people from all over the world to come together online and communicate with each other about the common interests they all share.
It’s really easy to get people to come together and communicate about your business. Just like in real life, you engage the people who share your same interest then you start a conversation. Of course online, your conversation would be in the form of content. It’s up to you to determine in what way people would like to receive content from you, for example: video, articles, tweets…you get the idea. Content is what brings people together therefore, it creates a community.
If you have established your business online even if it’s to the smallest degree, you’ve probably already connected and have some sort of relationship with people who believe in what you are doing. Well guess what? These are the people who are a part of your community!
Now all you have to do is continue to focus your content at speaking directly to your community. So many times I have seen bloggers and internet marketers try to reach such a broad group of people and it comes through in their writing as generic and bland. You can’t please the masses, you have to connect with people who share your interests.
When your able to share your experience with your community and give content to them that creates interaction and sparks communication, they will be willing to engage because they know you understand their needs and offer solutions.
Creating a community doesn’t have to be difficult. You don’t even have to start your own social network (unless of course you want to!) You could however, start a group in an existing social community like TheCEOMamma Network.
Your Blog is also a great way to share your content and encourage interaction with your readers. You can get really creative by asking questions to your readers and requesting feedback or opinions. Having a Facebook Fan Page for your business makes a great community environment as well. It will require a bit more moderation and active participation on your part, but it’s still a good way to build relationships.
Believe it or not, Twitter can be great for creating your business community too! You can quickly share information and links with other people who share your interests. It gives you a way to invite them into your space and allows them to learn more about you and what you do.
As you can see, creating a community around your business is not only easy but can be fun as you connect with like minded people and grow your business at the same time!
Are you building a community around your business? How are you doing it? Share your tips in the comments below.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tamyka Washington, Chineze Butler. Chineze Butler said: Creating a Community Around Your Business http://bit.ly/9Lkfb2 – courtesy of @TheCEOMamma [...]
Tamyka, this is easier in theory than in reality. My client gives me work, I put it online – I find work easier than creating community. I’ve been working at creating community through my blog and Facebook Fan/Like page, but it takes time and energy. I keep trying to think of what would grab interest easily and create at least a little bit of discussion. My latest aim is to create mini-discussions every few days on my FB fan page.
Leora, I do agree with you, creating community does take a great deal of time and energy. I think the task of discovering what our audience wants or expects from us can be challenging at times. I have found that posting a regular weekly discussion on my Fan Page, asking Fans to share their weekly accomplishments and goals has been a great start! Creating community does take work, but I feel it will benefit everyone in the end!