Form Your Own Online Community    

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Written by Robert Rios | 13 December 2010

 Community websites are virtual communities or social networks of people who interact through specific media to pursue mutual interests or goals. There are numerous examples of community websites that are built around things such as weddings, pregnancies, the U.S. Constitution, etc. Building or participating in a community website is a wonderful way to engage in a group that holds similar interests to your own.

Small-business owners can create or participate in a community that is related to their business, products or services. Participation can position the small-business owner as an engaged community member, advocate, resource and expert in a particular area. It is fairly easy to create the community website but more of a challenge to have community members contribute and participate in the forum. (Using Facebook to create a group might be a great solution to this challenge as more and more users spend big chunks of their online lives on Facebook.)

If you do build a community website, here are some things to be mindful of:

Waiting is for the birds (and I am not referring to Rovio Mobile's Angry Birds)! Don't have prolonged down periods. Make sure that you have an intuitive way to easily contribute material and that the material is organized properly.

People want credit for their participation (and to buy new cars, too). Assign "status" to participation and longevity.

Advertising isn't really cool and this isn't the right platform for excessive banners and pop-ups. Information and resource sharing should be the most important aspect.

Having auto-media players that launch when someone visits your site can be very discouraging to someone who may be logging in at work. And, it is just not a good idea to not give someone the choice of playing the audio or video content.

Go out and build your network of like-minded people and maybe earn some business along the way.

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