In my 10 years experience in building communities I have come across a lot of things that work and many things that dont. While working for a software company who built collaboration tools I have seen many companies look to deploy "Community" on their websites. I think the biggest issue I've seen is that fact that people think that if they place a message board or a chat room on their website that people will just flock to it.
Socializing in a community is the biggest factor in what makes a community successful. You can go out and buy the most expensive software application for putting up a community but if you cant get people to socialize amongst themselves the investment will never pan out.
Here are some tips that I think are important to anyone who wants to establish a community.
1. The tools do not really matter, it is the people using the tools. Most community usage is from repeat users not new members.
2. Promote socializing. The more groups you can form in your community the bigger it will grow. 3. Use the tools yourself. If your employees are contributors to the community people will flock to them. Everyone wants to be at the party with the popular people.
4. Put the time in. It can take years to establish community on the internet. Unless you have a ton of $ the chances are it will take time to grow.
5. Set reasonable expectations for community growth. If you grow 1% a month that is a huge milestone. Most website have les then 1% of their total membership using the tools at any given time.
brodle
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