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"Where's Your Community?"
"Build a community and you're building a business."
That's the new and proven business model in cyberspace.
Hotmail.com, Geocities.com, ICQ.com. The list goes
on and on. These companies and thousands like them have
built thriving online businesses based on that model.
It's quite simple really. If enough "netizens" gather at
your site, finding a way to create revenue is easy!
You can sell them your products or services. You can
invite others to market to them and take a percentage.
You can collect advertising dollars. You can even invent
your own revenue model. The whole idea is this; when you
create an online community, a solid customer base simply
comes along for the ride.
Now, let's scale things down a bit. I realize that like
myself, many small business owners do not have the
type of capital it requires to create their own Hotmail
or Geocities business model. But that's not to say you
can't take advantage of the community building model!
Here's a prime example....
Visit http://bizweb2000.com/wwwboard and
you'll see one
of these "scaled down" communities. That URL is the
address of my "CyberMarketing InfoBoard". It is simply
a self-propelled community where anyone and everyone can
go to learn about internet marketing. Got a question?
Ask it there. Got a solution to someone else's dilemma?
Post your answers there.
Perhaps a bulletin board would tie in nicely at your
site? After all, a "Q & A forum" fits in well with
just about any subject matter, and it makes for a nice
community! If you're looking for repeat visitors to your
site, you won't find a better way to get them.
Before you jump right in though, here are a few tips to
consider before setting up a bulletin board at your site.
1. Wait until you have a decent flow of traffic to your
site before you open your board for business. A very
slow board can be worse than no board at all. If visitors
stop by your board and there are just handful of posts
over a long period of time, they may not return.
2. Choose a simple bulletin board interface like the one
I use at my board. Not only is it easy to navigate, it is
simple to moderate and remove posts as necessary. (More
on selecting an interface below.)
3. Don't try to run your board all by yourself. Hire a
small team of qualified moderators as I have done at my
board. Experts who know the value of networking will
gladly accept a position as moderator. My own moderators
spend an hour or so per week in trade for the name
recognition and new business it brings them.
Okay, are you ready to build your own board yet? Here
some details on making it happen...
A multitude of free "bulletin board cgi scripts" are readily
available on the web. My bulletin board cgi script came
from Matt's Script Archive at:
http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts
You can go to that URL and download Matt's WWWboard
or, if you prefer a different style, more bulletin board scripts
are available at:
http://www.cgi-resources.com
Once you settle on the actual script you want, you'll need
to install it at your server. This requires modifying the
files you download with the script, and uploading them
into the proper directories at your web server. Since most
scripts differ, it's best to read the "readme.txt" file
that comes with your script. It will spell out all the
details of installation.
Once your board is up, tend to it daily.
Don't allow blatant advertising or self-promotion at
your board. This makes for a board that people will not
bother to re-visit. You may want to post a "no advertising"
statement and police your board by removing undesirable
posts as quickly as possible.
As far as what posts get deleted and what stays at your
board, you have the final say. After all, you are the
moderator. It's your community. Tend to it wisely
and it will re-pay you many times over!
---
Article by Jim Daniels of <http://www.bizweb2000.com>.
Jim has been helping folks profit online since 1996.
If you're interested in the latest online marketing
techniques, get the Free BizWeb E-Gazette. Visit
www.bizweb2000.com or mailto:freegazette@bizweb2000.com
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