Cultivating Your Online Community

Because you’re reading this blog, I’m going to assume that you’re already using social media to promote your business or at least considering it. Or, you may be using social networking to enhance your own personal credibility. While it doesn’t matter why you’re doing this, what does matter is how you’re connecting with your followers.

There are some people you connect with “just because.” Maybe they’re family, high school classmates, members of a book club…whatever. However, you should also connect with those you nurture as people who could buy your product or service or recommend you to others. These people are your community and you should focus on building and enhancing your relationship with them.

So, the first thing to consider is how to build your community—how do you get people to initially connect with you on your various social media sites? Think about who your target market is and more importantly, what you want them to do once you’re connected. You should have definite goals in mind for your community members. Do you want them to be “evangelists” for you and promote you to their connections? Do you want them to buy from you? Recommend you for a job? Tailor your messages to your goals for them.

One of the mistakes I often see is that people think that quantity is their ultimate goal. They believe the more people they connect with, the better. There is some truth to this. However, I believe it’s far more important to connect with the right people. If you have 10,000 followers on Twitter that sounds good, but if 9,950 of those people really couldn’t care less about what you do, then what is their value?

Now, I’m not saying you should unfollow those 9,950 people. What you should do is think of ways that you can get them to care! Some never will, but hopefully you can convince many of them about the importance of your message.

Building your community is a never-ending process. You should always be making new connections and building your network—and exploring additional social media platforms to use.

How do you enhance your relationship with them? It’s simple. Provide high-quality and relevant information on a consistent basis.

You also want to be a good member of their communities. Connect people who could be good partners. Share, repost and retweet their information. Promote them and what they do to your connections. I firmly believe that what goes around, comes around.

Every community, whether it’s online or in the “real” world, must be continually nurtured in order for it to grow. Think of this like tending your garden: pull the weeds (those who really don’t care and never will), plant new plants (make new connections) and fertilize the healthy plants (help those you’re connected with). In time, your garden will grow, be fruitful, and multiply!

One final thought…many times the “just because” connections can be the most valuable to you. Don’t forget to nurture them, too!