Ten tips for carving community

By Margie Clayman | January 13, 2011 |

Are you a stats fiend? I’ve never been much of a fan of stats myself, but there is one stat I’ve been unable to avoid in the Social Media world lately. Statistically, as you get to know more people, your blog views, your blog comments, and reactions to your tweets increase. Crazy, right? But how do you get there? Maybe you’re looking at a Twitter stream that seems more like a trickle right now. Maybe you look at other people interacting, other groups, other communities, and you’re thinking, “I just can’t envision how I’m ever going to get there.” You can get there. Here are ten ways to make it happen.

1. On Twitter, make sure that for every 1 tweet that you send out of your own, there are around 12 responses or promotions of other people. This is a tip from Chris Brogan, and while you don’t need to be super strict about the number 12, the key is to make sure that the ratio is definitely slanted outwards rather than inwards. This proves that you want to engage, it shows that you will promote others, and it allows you to show your personality.

2. Speaking of personality, be yourself. My friend Jillian recently wrote a post comparing Social Media to a 24/7 networking luncheon. It’s a brilliant analogy! Be friendly, be warm, but be professional, too.

3. Try to talk to 1 new person every day. Especially when you get started, this is a great way to interact with new people and to begin building relationships. For every person you meet, you are opening doors to access new perspectives, new people, and new communities.

4. Look for people with similar interests. One of the best ways to do this is to find communities that exist around specific common interests. For example, if you love blogging, attending #blogchat is a no-brainer. If you’re a B2B marketer, B2BChat is a no-brainer. The footwork has been done for you. You already know you have something in common with everybody.

5. Comment on and tweet out peoples’ blog posts. Draw a connection between your presence in the blogosphere and your presence on Twitter. Leave a thoughtful comment on a post to let the blogger know you really read and thought about his or her post, then go over to Twitter and promote it. Double the love makes anyone happy.

6. Don’t just talk about business. Get to really know people. Look for hints that people leave about their lives. If someone mentions that a daughter just got accepted to Julliard, respond with a hearty congratulations. If you learn of a loss, offer your condolences. These are easy, human, common sense things to do, but they are difference-makers.

7. Answer questions. People often use Twitter as a way to find out important information -it’s a natural platform for crowdsourcing, after all. If you see someone asking a question and you know the answer or you know someone who could answer, make sure you tweet it out. It’s really nice when you can recommend someone else, because then you’re helping 2 people at once, plus anyone “listening” who might have had the same concern or question.

8. Ask questions. Just as many people use Twitter to find out information, many people enjoy answering questions for other people. Sure it serves their own good, but people are generally good hearted and like to help. If you don’t get an answer, that’s okay. You might get responses from other people who have the same question and you can create community that way.

9. Don’t be a lurker or a wall-flower. The temptation is there just to dip your toe in, but unfortunately, you can’t build a community that way. You have to get out there and show people who you are and why they should take time out of their busy days to talk to you or read your blogs. There are very few mind readers in the Social Media space, you’ll find out.

10. Respond to other comments you see on blogs that you visit. Often times, there will be an overlap between a person’s blog community and a person’s Twitter community. Get to know those people in one place and you can likely carry it over into another platform. This doesn’t mean to pick fights with other commenters, by the way. It just means that if you like a comment, say so instead of just clicking “like.” It means as much to the commenter as it does to the blogger, certainly.

Make sense?

Have you tried some of these steps but you just aren’t seeming to get any traction? Do you have questions about any of these ideas? Go ahead and let me know in the comments!

Image by tim & annette. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/mexikids

Posted in Marketing Talk

15 Comments

  1. Katherine Salt on January 13, 2011 at 6:53 am

    Hi Margie
    I like the fresh way you have looked at this. I especially like tip 2. I find it can be difficult to know if you are doing the right thing and having a little metric like this is really helpful.

    Thanks

    Katherine

    • Margie Clayman on January 13, 2011 at 1:01 pm

      So glad it helped, Katherine! That’s what I’m here for.

      Thanks for commenting!

  2. Paul Flanigan on January 13, 2011 at 7:37 am

    My commenting here is a testament to the steps above. I would not have found you w/o Brogan, and I would not have commented had I thought there was nothing to contribute.

    Your steps have proven successful.

    One thing to add: The more you humanize your activity, the better the responses. e.g. don’t simply retweet, add in a couple of words on your own about what you’re retweeting. It makes it more personal.

    • Margie Clayman on January 13, 2011 at 1:01 pm

      I couldn’t be happier that it worked out that way, sir. 🙂

      Thanks for commenting and joining my community!

  3. One Jillian on January 13, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    I seriously think you could make this list into a great slideshare presentation. It’s a great list, and I agree on every point. I hope it is widely read and re-read. I certainly will refer back to it, to maintain my purpose in joining Twitter.

    Also – thank you for mentioning me in it! 😀

    • Margie Clayman on January 13, 2011 at 6:09 pm

      Thanks, Jillian. I shall keep that in mind.

      I was really inspired by the post of yours I linked to – I kept thinking about how you can go from that kind of “networking event” atmosphere to actually getting those people to be part of your crowd. Really, that’s pretty much what Social Media is all about. Or so it seems to me 🙂

      Thanks for commenting!

  4. Marlee on January 13, 2011 at 1:49 pm

    Awesome Tips Margie!

    I know you wrote #9 for me. 😉 I’m a lurker in the worst way.
    Mostly, because I don’t want to spend too much time doing
    “social” media activities because it feels like I’m not working.

    The irony is that part of what I want to do is build a community
    so by being lurker, I’m just shooting myself in the foot.

    It’s funny how we do that to ourselves sometimes.

    • Margie Clayman on January 13, 2011 at 6:10 pm

      We are great at building walls for ourselves. No doubt about it.

      For me, Social Media is extremely fun, but it is also an important part of my work. However, it doesn’t have to be a “this or that” issue. A lot of the time I spend is after hours – like right now. Weekends are good too. If you set expectations about your presence early, your community will get used to your ebbs and flows 🙂

      I’m so glad you are commenting here. You always have something great to add!

  5. John Tintera on January 13, 2011 at 2:35 pm

    Dear Margie,
    Thanks so much for this article! I’m new to Twitter and have mostly been a wallflower until now. I’ve especially been shy about writing directly to people I’m following. Your tips are very liberating for me!

    Many thanks,
    John Tintera

    • Margie Clayman on January 13, 2011 at 6:12 pm

      Very glad to hear it, John.

      Come into the stream and @ me when something is on your mind. We’ll get ourselves a conversation going. It’s one of the best ways to meet people.

      I also welcome you to test the waters Saturday night @ 9 PM EST. My friend Stan (@pushingsocial) and I run a chat called #tweetdiner, which is aimed at helping people new to Twitter meet new people, get used to it a bit, and ask questions.

      Hope to see you there!

  6. Joseph Ruiz on January 13, 2011 at 11:55 pm

    Great tips Margie. I love the way you never lose sight of what starting feels like. Thanks for the reminder to meet one new person a day. Although there is great benefit to this I find it very challenging. But, it’s a new year and i’ll add this to my list.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Joe

  7. Tweets that mention Ten tips for carving community | Margie's Library of Marketing Musings and Morsels -- Topsy.com on January 14, 2011 at 3:36 am

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by PatrickStrother, Gwynne Monahan , Twylah.com-Kelly Kim, JohnTintera, Jillian and others. Jillian said: Excellent read ===> RT @MargieClayman: Ten Tips for Carving Community: http://bit.ly/emMAup cc Jillian […]

  8. Dawn’s World Weekly News 1 14 2011 | Dawn Westerberg Consulting LLC on January 14, 2011 at 9:41 am

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