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  1. Monitoring Twitter effectively to find and build a community Posted in Community Management, Twitter, Concocted by Jason Bagley September 6, 2010 1 comment

    So you’ve registered and setup your Twitter account for your brand / company and you now staring at your only follower. You. What’s the next step in finding and building that online community? Use Twitter’s very own built in tools!

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  2. How do I build an online community? Posted in Community Management, Concocted by LouisJvR September 3, 2010 3 comments
    This months’ focus on Online Community at The Heavy Chef Project as proved to highlight some really exciting opportunities for businesses in terms of building profitable relationships with their customers and stakeholders. However, it has also opened-up a lot of questions – particularly around the question: “Ok, so what now?”
    A good starting point is to realise that there are in fact 3 Type of Communities you can “build” online:
    1. BUILD: This is where you create your own network/platform for people to join, for example Reebok’s GoRunEasy [Key differentiator: You built it. You set the rules. You control it.]
    2. RENT: This is where you create your own presence on an established network/platform, for example Lady Gaga’s Facebook Page [Key differentiator: You attract community. You set some rules, but you do not control it. The network does.]
    3. JOIN: This is where you identify an established community and then be part of that network, for example Star Wars: The Expanded Universe Forum [Key differentiatior: You are part of the community. You follow the rules. You have zero control.]
    So, if you decide to go the actual BUILD route, here are the 7 STEPS IN BUILDING AN ONLINE COMMUNITY:
    STEP #1: Define your objectives and be very clear in what your expectations are from this endeavour.
    STEP #2: Decide on what profile of people you are attracting to your community and then spend a great deal of time to find out their motivations for potentially joining and interacting within your community
    STEP #3: Think about the potential barriers of your typical community member. How tech savvy are they? What devices are they using to connect online? What is the level of internet connectivity they have?
    STEP #4: Have clarity in your call to action. Plan your community function, layout and creative so that it aligns your objectives with the motivations of your community members.
    STEP #5: Focus on balancing technical soundness with creative execution.
    STEP #6: Realise that if you build it, they in fact will not come. How will you attract members to your newly built online community?
    STEP #7: Be part of your own community. Interact relentlessly.

    This months’ focus on Community Management at The Heavy Chef Project has proved to highlight some really exciting opportunities for businesses in terms of building profitable relationships with their customers and stakeholders.

    However, it has also opened-up a lot of questions – particularly around the question: “Ok, that’s nice, so what now?”

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  3. 3 Things Lady Gaga is doing right in Community Management Posted in Community Management, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg September 1, 2010 5 comments

    She’s the “Queen of Twitter” according to Famecount and she happens to be the first living person to achieve 10 million fans on Facebook.  Famecount lists Lady Gaga as the most popular online entity worldwide, with more than 16 million Facebook fans and 330,000 YouTube subscribers. She is breaking records on all social media platforms. How does she do it? Read Further

  4. The Community Management grid Posted in Community Management, Social Media, Concocted by Mike Perk August 30, 2010 10 comments

    I see many digital agencies falling into the trap of thinking they are online community management ‘experts’ just because they have created a great campaign in Facebook with 50,000+ fans or have generated 10,000 Twitter followers for their client. Read Further

  5. 5 Tips for Building an Online Community Posted in Community Management, Concocted by Sachin Ranchod August 27, 2010

    Building an online community is definitely not an easy task. It involves a lot of perspiration leading to often unpredictable results. To make the process a little easier, here are 5 tips which we have picked up along the way: Read Further

  6. Three Key Stages of Growing a Community Online Posted in Community Management, Concocted by Fred Roed August 26, 2010 7 comments

    Community Building is something we’re very busy with at World Wide Creative (the digital marketing agency responsible for The Heavy Chef Project). We’re trying to build online communities around brands such as Honda, Virgin, Exclusive Books and even former South African minister Jay Naidoo, who, with his work on improving global nutrition, has become somewhat of a brand himself. Read Further

  7. What is Online Community Management? Posted in Community Management, Digital Marketing Basics, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg August 24, 2010 3 comments

    Online Community Management is a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. It’s fun and everyone loves a party. To keep the festivities going everyone has a part to play. Let’s do some role playing!

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