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How do I build an internet community?

by Tobi Obermaier
12 replies
I created the basis for a community for customers and companies to meet. As a requirement, companies have to enter their product details and customers have to show up. I decided to start with companies, but they don't want to contribute to save their lives even though it helps them promote their businesses. Being asked, why, they do not give useful information like "our current strategy is different". How did successful businesses approach this problem?
#build #community #internet
  • Profile picture of the author createyouwealth
    Just because a few companies rejected doesn't mean to stop contacting more. Just keep contacting businesses and you will get some people to get on board and some that will just not respond.

    Don't give up
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    • Profile picture of the author Tobi Obermaier
      Sounds good, but I am still interested in how successful businesses approach this problem strategywise. Talk to huge companies only to create a pull effect "they are there, it must be trustworthy, I sign up", for instance.
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      • Profile picture of the author Enfusia
        This may sound difficult to do at 1st but your long term solution is customers.

        Why does everyone in IM fall all over themselves to get their pages on the serps? Because that's where all the eyeballs connected to wallets hang out.

        Get enough traffic to it and sell the traffic as your offer.
        Then the businesses will come running. They will run to the sound of money.

        Patrick
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        • Profile picture of the author Steve B
          Tobi,

          Why should anyone want to come to your site? Put yourself in the shoes of your potential customers and the companies you want them to deal with.
          1. Do you have a very compelling reason why they should visit?
          2. What benefit is your site over other venues they might visit?
          3. Is your site trust invoking, professional, and secure?
          4. Do you offer testimonials, social proof, and others' reviews?
          5. Is there activity, synergy, interaction, and business being executed on your site?
          6. You want businesses to come, but what's in it for them? Is this a place where their potential customers hang out?
          So many people fall in love with their own business ideas yet they are not able to get other people to share their enthusiasm.

          Think like you were a prospect for your own site (both from the eyes of the customer and from the eyes of the business). Is this the perfect place that you would like to visit? If not, make it such.

          Good luck,

          Steve
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          • Profile picture of the author Tobi Obermaier
            Why should anyone want to come to your site? Put yourself in the shoes of your potential customers and the companies you want them to deal with.
            Companies should want to come because it is free or cheap advertising. Also, it is a combination of off-line and online advertising, normally those two are separate. If I was using my site I would see a logo of a company with good reputation, which promoted my service. This should create trust. There's always a certain learning curve and I think even though this is very easy to understand and quickly to grasp, you still need to be interested in doing it. So I tried to make learning how to use the service as easy as possible but I can only go so far. I included what results could look like based on real-life examples, I showed, how many companies are already in there.

            Do you have a very compelling reason why they should visit?
            Definitely.
            What benefit is your site over other venues they might visit?
            It is exhausting. I try to limit myself to a certain niche but if you don't find it on my site, you are not going to find it somewhere else.
            Is your site trust invoking, professional, and secure?
            I tried my best to make my site trustworthy, professional and secure. I think I did a good job. Trustworthy it is because of the big names that joined, professional it is because I outsourced WebDesign and they did a good job and secure it is because I included a SSL certificate and I protected the passwords with salt.
            Do you offer testimonials, social proof, and others' reviews?
            No, none of that. I would have to make this up. Also it seems to me that testimonials and reviews is something that is more appealing to American people than German people.
            Is there activity, synergy, interaction, and business being executed on your site?
            What do you mean?
            You want businesses to come, but what's in it for them? Is this a place where their potential customers hang out?
            Definitely. Their customers ought to use my site to go directly to the businesses.

            So many people fall in love with their own business ideas yet they are not able to get other people to share their enthusiasm.
            My problem is that I do have visitors, but they are neither customers using the site nor companies adding more information. As I said, when talking to companies over the phone I often get the reply that their current strategy does not encompass a marketing approach like mine. Obviously that is a phrase that comes hard to me.

            Think like you were a prospect for your own site (both from the eyes of the customer and from the eyes of the business). Is this the perfect place that you would like to visit? If not, make it such.
            I do think it's a perfect place. The only disadvantage I have is that I couldn't test it with many people participating. So if there's an error that I didn't see and all of a sudden a lot of people would interact with the page (not to mention hackers), I could, but I don't have to run into problems.

            Good luck,
            Thanks for your good questions, mate.
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  • Profile picture of the author chrris
    Ask yourself 3 questions

    Am I being genuinely helpful?

    Am I being genuinely resourceful?

    Am I being genuinely useful?

    These questions are a bit redundant. However, if you are fulfilling any of these things then you are setting yourself up to be a good community leader. People organically gather around those who selflessly help others. The way to do that online is to create free content (videos, articles, ebooks, etc.) that answers your target customers questions and provides them with value.

    To get you started on creating helpful, resourceful and useful content, focus on the questions that your target customer (or in this case, target community member) are asking online.

    Aka Keyword research.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tobi Obermaier
      Am I being genuinely helpful?
      yes, I am.
      Am I being genuinely resourceful?
      yes I am, even though not with that special service. And given the fact that most marketing companies do the same over and over again without having unique selling propositions I noticed, that it does not necessary to be genuinely resourceful.
      Am I being genuinely useful?
      yes I am.
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    • Profile picture of the author RestlessBlaze
      Originally Posted by chrris View Post

      Ask yourself 3 questions

      Am I being genuinely helpful?

      Am I being genuinely resourceful?

      Am I being genuinely useful?

      These questions are a bit redundant. However, if you are fulfilling any of these things then you are setting yourself up to be a good community leader. People organically gather around those who selflessly help others. The way to do that online is to create free content (videos, articles, ebooks, etc.) that answers your target customers questions and provides them with value.

      To get you started on creating helpful, resourceful and useful content, focus on the questions that your target customer (or in this case, target community member) are asking online.

      Aka Keyword research.
      Best advice i have heard for a long time.I think, we think selling crappy products will make us riches. That do happen though, but then you have to be awesome in marketing.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tobi Obermaier
        RestlessBlaze, please contribute yourself.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tobi Obermaier
    I need more replies to this.
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  • Profile picture of the author kevingiles
    Provide "Value Content".....that's the Key to building an Internet Community Pure and Simple!
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    • Profile picture of the author Tobi Obermaier
      Originally Posted by kevingiles View Post

      Provide "Value Content".....that's the Key to building an Internet Community Pure and Simple!
      Pure, Simple and useless advice.
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