Blog post August 2009

Our orange paint was shiny and new when we moved in to 100 Victoria Street nearly ten years ago, but we’re bursting at the seams now and so it’s time to move on. Things have changed hugely in the last decade.

When addressing how best grow communities of practice (CoP) it’s wise first to consider what type of communities we are talking about. Typically these communities are by definition common professional, situational or vocational groups, for example professional trade and industrial associations. They are often relatively small in size, especially in comparison to large consumer-driven sites where the social ties are much looser, but the number of members far greater.

A nod of the head, a shared glance, a warm smile, the soft timbre of the voice, a light touch on the arm, a hint of perfume – the subtle nuances of everyday conversation can never be replaced by a stark screen and the clatter of a keyboard. So why should I give up some of my precious time to join your ‘online community’?

As we look forward into 2010, we find ourselves focussing on closing more deals and spreading the word about what we do more effectively. We've already increased our marketing efforts, and now we're ready to bring a Head of Sales & Marketing into the team.

Of course, a background in social media, online publishing or membership organisations and the third sector will be a distinct advantage, but we're keen to hear pitches from anyone with a strong background of managing a sales team, generating leads and closing deals.

One of the key challenges facing communities, especially in their early stages of development, is the need to get people engaged. Later on in a community's development this evolves into providing feedback to your top contributors, as demonstrated in recent HP Labs research.

Different types of online communities require different approaches.  We hear a lot about consumer-driven communities with large numbers of members, or business to business communities for select professionals, but less of the needs of member organisation’s online communities. Understanding the needs of your audience, whether through intensive market research, creating personas of your typical audience types and their needs, or benchmarking what your competitors are offering, all has a part to play.

Publishers exist because authors and journalists cannot afford to manufacture, distribute and sell their creations. The publisher will bear the costs in exchange for taking the lion-share of the rewards. It’s not surprising that any book publisher stands or falls by backing ‘best sellers’ or any controlled-circulation magazine publisher needs to mail out to a significant proportion of the target audience as defined by its advertising clients.