Business History Books » Business Consultant » It takes a Village
It takes a Village
Question:
> The community "suites" and clients within them interact for networking and > exchange links and information if their sites are related and > non-competitive.
What is a good definition of "networking"? What does it mean to "network"? Are there conscience goals with "networking"? Having worked in the field for years now, I am interested in finding out what people mean when they say "networking".
Response:
I hope this answers your question. I am apart of a business opportunity that involes network marketing. And the way it is design for example, when I recuit brokers, I success after they success. The more people I help I move up to higher levels. After I help a total of 18 people I reach the highest level. When they help people they move up to higher levels, but you can only move up by networking or helping people. So I think networking is people helping people. I think the Idea of what you are talking about may be similar, if I understand you correctly. I hope this helps – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> The community "suites" and clients within them interact for networking and > exchange links and information if their sites are related and > non-competitive. > What is a good definition of "networking"? What does it mean to > "network"? Are there conscience goals with "networking"? > Having worked in the field for years now, I am interested in finding out > what people mean when they say "networking".
Response:
>> Like to hear from you folks that see developing community > as the way to bring your target market together rather > than reaching them otherwise. >What would be beneficial is a place where all types of consultants, free >agents, etc…, could post their resumes and which could be searched by >others in assembling these virtual teams. A place where someone could >look for an internatinal accountant with experience in Luxemborg and >Spain
Jim There are a few of us working on projects of this sort at various levels in Europe – at IWS, we can deal only with teleworkers based in west Wales due to our European grant parameters, but we tie in with TeleMart Europe which should be a meta version of our project. For details on TeleMart, contact Regards, Sian Thomas Marketing Co-ordinator – Cydlynydd Marchnata IWS – Innovative Work Solutions "Y gerdd orau, cerdd at dy waith." http://www.telecottages.org/iws +44 (0) 1437 766441
Response:
I strongly agree that communities work online just as well as offline. Through personal experience as the NOVA PLAZA community administrator, I’ve seen many benefits to an online community setting. The community "suites" and clients within them interact for networking and exchange links and information if their sites are related and non-competitive. This particular community is marketed towards the small and home-based businesses in America. The community offers many free services and resources. This includes a free business resource library, free virtual business cards, and a free business e-zine. In summary the benefits of an online business community is the interaction and networking as well as targeted marketing. Marketing for an online community which offers many services will attract "a back door" if you will to sites that might otherwise not have been seen. Marketing is usually done for the main entry to the community helping to attract like-minded individuals or your targeted market. Communities offline can also offer many similar benefits.. in my head I am picturing the small sub shop in town… most would never go there TWICE… but, they’re right off the highway and next door to a Wal-Mart in a nice plaza like setting… their small establishment benefits from the marketing and the traffic from the larger locations. I have witnessed the same online. Would love to hear your thoughts. Colleen Shimkoski http://www.novaplaza.com – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >We find all kinds of villages or rather communities online; >web sites, lists, digests, newsgroups. >Like to hear from you folks that see developing community >as the way to bring your target market together rather >than reaching them otherwise. >Lets hear your experience, what to do and what not to do. >What does the future hold for online communities? >Anyone feel communities are not the way to go?
Response:
I’ll throw my thoughts into the hat here… I’m very strongly in favor of online communities. I set up and run one for the market research industry that has seved both us, and our visitors very well. However, I often see questionnable methods of implementing online communities too… Frankly, some of the tactics people use in online community building crack me up. Too often they are not targeting the correct audience. They are often targeting competitors even. For example, why would a web design company create a HTML Help Site? If the plan is to sell hosting or some other service also, this makes perfect sense. If your plan is simply to sell HTML coding services, you MAY (big MAY) be barking up the wrong tree. You may get a small number of visitors who get too frustrated to continue on their own, see your name at the top of the page, and decide to give you a call, but not many. A web design company would better be served by creating an online community for a defined market, either geographically or by industry. On the other hand, there are situations where this is appropriate. One of my favorite online communities is Virtual Promote (http://www.VirtualPromote.com). There is a lot of discussion there about search engine placement. Good search engine placement is a VERY tough endeavor, and I’m sure they get more than their share of business from frustrated do-it-yourself’ers. Much more than somebody running a HTML help site. In summary, I’m just saying that it’s important to target your best possible market when building a virtual community. If you are a mortgage company (assuming your objective is to bring in sales), don’t develop a site to teach reps how to close more deals. Develop a site of interest to homeowners and potential homeowners. That is all. Scott W. Spain W3 Resources, Inc. http://w3home.com
Response:
John Gerits writes: >We find all kinds of villages or rather communities online; >web sites, lists, digests, newsgroups. >Like to hear from you folks that see developing community >as the way to bring your target market together rather >than reaching them otherwise. >Lets hear your experience, what to do and what not to do.
When I first started in beading, I was completely amazed at the proliferation of beading websites, newsgroups and mailing lists. I found a huge online presence that has grown in the two years since I started participating. I’ve found that mailing lists, in particular, are great community builders. We have people from all over the country, and several from other countries, participating, many who have no local bead shops or resources. They can share their joys and disappointments with other people who understand. >What does the future hold for online communities?
I think what happens in our bead mailing list is a strong indicator for what online communities will continue to do. When I went to a small bead workshop in Florida, I had about half a dozen other beaders come up to me and introduce themselves, who turned out to be "online friends" from the list. Instantly, we were able to continue conversations held online, and there wasn’t any of the awkwardness that usually occurs when you meet someone new. At least once a week someone will post that they will be traveling somewhere, and someone else on the list will tell them the best places to go, and often will schedule a meeting with them. When there is a large conference or other bead event, people start making plans well in advance so that they can have a "reunion" at the event. What this shows is that even though people are connecting through online communities, there is still a face-to-face element that people crave. However, the online communities present so many options that people wouldn’t otherwise know about. I’ve discovered new magazines, conferences, workshops, and such that I never would have known about otherwise, since I live in a fairly small town with no local bead shops. My online presence has allowed me to make friends who I never would have met up with in "real" life, including people from England, Australia and Canada. >Anyone feel communities are not the way to go?
<grin> Not me! I haven’t talked about marketing yet, but one of the major topics in the mailing lists is questions from people about where they can get this or that product. I’ve had dozens of requests from people wanting to know where they could buy my book, as well as requests for clarification of an article I had published in a magazine. This feedback allowed me to see a need which I filled by posting a clarification on my website. This in turn has led to more requests about the book. In general, participating gets my name out there, and there is a recognition factor which is hard to quantify. But I know that people are more likely to buy a book authored by a familiar name rather than someone they never heard of before. I think the same is true of any product – isn’t that the whole idea of marketing, to obtain (positive) name recognition? Mary J. Winters-Meyer The Beading Banshee Handcrafted Bead Art and Designs http://www.freeyellow.com/members/beading-banshee/
Response:
To be taken with a grain, nay an entire carton, of salt… SNIP IMHO SNIP IMHO SNIP IMHO SNIP and SNIP and SNIP IMHO… Q: Is there any such thing as a _humble_ opinion? 
jim —
Response:
> We find all kinds of villages or rather communities online; > web sites, lists, digests, newsgroups. > Like to hear from you folks that see developing community > as the way to bring your target market together rather > than reaching them otherwise.
I don’t know if I can bring my target market together in cyberspace. When I am brought in, most companies would not want their competitors to know my company is involved. Internally, they might not want the employees to know. Sometimes it is important for me to operate in the shadows. What cyberspace allows is a "true" virtual company to function. Not the "shell" organizations which are written up in the popular press. On various projects, my business links up with a variety of other internet savvy specialists to handle consulting projects. Each of us in the grouping has an area of expertise and we form up a project team which membership varies according to the needs of the client. What would be beneficial is a place where all types of consultants, free agents, etc…, could post their resumes and which could be searched by others in assembling these virtual teams. A place where someone could look for an internatinal accountant with experience in Luxemborg and Spain… a production engineer with experience in nuclear power plant design and working experience in France, and so on… (BTW, I DO NOT NEED THESE INDIVIDUALS, they are for example only!). Call it a free agent registry. The biggest problem I see with this registry is verification of the member’s resume. Of course there are other problems. I know this is not quite the question you asked, but we are in the ballpark. jim BTW, my areas of interest are competitive intelligence and marketing research. —
Response:
We find all kinds of villages or rather communities online; web sites, lists, digests, newsgroups. Like to hear from you folks that see developing community as the way to bring your target market together rather than reaching them otherwise. Lets hear your experience, what to do and what not to do. What does the future hold for online communities? Anyone feel communities are not the way to go?
Response:
[Mod: Hey Michael, how about sharing your experience of your I-Barter List community, along the lines Gary of E-Marketing Digest has done?] John Gerits writes:
<snip> > Like to hear from you folks that see developing community > as the way to bring your target market together rather > than reaching them otherwise.
Well, from my experience (FME) online communities are Great! We are beginning to see individuals of like interest and/or mind help one another out and work together, like IMHO you have a hard time finding in "meat space"! Further, the speed of which concepts and discussions can evolve in "internet time" in these communities is far quicker than the same evolution in "meat space" therefore, IMHO, we, the Netizens, may well realize a competitive advantage due to this adaptability, quick access to information and nimbleness in implementation. Don’t you agree? > Lets hear your experience, what to do and what not to do.
FME – do participate in moderated online communities! – email discussion lists, newsgroups, forums, chats, etc. You really benefit when you actively participate! Be helpful! Give before you expect to Get! Don’t *spam*, send UCE to the list or overly self-promote! IMHO the key to "real succuss" in benefiting from online communities is establishing and building relationships with other members. This takes time and effort, but again IMHO, this is where the future pay-off lies! > What does the future hold for online communities?
IMHO, I believe you with see the "good" ones continue to spring up and grow while those that are unmoderated will be *killed by spammers*, if they haven’t been rendered effectively dead already, and those that don’t really provide any benefit for participating will simply "fade away" Further, I can envision that the "good communities" with begin to work together even more for there mutual benefit. I have started seeing more and more of this already and I can see it growing and really taking off! Perhaps, one (I) should "coin" the term "super-community" for this type of community of communities? What do you all think? Find and help the "good ones" and IMHO you will benefit! > Anyone feel communities are not the way to go?
Obviously, not me! Hope this helps, – Michael S. DeVries Moderator, the I-Barter Moderated Discussion List Moderated Discussions of Trade / Barter in Business