It is sad when a community of bloggers fails.  But the reasons for failure aren’t usually that different each time it happens, in our experience.

There is often:

o too much focus on features and technology – whilst these can be interesting and relevant, they’re not the driving force of a vibrant blog community

o lack of focus on how to get new visitors/members and get dialogue going – again, too much focus on the shape of the site and its clever structure can detract from what’s really important – the community itself

o poor attention to why people would just in the first place – is your community supposed to be cutting edge, information, fun, a mix of things?

Above all else, the community has to have ‘stickability’.  Whilst new visitors and users = great, remember that repeat, loyal visitors are like gold dust to your community.  And to get people to come back, they must get some enjoyment as well as benefit – we really feel that the ‘fun’ piece is crucial.

Do not underestimate that people are generally ‘lazy’ when they use the internet.  I know I am. That comes from the vast number of competing sites/offerings.  E.g., if one forces you to login and share your details, will you use that or will you use the one which has no ‘barriers’ to entry.  Generally, unless the first one has real ‘gravitas’, you’ll go for the second one.

Your target audience – and the real demographics of your traffic – must never be forgotten or confused.  You simply cannot be vague about who you’re trying to reach out to, how old they are, what their interests really are, where they’re based.  To be vague about this is like a business being vague about its core business plan.

Unless you’re a mega-brand (in the world of consumer electronics, Apple would be the obvious example), your products or service offerings are unlikely to have enough kudos for people to want to build a community discussion around them.  Your community must be held together by another type of glue: a common interest which, although it may link in some way to commercial activities (if you’re in this for business), is actually driven by something bigger than that.

You may have an online community in your stable of websites already.  Or you may be nurturing one.  Either way:

o don’t play the big ‘moderator’ and be too restrictive about topics and discussions.  It’s a turn-off for users to be told off – think “school kids”!

o don’t be too restrictive about topics – the best communities set and police their own rules

o invite and maintain the right users, not everyone you encounter or know simply to build the community – otherwise what are you really building? the community, its essence, is its users

Remember, online communities will typically mirror real life.  They won’t be perfect, but very little that’s of interest is perfect.

See you, CB