One of the most underutilized tools in the social media strategies employed by entrepreneurs and community leaders is the niche social network. It’s like having a Facebook like site for your brand or industry. Businesses exist within communities, and struggle every day to find ways to add value to those communities and to effectively engage with their audience. A social network can be the perfect way to accomplish all of these goals in one place.
There are a handful of tools that empower you to create a social network. The leader in the field is currently Ning, so this post will focus on them. Ning is also where I personally have a lot of experience. Comparable services include Grou.ps and SocialGO, among others.
Why create a social network?
If you’re an entrepreneur, you have an audience. It may be your market, and it may be your colleagues. It’s probably both, along with competitors, industry thought leaders, and resources. A community focused on your particular field, expertise, or niche market could very well provide the collaborative environment that your audience may not even realize they were missing.
Creating a thriving network will empower everyone around you to contribute to the development of your market. Watching the activity within that community will give you priceless insights into the needs, concerns, ideas, and issues that exist within your community.
What if a relevant social network exists already?
I’m a big believer in the value of very specific communities. Ning allows you to define your community as you see fit, and lots of communities spring up around very specific passions, themes, locations, businesses, and niches. Maybe you run an indie record label. Maybe you dig mountain biking in Lake Tahoe. Many of us would love to engage our local communities.
You may find networks in your space, and in many cases I would encourage you to join those communities and find ways to add value there. However, when you consider the ways you differentiate yourself as a professional, you should contemplate a unique community around those traits and values.
What kind of social network can I build?
Ning is a plug-and-play social network, with full functionality within minutes. You pick your niche, determine member profile questions, and turn on the features you’d like available on the network. It’s that simple.
Your network comes with a base tool set, RSS feeds, forums, ability to create groups, and user profile pages with comment walls. It includes a fully functional internal chatroom and (recently launched) status updates.
How are entrepreneurs using networks successfully?
The following are some great examples of the ways in which you might use a social network to engage your audience.
- Give It To Me Raw – Dhrumil Purohit’s community to augment his niche publication, We Like It Raw. (8k members)
- 20 Something Bloggers – A community for twenty-something bloggers has led to revenue partnerships on and offline. (8k members) (Disclosure: I own and operate this network with a partner.)
- Ask A Ninja Fans – Two improv comedians build a network around their podcasts. (12k members)
- TwitterMoms – Megan Calhoun built a business around moms on twitter. (19k members)
- Blog To Lose – A community that lead to a consulting company. (2.5k members)
- Waverley Kitchens – A mom and pop Indian food company manages their online sales and customers. (135 members)
- My Handmade Registry – Dorana, an Etsy seller, empowers Etsy lovers to connect and share Wish Lists. (900 members)
What makes a great network?
I listed networks of varying sizes, because the emphasis is not on the number of members you have in your community. A small group of enthusiastic members can not only benefit one another and yourself as an entrepreneur, but will lay a foundation for faster growth down the road.
Great networks are responsive to their community. Some features will prove more useful and rewarding to your particular audience than others. I run a blogger network; our forums are quite active, and we’ve utilized Events to promote activities that connect bloggers and introduce them to one another. A geographically local audience might focus heavily on offline gatherings. A photographer might build their community around photo sharing or video tutorials.
A crucial component to any successful community is the empowerment of its most active members. Let your biggest fans help you shape the environment. Give them a voice by featuring them, or enlisting their help to promote and maintain the community. Remember, this is a community…not a direct sales channel. Communities are not dictatorships.
Where is the downside?
Each do-it-yourself social network tool will have its limitations. Ning, as of this writing, doesn’t allow you to download your source code. That means that you can’t decide to leave Ning and take your members and activity history with you. This presents a challenge to anyone who’s built a large network, but would like full ownership over it top to bottom, say, in the interest of selling it.
In addition to that, a certain level of technical know-how is useful to anyone who’d like to customize these networks beyond the standard skins that Ning provides. I know many entrepreneurs who like to tinker and design their properties to match their overall image and brand, so it’s a consideration for them. That being said, the threshold is relatively low, and comparable to Wordpress theme tweaks or something similar.
It is pretty safe to assume that the breath of features, privacy settings, and numerous communication methods that these networks include will outweigh any difficulties the platform presents.
Some final thoughts:
The community you build should be one you want to be a part of. If you don’t see a need for a new community, then join and participate in one that exists in your space. The value you’ll get from the targeted niche communities in environments like Ning can be far more effective than working within the mega-networks like Facebook.
In the end, there is huge opportunity for insightful community building by entrepreneurs in nearly every field. Get out there and lay the foundation!
