Communautés : Articles

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        "Build a community and you're building a business." That's the new and proven business 
        model in cyberspace. 
      
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        Hotmail.com, Geocities.com, ICQ.com. The list goes on and on. These companies and 
        thousands like them have built thriving online businesses based on that model. 
      
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        It's quite simple really. If enough "netizens" gather at your site, finding a way to 
        create revenue is easy! 
      
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        You can sell them your products or services. You can invite others to market to them and 
        take a percentage. You can collect advertising dollars. You can even invent your
      
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        own revenue model. The whole idea is this; when you create an online community, a solid 
        customer base simply comes along for the ride. 
      
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        Now, let's scale things down a bit. I realize that like me, many small business owners do 
        not have the type of capital it requires to create their own Hotmail or Geocities
      
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        business model. But that's not to say you can't take advantage of the community building 
        model! 
      
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        Here's a prime example.... 
      
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        http://bizweb2000.com/wwwboard and you'll see one of these "scaled down" communities. That 
        URL is the address of my "CyberMarketing InfoBoard". It is simply a
      
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        self-propelled community where anyone and everyone can go to learn about internet 
        marketing. Got a question? Ask it there. Got a solution to someone else's dilemma?
      
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        Post your answers there. 
      
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        Perhaps a bulletin board would tie in nicely at your site? After all, a "Q & A forum" fits 
        in well with just about any subject matter, and it makes for a nice community! If you're
      
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        looking for repeat visitors to your site, you won't find a better way to get them. 
      
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        Before you jump right in though, here are a few tips to consider before setting up a 
        bulletin board at your site. 
      
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        1. Wait until you have a decent flow of traffic to your site before you open your board 
        for business. A very slow board is worse than no board at all. If visitors stop by your
      
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        board and there are just handful of posts over a month-long period, they may not return. 
      
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        2. Choose a simple bulletin board interface like the one I use at my board. Not only is it 
        easy to navigate, it is simple to moderate and remove posts as necessary. (More on
      
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        selecting an interface below.) 
      
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        3. Don't try to run your board all by yourself. Hire a small team of qualified moderators 
        as I have done at my board. Experts who know the value of networking will gladly
      
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        accept a position as moderator. My own moderators spend an hour or more per week in trade 
        for the name recognition and new business it brings them. 
      
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        Okay, are you ready to build your own board yet? Here are some details on making it 
        happen... 
      
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        A multitude of free "bulletin board cgi scripts" are readily available on the web. My 
        bulletin board cgi script came from Matt's Script Archive at: 
      
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        http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts 
      
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        You can go to that URL and download Matt's WWWboard or, if you prefer a different style, 
        more bulletin board scripts are available at: 
      
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        http://www.cgi-resources.com 
      
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        Once you settle on the actual script you want, you'll need to install it at your server. 
        This requires modifying the files you download with the script, and uploading them into
      
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        the proper directories at your web server. Since most scripts differ, it's best to read 
        the "readme.txt" file that comes with your script. It will spell out all the details of
      
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        installation. 
      
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        Once your board is up, tend to it daily. 
      
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        Don't allow blatant advertising or self-promotion at your board. This makes for a board 
        that people will not bother to re-visit. You should post a "no advertising" statement and
      
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        police your board by removing undesirable posts as quickly as possible. 
      
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        As far as what posts go and what stays at your board, you have the final say. After all, 
        you are the moderator. It's at your site, so it's your community. Tend to it wisely and
      
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        it will re-pay you many times over! 
      
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        Article by Jim Daniels founder of JDD Publishing. You can read more of Jim's articles at: 
        http://bizweb2000.com/articles.htm Jim has been helping folks profit online since
      
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        1996. If you're interested in the latest online marketing techniques, get his Free BizWeb 
        E-Gazette. mailto:freegazette@bizweb2000.com 
      
    </p>

Communautés : Articles

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