Batteries Not Included

How community facilitators can help power the community

www.communities.idea.gov.uk

Batteries not included

Community facilitators help power the

community so choose your batteries wisely….

Here’s 11 tips that can help power your

community, especially around….

From stranger to passer by

From lurker to participant

From participant to regular

From passer by to lurker

Getting and Retaining members

.

So you have 21 days

Supposedly it takes 21 days for

something to become a habit.

So if that’s the case, if you can

keep new members of your

community engaged for their

first 21 days, they should

become hooked.

Tip 1 - Introduce yourself

Don’t send a standard e-mail.

Welcome the newcomer and ask relevant questions.

The goal here is to begin a conversation, a conversation that continues past the initial interaction.

Highlight discussions they might like to participate in. Give them something to do.

Tip 2 - Send them a welcome pack

CO

P A welcome pack brings newcomers up to speed with the

latest happenings in the community and its history.

Tip 3 - Advertise

Join us Update your email signature with a link to the community

Create some simple postcards or business cards with the what’s in it for me (WIIFM) for the potential

members

Tell people about it on other professional networks or social

networking sites e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn

Tip 4 - Introductions

Help to place the newcomer in a group with others. Ask those with similar interests or location to introduce

themselves

Tip 5 - lots of invites

Think about your potential audience and tailor your invites to each of them.

A personal message is better than a mass mail out.

Also ask your current members to invite new people

Tip 6 - Members Market Place

A marketplace could be seen as a ‘dating service’ for knowledge.

It identifies what people know and what they need to know on a particular subject, then connects them appropriately.

Tip 7 - Content

Content is key

Article’s

Presentations

Reports

Guides

Video

Etc

Tip 8 - Forum posts exchange

Strike a deal with members or facilitators of similar communities where you can cross post discussions and

help each other to stimulate discussion

Tip 9 - Newsletters

Read allabout it!

Tip 10 - Hire bloggers

Encourage key members or subject matter experts to blog on a regular basis.

This will give the community a heads up on

upcoming topics or an insight into the hottest

topics and events

Tip 11 - Hotseat

Hotseat’s are a useful tool that can be used within a Community of Practice; it

enables participants to ask the person or persons in

the hotseat questions, which they can post over a

set period of time.

Normally these questions and answer session are

hosted within the forum to help capture the responses.

Welcome them, give them pointers on

getting started, suggest topics where they might

participate, and tell them about any

interesting upcoming events.

Provide some reward to those who make the

effort

From stranger to passer by

Make personalised invitation

From lurker to participant

From participant to regular

From passer by to lurker

Getting and Retaining members

Make potential members aware of your

community

Building content that will attract members

Encourage members to bring in interesting

participants

Send an email to new members within 24

hours of their membership

Highlight community content

Create "small steps" for encouraging

participation, posting regular

questions or forum answers

ALWAYS greet newcomers, and encourage other

community members to welcome them.

Write a regular newsletter highlighting

your site and community People return to places

where they find a group of people to talk to. If

you do not have such a place, you will not be

able to retain members. No effort on your part, no matter how great, will create a regular

where there is no community

Facilitate members to find people to talk, through personal

profiles, highlighting member interests,

discussions, and so on.