Posts filed under 'Online communities'
Human beings need to connect, to communicate, and to collaborate to survive and thrive.
I’m a member of many communities, some geographically based, some virtual. One community, Web 2.0 Community and Business, is a community about community, aren’t we?! We’re a virtual community of like-minded people who are committed to developing and learning how to create and thrive in a virtual community. And to collaborate, co-create, and thrive we need accountability and commitment.
Today I got an email from one of my local colleagues, David Brown. He’s a coach and an alumni of IBI / CEO Space. That means he’s part of our tribe…
He sees “community as being the structure that creates a sense of belonging. A space that taps into peopleʼs longing, imagination and possibility. A space that calls people to organize around something larger than who they are or what they can envision individually. A space from which completely new futures can emerge.
In a workshop he attended, the host, Peter Block, spoke of a statue of a man, blindfolded, hammering himself into shape, forming himself from the inside out. That image was shared in the context of what is the purpose of a community: to rediscover its capacity and its gifts, and create from there.
David goes on to say “I also have a vision. I see an organizational culture that is a community of peers where communication flows freely and there is a natural sense of ownership, pride, cooperation and support, like in a well run healthy family business. We care, we listen and we help each other out, because our primary concern is for the well-being of the whole. Complaints become requests and promises are our word.”
If you like what you’ve read so far, click on this link and read Summary of the Six Conversations that Build Accountability and Commitment.
This is a core conversation I’d like to have with YOU!
What’s your vision of community and how do you see us moving toward healthy, happy, whole communities of healthy, happy, whole members who come together to collaborate and co-create a world, our world, in which we can be all we can be and do it together in the spirit of honoring and connecting with the spirit in each of us.
Thanks for reading, I’d really love to hear from you!
The Energizer Bonnie
- Please, Come Back. More Articles Every Week
- Join the Community and Business Online Community and post your comments and questions. Membership is free and and you’ll find rich and valuable content and conversations.
Bonnie Dubrow
Web 2.0 Expert : Blog ~ Expert’s Page ~ Expert’s Resource
Website : Marketing to YOUR World
Tags: Effective Communicating, Web 2.0
January 22nd, 2010
My buddy Jim is a member of the First Collaborative Credibility Cluster, the very same CCC I’m in, the very same one that’s one of many brainchildren of Russell Cox, who’s… you guest it, another member of CCC#1!
Jim wrote a post at Community and Business on the CCC’s shared community website. Jim’s got a great sense of humor and he loves puns. In this post he’s asked, “What is the Web 2.0 Refrigerator Magnet?”
Great question, Jim. And I’ve got an answer for you…
Ah, Jim, there will always be a place in the world for ‘old fashion’ marketing! The answer to becoming known as an expert in your field or an authority in your niche is not an either/or, yes/no answer. It’s “Yes, and…” You want what I call a “HI-5 Marketing Message.” Imagine you could ‘Hi-5″ all your ideal prospects and clients in all your communications with them. Imagine you could deliver a message that’s Heart-Inspired, Integrated, interactive, Internet and Information-based.
How does HI-5 messaging relate to Web 2.0? For Jim’s post, the key word in the explanation of what a HI-5 message is Integrated. An integrated message platform weaves together traditional media channels with ‘old’ Web 1.0 tools, techniquest, technologies, and winning strategies with the new Web 2.0 and the coming Web 3.0 ones.
I want to get back to answering the question Jim asked in his post: “What is the Web 2.0 equivilant of the refergerator magnet?”
Hey, I think this is a great question to ask the LinkedIn community. We’ll get great ideas. And we’ll be building the web of links we’re weaving in Web 2.0.
By the way, in the spirit of taking a HI-5 message to the next level, I’d trade my refrigerator magnet in for:
- a bumper sticker with a URL that’s easy to read from the car behind
- a series of Tweets and re-tweets
- a conversation in Facebook or in your vibrant online community
- a continued asynchronous dialog among members of our CCC and anyone else who wants to participate
- a banner ad on your site and those of your strategic alliance partners and raving fans
- a real time conversation…
- on the phone, of course, as we live thousands of miles apart.
- We’ll record our conversation so we can turn it into
- a podcast which we’ll submit to podcast directories so anyone can find it and listen to at their convenience.
- an audio on each of our websites and our community groupsites.
- We’ll also transcribe the audio track and turn it into an article, a blog post, an e-book or e-course.
- a YouTube video of two or more someones who looks like a present day average Joe or Jane. In fact, they’re wearing T-shirts with the refrig magnet’s message on the front and back, with logos, of course.
- First this person goes to their mailbox to get and open the envelope with a refrigerator magnet inside, then
- Then he walks to their refrig where they place the magnet.
- Then she walks to their computer and looks at the banner ad, the blog post, and clicks on the audio play button to listen to the conversation.
- Then they walk to their car, T-shirts clearly visible and read-able, they get into the car, and as the car drives away with them waving, the camera zooms in to focus on the bumper sticker.
- What’s the bumper sticker say? You guessed it. The same message that’s on the magnet!
So, all of the above are my suggestions for the Web 2.0 equivalent of refrigerator magnets.
What are your ideas?
And what about your suggestions for what would appear on those magnets, bumper stickers, T-shirts, titles, and such?
Here are a few of mine:
“Want to make more money? HI-5 your audience.” www.MarketingToYOURworld.com
“Want to grow your business? Trade your refrigerator magnet in for a bumper sticker.” www.MarketingToYOURworld.com
What’s your HI-5 marketing message? Share it here and you’re building your audience. in Web 2.0. In fact, you’ve made your Web 2.0 refrigerator magnet. Now pass it on wherever you’re communicating with YOUR ideal clients and prospects.
“Whether you’re doing business around the corner or around the globe, take YOUR message to YOUR World!” www.MarketingToYOURworld.com
Tags: Develop Your Audience, Hi 5 Marketing message, Information Marketing, Internet Marketing, Web 2.0
December 21st, 2009
Do you go to networking events because you know it’s a
great way to meet new people and reconnect with those you’d
met before?
It really doesn’t matter what you’re networking for –
clients, connections, joint ventures, a job…
Has this ever happened to you at an In-Person Networking
Event?
Have you ever gone to a networking event where you made no
new connections, or you couldn’t break into a conversation
with someone you really wanted to meet, or you couldn’t
break away from a conversation that went on and on and on?
Even worse, have you ever paid an annual membership fee so
you could then pay for gas and parking driving to an event
where you then paid to enter and met nobody new?
Use BlitzTime and it won’t be this way at all!
You’re next networking event at BlitzTime will be like this:
You go to a networking event where you make the right
number of new connections, or you have a conversation with
someone you really want to meet, or your conversations are
just enough time at 6 minute each to know whether or not to
reconnect. BlitzTime gives us professionals the ability to
make up to 6 new connections in a single event through
actual 1-on-1 conversations!
* No annual membership fee.
* No paying for gas and parking.
* No driving to an event.
* No entry fee to enter and met nobody new.
BlitzTime combines the personal nature of in-person
networking, the reach of online networking, and the
convenience of the telephone.
While you’re talking with someone, you’re on your computer
looking at their picture and a detailed profile. That means
you know more about them during your conversation than
you’d probably learn about them at an in-person event.
So take this opportunity to join me and others for a
telephone Blitz Event. During each event you have up to 6
short 6 minute conversations with others signed up for the event.
Simply go BlitzTime to sign up.
There, you will be assigned a phone # and passcode to dial
into any event. You can attend two events free-of-charge so
you get to test drive this virtual speed networking venue.
I didn’t choose an event for you so you could choose the
ones most convenient for you. Simply click on the
word “Events” at the top of the page. You’ll see all the
upcoming events in chronological order. Choose whatever
works for you.
FYI: The price is going up from $9.95/month to $19.95 for
unlimited BlitzTime sessions on June 15.
That gives you a week to attend your two free sessions to
see if you love it as much as I do!
I look forward to talking with you on a future event!
P.S. Please pass along this invitation to anyone you think
will be grateful you did. Thanks!
P.S.S. BlitzTime is the perfect venue if you’re shy, an introvert, or new to networking and want to get your feet wet before jumping into the deep end! Yes, it’s one of the best ways I know to overcome Marketing Resistance Syndrome!
One more thing ~ be sure to fill out your profile before getting
on your first BT call. You’ll be glad you did! Trust me!
Tags: Marketing for Professionals, Social networking, word of mouth marketing
June 7th, 2009
You know how NOISY it is out there, don’t you? If you’re like me, you’re always receiving incoming messages via email from people you know and even those you don’t know, AKA Spam.
You can’t switch on any kind of media, surf the Web, go to the grocery store, or drive your car from one place to another without being bombarded with advertising.
The trouble is, you as a professional, author, entrepreneur, or business owner ~ someone with a message ~ also need to get YOUR message across, don’t you?
So, how do you spread the word about YOUR message out there in a world that is absolutely saturated with messages?
How do you make sure YOU’RE SEEN and HEARD above the din?
I believe there is a very effective way to get people to listen and even buy what you have to offer. But it means embracing a new approach.
You’ll find out what that is in the article “Cutting Through the Noise So You Can Be ‘Well Heard’”: http://www.publishingcoachweekly.com.
The article was written by Your Publishing Coach, Diane Eble. Diane, Russell Cox and I are going to be co-teaching the interactive teleclass program “Design Your Village” that starts Thursday June 11, 3:30 – 4:30 pm Eastern.
Why would you want to design your village? The village is the infrastructure upon which you build your online community.
Today, having a list of email addresses is no longer enough. While having a group, like yahoo groups, is better, Web 2.0 and Social Networking have been around too long. People are too used to connecting and communicating with others to settle for less.
And now with online software platforms like CollectiveX, Ning, and iGroops, you can build your own online community.
An online community is the perfect place for like-minded people can get to know, like and trust each other. And CollectiveX is the perfect platform for members to come together to learn, collaborate, co-create, and more in the spirit of cooperation.
A Groupsite powered by CollextiveX is also the perfect place for an instructor and students to gather to share supporting class materials, new ideas, questions, and to share with others the projects they’re working on for feedback and praise. That’s exactly why we have our own Groupsite for our class Design Your Village.
If the Design Your Village program sounds like interesting, remember we start on Thursday, June 11. There’s an early-bird special going on through midnight EST on Monday, June 8th, so check it out today!
More about that here: http://www.designyourvillage.com.
The next time this program will be offered is late September, 2009.
Having your own online community is a great way to be well seen, well heard, and well paid. And isn’t that what we all want!
So visit http://www.designyourvillage.com and decide for yourself if you’re ready to have your very own online community. You’ll be glad you do!
Tags: Collaborative communities, CollectiveX, Design Your Village, Develop Your Audience, Groupsites, Ning
June 5th, 2009
