Three Tips for Generating Business through Online Communities

New methods for marketing your business are popping up everywhere, and online communities are no exception. So, exactly what is an online community and what does it have to do with growing your business? The truth is, you won’t know how it affects your business until you try it, but there are three key tips that can help you use them to effectively grow your business over time.

What IS an online community anyway?

First let’s be clear about what an online community is and how it can be beneficial.

Online communities are like local networking events, only they take place online. They provide a way for businesses to interact with their customers, for customers to interact with a business, and perhaps most importantly, for customers to interact with each other. Online communities are a form of social media and can often work well when mixed with other forms of social media including blogging, email newsletters, podcasts, rss feeds, and others. So how can online communities help you grow your business?

TIP #1 Be Consistent

No matter how you look at it, participating in online communities is a long term investment. If you stick with it and stay consistent, the pay-off can be rewarding. Frequent your favorite areas of the community, post a blog, post threads, but just like your local networking event, once you introduce yourself, you have to keep coming back so that people remember who you are. People do business with people they know and trust.

TIP #2 Be Realistic

Just because you joined the community, doesn’t mean all of a sudden sales will come flooding through your door (if this has happened to anyone, please send an email to my inbox and let me know your secret). Online communities can be like any other form of advertising-- you try it, you test it, you see if it works, and if it does, you stick with it, if it doesn’t; well, you move to the next thing, but you have to remember that all social media is about building relationship based business. It’s a long term investment and it takes people time to get to know you.

In addition, understand why you joined the community. Growing your business should not be the only reason. There’s significant value in gaining free insight from experts who know the challenges small businesses face better than anyone else, and that’s your fellow business owners. Tapping into the knowledge base of a good online business community, can be just as rewarding as finding a new customer.

TIP #3 Add Value

A wise man once said, “people like to buy—they don’t like to be sold to.”

There’s nothing worse than an online community member that spams everyone with there sales pitch in a discussion thread. If you want to lose respect in an online community, this is a great way to do it. Add value, provide insight, or share an experience that may be beneficial to someone else, but please don’t spam the members—we want to keep people in the community, not send them running.

For those of you that join for the purpose of growing your business, I think plugging your own business is fine, but educate people about your business and tell them what problem your product or service solves. Publish a blog and become an expert in your field, offer advice on solving an issue you recently experienced—in the end, you will get much more respect, meet more colleagues, and gain more credibility for your business.

I hope to meet many more of you as we all continue our path to growth and success.

I’m rooting for you!

KW

Investors: Angels or Devils in Disguise?

First let me start by saying that this is not a blog about bashing investors, but rather an informational tool to share some insight and hopefully help any business owner considering a Venture Capitalist for additional funding. Let me be clear when I say I am not expert on the matter; however, I did want to shed some light on a few things I uncovered in my research last week.

THE EXPERIENCE
As a small business owner, I’ve often heard professionals say that the best time to obtain funding is when you don’t need it. It just so happened that I was introduced to an investment banker at a recent networking event. He wanted to hear more about my business and so we exchanged information and setup an appointment to speak face-to-face. Since I didn’t know much about investing, I decided to do a little digging on my end before the meeting. I searched the Internet and came across some firms that “specialize in connecting small businesses with investors.” I filled out the information request for two different firms and immediately received two responses. Both wanted a business plan, which I had; however, I wasn’t ready to hand it over (all business owners should want to protect their intellectual property). While my business plan did contain a non-disclosure agreement, my better judgment told me to take things slow. Both companies shared the same suspicious behavior—more money.

THE RED FLAG
I may be green to the subject of investors, but I’m not stupid either. As a small business owner, I was almost offended at the fact that they would undermine my intelligence; yet, like many other entrepreneurs, I wasn’t sure when to draw the line between paranoia and just plain common sense. Thousands of us get caught in the same trap everyday. Trust me when I say that any investment firm that asks you for money up front, just for the sake of getting you in front of more investors, is wearing the red devil suit—don’t fall for it.

SEPARATING THE GENUINE FROM THE FAKES
There will always be companies that will try to make a quick fortune off of your need for capital; however, there are things you can do to try and weed out the bad apples. My advice:

Try it on your own: No one believes in your business like you do, and Venture Capitalists often want 70 percent or more controlling interest in your company. If you ask me, it’s not worth the hassle to have someone else reap the rewards of your hard work. Even with shaky credit, it’s still possible to obtain a SBA loan. You may receive a higher interest rate, but if you know your product or service will get you where you need to go, it may be worth the risk—what’s more, you won’t have to give away any part of your company to do so.

Meet face-to-face: If you can’t go it on your own, try and meet with your investment contact face-to-face. This helps to establish rapport and further presents the expectation of accountability.

Do your homework: There are a lot of good resources to help you find information about investing. I recently came across an informative article on Work.com: Guide to finding Venture Capital. The author, Daniel Kehrer, points out several reputable resources for finding a Venture Capitalist including, the National Venture Capital Association, the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC), and Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) financing.

I hope this helps. Stay Smart.