Creating an Online Community
What does it take to create an online community? This post is about my experience with creating the NWI Creative.org community, the good, the bad, and the real.
Creating an online community might possibly be the biggest challenge of my career. Although, it doesn’t really seem that hard right? Buy a domain, do your hosting company one click install of WordPress, steal a theme, and bam! You have a website, right? LOL, Wrong. Well, that’s how some people roll anyway!
That is where it all begins and how I got started:
• Purchase the domain name
• Purchase hosting (or use your own server)
• Manually install WordPress (the right, secure way)
• Configure WordPress
• Download and Configure any needed Plug-Ins
• Develop a Theme
• Test, Test, Test
• Make the first post
• LaunchNot a tremendous amount of work if you’re good with WordPress and know what you’re doing. Still a lot of time and effort, oh and money too!
That’s it right? Now people will just flock to it, the community will love it, and just like that I’ve created a sweet local online community for artists, designers, and the like in our industry, right? LOL, nope, wrong again.
In fact, that’s just the starting point to how much can go into creating an online community. And to be totally fair, this community is no where near the size of other communities and therefore, not even close in comparison in terms of work and money required to keep it going.
So, what else am I talking about? Well, here ya go!
Obtaining Content
Getting your local community members to post content relevant to the industry is a big challenge. Some are shy, some don’t have enough experience to write an article, and some well, just want to read / comment and not post.
Inspiring people of your community to submit articles is not easy. I feel like the submissions we’ve had so far are great, but they do fall short in so many different realms (copywriting, art direction, videography, motion graphics, advertising, painting, sculpture, etc.).
In the end, if it’s a community site, then the community must be responsible to contributing to it. After all we’ve got over 50 people that have registered to post on this site, yet only a handful have actually taken the time to do so, why did they register then? I really don’t know. The content must come from you and many of you, in order for this community to succeed online.
Quality, Relavent Content
When you open up your site for community members to register and post articles, you also open up a can of worms. In order for any website or online community to be effective, the content has to be good stuff. This also means that someone (myself) has to monitor and read through each submission to be sure that it’s inline with the original vision for the website. Add into that equation, spell checking and grammar checking (to the best of my ability) and you have yourself a small part time job!
For awhile you noticed that I was taking on the responsibility of adding occasional interviews with local artists and business to mix up the content and let people know who is around in our area. While this is great content, it’s a huge challenge to track people down, come up with great interview questions that are not redundant, and the of course actually get that person to answer the questions and get back to you.This takes a lot of time an energy to complete and get live on the site.
Comments
Along with monitoring the content, it’s also essential to monitor comments from time to time to make sure that people are being “cool”. Depending on the article and it’s content the comments that flow into the site can be large or small in terms of quantity. Regardless, this still takes time to monitor and react fairly and accordingly, if action is needed (to keep the site clean).
Offline Community
Here’s something that I’ve failed miserably at with this website. We all know that in order to create an online community there has to be an offline community as well. They walk hand and hand like a high school couple at the park.
This is a huge challenge for me, I work part-time, run my own business and believe it or not attempt to have a social life as well. Creating an offline community involves to many things like, but not limited to:
• calling, meeting or emailing local art centers, business owners, etc. to make them aware of the website and how to get involved
• having offline social events with community members to discuss, network and drive the offline community to the online site
• and probably a bunch of stuff I am totally overlooking
Social Media
This part is pretty self-explanatory but, again, still quite a bit of work to get all of your content spewing out of the social feeds. Thankfully with applications like TweetDeck you can post to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIN all in one shot.
Getting fans on Facebook and followers on Twitter is not an easy task either. It requires tactfulness and time and energy to create a good following, all and all, you can see the trend here: more work.
Web Related Duties
Obviously in order to keep the site up and running from a technical aspect requires some additional work like:
• keeping WordPress up to date
• keeping WordPress Plug-ins up to date
• making sure there are good backups of the site content and database
• user setup and managementThankfully, the good people behind WordPress have made it very easy to do these tasks, but they do require time and energy, nonetheless.
Okay, so what’s all this really about?
I want each and everyone of you that comes to this site, reads the content, submits articles, or comments to fully understand the amount of time and energy required to make such a site like this happen.
As you can see it’s a ton of work, nothing short of a full-time job that’s unpaid and moreover has real expenses. I created this site in hopes in creating an online community that will embrace what I have founded for them, give it wings and let it take off.
Things take time, this I know. However, traffic and content have dropped off significantly with the site. I’ve tried to be totally honest in tweeting, facebook-ing and LinkedIn-ing to let you all know “this community needs your help”. This also created zero response.
What’s more bizarre is that some of you that are registered to this website have your own personal blogs that you post to weekly, some even daily. Yet, there’s no time to contribute to your own local community? To give back, to create discussion, to build and develop relationships?
So once again, I have created this online community for all of you in Northwest Indiana. It’s up to you to give it wings and let it grow, obviously with my post above, one man (me) is not going to make that happen on my own.
I am completely open to ideas on what we can do to improve, or why YOU don’t want to contribute, post or comment. Are we doing something wrong?
What can we as a community do to shock this site with the paddles and let it breath?
Author Info: Atom Groom
I founded NWICreative.org to spark interest in the hearts of artists, creatives and the like in our region online. I want nothing more than to see our creative community grow and flourish.
Hi Atom,
NWI Creative is a great site and a terrific example of how an online community can come together to do great things. Thanks for putting in all of the hard work and effort to get the word out about the project. I found about the site via Twitter, so the effort there paid off in obtaining a reader.
Hi Chris-
Thank you for the compliments, it’s really my pleasure. Glad you found the site over Twitter, that’s awesome.
Myself and the community appreciates you as a reader and contributor.
Thanks,
AG
I kind of feel foolish posting first, but it is what it is. I think Atom has done a tremendous service to the NWI creative community by supplying a platform for us to speak and be heard, share thoughts and issues, and network and grow. I have been down the road of providing this same type of service to the NWI community with INsight, it takes time and patients. It’s an uphill battle to get people fired up, believe me I know.
Moving forward I’d offer two suggestions that might help this site out…
One, trim the fat! I’d close down this site to only people who care about what we do, want to learn about what we do, and are passionate about what we do. There is a lot to be said about trying to please everyone – better yet, include everyone. QUALITY over quantity. It’s better to have a conversation with 20 good solid people then it is to have one with 200 people. Other sites do it. Other communities are invite only – user-name and password restricted to even get in and see the site.
Second suggestion would be to make this a highly specialized community. Focus just on web design or hot air balloon design, whatever! All of us creatives are built differently, some care to stay engaged and some don’t, that’s ok. What does a photographer, care about the font I used in a brochure, or does a copy writer really want to hear about the lastest advances in CSS? Having a specific focus will bring in people who want the content and also happen to be in the Region.
Sorry for the long reply this could have been a post. (wink, wink) Good luck and lets here it NWI. I challenge you to step it up and lets this site either sink or raise.
Thanks Joe. As you’re probably aware (but so that others know), INsight Design Conference was the inspiration behind this site. Bringing the same concept to the online online basically.
I dig your suggestions and am curious what the others who read this site think as well.
Thanks,
AG
Here is my two cents:
I would keep the site as it is, but i would focus on community building. Events or contests are easy ways to keep people engaged. Ask for guest posters and keep up the great work. I am one of those that is guilty for not posting. As I get more and more busy, I tend to forget to see what is going on with the site. It is like the tiny snowball that is waiting to be pushed down that hill. I think it is so close to the direction that you want it to be.
Also maybe you should form a small committee that will be responsible to help you handle events (if you choose to do them) and maybe post once a month. I love the idea of this site, but unfortunately I have not used it to its potential. Keep on at it though.
I really like the idea of creating a committee to help with the site. It seems like a great way to get people involved on different levels.
I think my biggest concern is there could be a large flurry of people that sign up to become part of the committee and then just disappear. That’s exactly how the “contributor” part of the site happened.
If that’s not the case readers, please let me know!
Thanks
AG
How about a membership fee? Let them disappear and reappear for the renewal fee. It would help with your maintenance. Let the 20 good people continue to contribute and provide good info for the other 200. I would be more than happy to pay an annual membership fee. I visit the sight on a pretty regular basis and enjoy reading the content. I probably should contribute a little.
I would probably be in the shy group. I always want to say something but type a response, then retract it because I’m a little nervous that someone will say that the “Old Guy” is a little whacky.
I totally appreciate what you’re doing. Great job!! It’s great for the area. Look forward to meeting a lot of the people who visit the site at INsight.
My feelings run counter to Joe’s…
Atom, PLEASE don’t change your content. It’s inclusive, it’s not clique-ish, it’s interesting, and at it’s best, it can be eye-opening. Photographers SHOULD learn more about type, writers SHOULD know more about the web, designers should be looking at fine art. Why are we so quick to put on blinders? You offer the community an open channel to the broader context in which we work, regardless of creative “affiliation”.
And personally, I’d hate to see this become an invite-only, online creative country club (ooh… maybe we could all have jackets? or a secret hand shake?). It would suck the spirit right out of it.
I’m as guilty as anyone in terms of my limited participation here. But I suppose it’s just an organic thing, a natural ebb and flow. We all get busy with work. Our personal situations change. We have family commitments. Whatever. Doesn’t mean we care less about the community or the profession, or take your hard work for granted.
It has to be demoralizing to see participation waning, but you’re doing a good thing here, Atom. A great thing. NWIcreative is still an infant. Let it cry, spit up, poop, stumble, bang it’s head, cry again – learn. One day it will stand on it’s feet and run. And one day become a temperamental teenager…
G
I have no problems with anyone’s concepts for what the site should be. I will be honest in that I immerse myself in web technology all day, every day. It’s what I think about all the time, so it’s what I’m going to talk about.
I do like all the articles that have been here. Most times I don’t comment simply because when I get here, someone has essentially said what I was thinking. Which I think having a bunch of posts saying “I agree with that guy!” gets kind of old after a while.
Cheers,
Bryan
I check this blog almost every day, I have it saved in my RSS feed. Lately I’ve been lurking back to see what gets posted or seeing who posts it and observe. I think the site is a idea and would like to see it grow, but most times if I find I only have a sentence to contribute, I tend not to and if I have a lot to say, I often tell myself I’ll come back when I have more time, but then move on to other things.
I think that first and foremost, I would like to thank Atom for creating this site. It is a great place for people to learn, vent, or just have a conversation. I have posted a few times now, and I can say that I have no issue writing posts, I more have an issue coming up with something to write about. I am sure I am not the only one with that problem.
What if there was a way for people that are reluctant to post articles can suggest topics they would like to see articles written about? I also like what Joe said. Choosing what you would like this site to focus on, rather that is fine art, web design or graphic design. I understand they are all linked on some level, but having a focus of some kind could be a good step.
As far as your personal costs for the hosting, time etc. What if you sold ad space to local companies for a relatively low price, just enough to cover your expenses etc. If you wanted you could even donate proceeds to a local charity.
Other Thoughts:
- job boards ($ for companies to post jobs)
- NWI company directory
Ok. That is all I can think of for now… Again, thanks Atom for all your hard work in creating this site. I will continue to come to NWIcreative to see how it is doing.
R
Thanks Ryan, you’re welcome. It really is my pleasure to do all this, even though my original post does not totally seem that way.
I think you bring a lot of good points as well Ryan. I’ve considered the job board and ad space in previous post awhile back. It’s really an addition that requires more time in running the site. Maybe this committee thing Rashaan mentions would allow me to develop those parts of the site, then let someone else run them?
Thoughts?
AG
Yeah, I think that sounds like a great way to help maintain the site.
I ran into this site checking up on the INsight design conference. I attended the first one and was unable to make the second. After hitting some of the back bone members of the conference I saw NWI creative. The sight offered some networking and mentoring plug-ins that I never even knew existed.
I tell people in every aspect of my life about this place. My bothers a marketing and comm major, and along with some other networks I plug as much as I can. So why tell you this…
I agree with Joe, I check this sight religiously and usually the new posts strike my interest. However if the latest article is about integrating a new form of coding that will allow you to browse the web in 3D using JavaScript or something. I am lost.
My questions for you to explore if you wouldn’t mind…
How can we interact more? PhotoshopTennis? MostLMAOPicture?
What will really make all of us talk? A few drinks? A question?
What will make us all post? Spam? Hold Loved Ones Hostage? Cold Calls? Send an EPIC question to users and DEMAND they post on that topic?
Delegate? It’s a lot of work, use people you can trust and let them Admin a little.
Lastly – this site is amazing and many people are thankful and willing to do things to help make it succeed. You can be great at a lot of things, but no one can do it all. Seek and you will find a way to make this social community a large and brilliant one.
Thanks For All You Do,
Alan
Oh…the ideas…
DONATE BUTTON? T-Shirt Shop(Red Bubble)? A Booth At INsight for a FREE INVITE…GMAIL was exclusive till it blew up!
Thanks Alan, I appreciate all that you’re doing as well. Hopefully others will begin to do the same as well!
I originally considered doing just a “designer” type site, then it exploded into a site that would cover the full range of the arts and creative industries. I feel that it makes for great, diverse content on the site.
While I like the idea of making the site an content more specific, I am not sure that’s where I want my original idea to go. I think that all users should continue to post articles, and readers can engage on topics they prefer.
The key will be to get articles in all realms of our industry. That way there’s something to talk about for everyone alike.
Thanks again,
AG
you make it sound so easy.
Keep doing that