September 29, 2007 | Comm Building | Connie

Yesterday’s comment on Twitter by Connie Reece relating what Geoff Livingston had said in his presentation at Blog Orlando caught my attention.

Geoff: Don’t start a campaign until you know what the community wants. Read Listen Comment

This really struck a chord with me because I am starting on this journey of engaging new communities. My sister & I have supported ACDSee products on a variety of sites, so we’ve learned some things related to this. And now I will be reaching out to segments other than digital scrapbookers that use ACDSee products.

What Geoff says is so true. Being relevant is very important! Here are the steps I suggest:

• Identify Conversations – using Google Alerts or RSS
• Read & Listen
• Consider what the Community wants
• Be relevant & engage in a transparent manner
• Follow the rules of the Community (everyone else needs to)
• Outside linking is one thing that trips me up
• if the rules are accidently violated – apologize & fix it immediately

I’ve found that the philosophies of some sites/communities aren’t aligned with mine, but I still have to respect what’s been established. 

More opportunities for information & discussion can be found here:

• Community Manager Facebook group
• Web Strategy group