Last week I had a dawning while I was thinking about my editorial calendar for the Network Solutions blog. Small business owners are for all practical purposes Community Managers!
Small Business Owners do it all!
A community manager wears many hats & is a voice for the customers & the company. Small business owners do it all too. Marketing, PR, customer relations, product development, etc are all important. And if you’d like to put your business online then the basics in the yellow middle circle are important.
But take a look at the outside ring. Those are all topics that I cover in terms of networking & building brand. (Hat tip to Web 2.0 for SmallBiz for the graphic. They have started a great new series that you should check out on Marketing 2.0).
More aspects
There are many more aspects to consider (things that a community manager does that I view are necessities for a business online – no matter it’s size!).
- Listening – Brand monitoring tools
- Marketing utilizing social media tools
- Adding a community to your site
The great thing is that so many of the social media tools are free & word of mouth efforts can be done with little or no investment. The key is to choose the ones that will be the most effective for your niche.
What would you add to the diagram?
August 11th, 2008 on 8:05 pm
This chart ties into something I tell a lot of clients: you don’t have a website anymore, you have a web presence, and the site is the anchor of that presence. I think its curious that there is no “online community” label on this chart. If I was redoing it I wouldn’t make it part of any of the circles though, I’d make it the second circle, reflecting that all of the items in that circle tie in to the website through the online community.
August 12th, 2008 on 8:38 am
I would go further and say that small business owners are nothing but community managers. First comes the community, then comes the products they want to sell to the community. Not vice-versa.
August 12th, 2008 on 6:26 pm
I agree with Mr. Millington. Today’s market model is almost the reverse of what it was just 10 or 15 years ago. People first… product second. That’s a concept a lot of people still have a hard time wrapping their heads around. I think the only thing I would add to that graphic is constant content creation, in every circle of that image. The content has to be fresh and relevant.
August 12th, 2008 on 7:08 pm
Cher – It is true that it’s people first! most definitely.
I agree that adding content is important – and that’s why a blog is such a great option.
Richard that is so true & once you have that figured out, the rest is easy!
Scott – I agree that the online community would be a separate circle, but that it would intersect with the above diagram if the business owner has engaged with the community at large. For example the community could be equivalent to a chamber of commerce or association. Some choose to not get involved & then there wouldn’t be any intersection.
March 12th, 2009 on 2:23 pm
I just wanted to say that I love this site
February 16th, 2010 on 7:19 pm
I thought about starting a restaurant. How can I attempt to find an investor ???
February 16th, 2010 on 7:19 pm
I recently debated investing in a online restaurant. Should I obtain some money ,