Comments on: User or Community Member – Who’s More Valuable?

By: Esteban Kolsky

Esteban Kolsky — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:45:21 +0000

Astroturf is a big issue, but thankfully the lack of perceived value in those communities is clearly and easily apparent to users and they tend to have very short life.

I am doing some more research this year on “company-sponsored” communities, I see them as the new normal community model.

By: annegentle

annegentle — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:07:23 +0000

I like that “company-sponsored” nuance, Esteban. Good line to walk. Obviously Intuit walks it well!

One of the reviewers for my book mentioned “astroturf” communities which are fake grassroots efforts. I hadn't ever heard that, and the term cracked me up! But it also is a good reminder of how important perception is when building communities, and how important it is to be genuine in your hands-off approach.

By: Esteban Kolsky

Esteban Kolsky — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:05:14 +0000

I would say that instead of company-owned it was company-sponsored. a key distinction that is going to become more relevant in the coming years as we shift away from traditional communities (forums) as we know them today.

thanks for the forum, interesting discussion…

By: Louis Marascio

Louis Marascio — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:51:30 +0000

So, even though it was a company owned community the community was in control. Thanks for your insights!

By: Esteban Kolsky

Esteban Kolsky — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:39:12 +0000

Louis,

To the best of my knowledge, Intuit did well in allowing the communities to grow independently, without interfering. They did provide answers as needed when there were none, but for the most part they allowed the communities to function with their "experts" (certified consultants) providing the answers. These same people in exchange got to show their prowess in certain topics, which essentially became free marketing without being such.

In other words, they allow the communities to self-police, function autonomously, and be what they needed to be.

By: Louis Marascio

Louis Marascio — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:34:41 +0000

Great points, Esteban. What is it that Intuit did differently that allowed their community to flourish and, in turn, allowed them to benefit from that? Did they go beyond just viewing the community as a tool and embrace it as a change agent for their culture?

By: Esteban Kolsky

Esteban Kolsky — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:18:40 +0000

The infamous chicken-and-egg questions for communities — how to make your chickens lay more eggs, so you can have more chickens.

You cite all the right stats and numbers here: the 10-percent rule, loyalty, commitment to a brand, advocacy, etc. There are all goals that a company should embrace when moving to build / support / create a community — but I am more on the side that the company should view communities differently. Intuit is probably the closest (in large enterprises) that does this. They don't build communities for more than members sharing knowledge — and they leverage that in a milion ways. the intent, when they started, was not to be in the top-10 of communities in google search — but it happened. their intent was not to offload their support lines with questions they could not answer — but it happened.

and this is the killer point about communities – they just make business function better by delegating the work they don't do quite as well to the people who can do it better. That is why ideation, support, and R&D via communities is so interesting — all you have to do is observe what happens… your customers (even the 90 percent that just “lurk”) will show you the way to a better business.

Great post, thanks a lot…

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Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:24:04 +0000

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