How to build a community in Facebook.

Hosted by Bryan Person. Recorded from Boston, Massachusetts, USA and published for Saturday, June 16, 2007.

 

 NCR 033: Building Facebook Communities [19:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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MEDIA MONITORING MINUTE

• A word from Chip Griffin, CEO of Custom Scoop, New Comm Road’s sponsor.
• For a free trial of Custom Scoop’s ClipIQ Service, visit http://www.customscoop.com/NewCommRoad

COMING EVENTS

• Audio promo for Podcasters Across Borders, taking place June 22-24, 2007 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
• I’ll be attending the conference and will deliver a presentation called “Managing Your Social Media.”

FEEDBACK
Audio comment from Christopher Penn on Soundtrack Pro.

NEW COMM ROAD MAP
Building a community in Facebook.

1. Ask the initial question: Is Facebook the right place to build your community? Who’s the audience you’re trying to reach? Are they already on Facebook? Think about your goals. What are your objectives? What does building a community involve? What do you want the group members to do?
2. Where do you build the community? Around your personal profile or around a Facebook group? There are differences. Groups are more findable and have a higher profile, while individual pages offer the advantage of embedding Facebook applications, and there are hundreds to choose from.
3. If you are building a community around your personal page, add applications that will engage your community. Two that I’ve seen and like are My Questions and Quizzes.
4. If you’re using a group, keep it active. Specific tactics include:
   • Start and maintain discussion threads.
   • Appoint officers and give them responsibilities in the group.
   • Schedule and promote events for the group.
   • Send the occasional direct message to everyone in the group to drive them back to the group page and to take an action.
   • If you have photos, add them and encourage group members to comment.
   • Create a good group description.
   • Keep your contact information and Recent News up-to-date.
5. If you have the budget, consider setting up a sponsored group. It is costly — a minimum of US$50,000 for three months — but enables you to create more dynamic content and control the advertisers on your group pages.

NOTES

• Visit the New Comm Road Travelers group in Facebook.
• This show can also be found on Blubrry.

MUSIC
From GarageBand.com: Still Holding On, by Rantings of Eva

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Technorati Tags: Boston, Bryan Person, New Comm Road, Chip Griffin, Custom Scoop, Podcasters Across Borders, PAB2007, Christopher Penn, Financial Aid Podcast, Facebook groups

LISTEN
Running time: 19:25

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