This is a guest post from Angela Connor, who runs the news community WRAL.com. She grew this online community to over 11,000 members in just 18 months. I read her new book and love her no-nonsense practical advice. She and I are both work with Happy About to publish our books (an exciting and nerve-wracking endeavor - if you love our book it’s a little like saying our kids are the best looking and smartest - which they are).

I respect the work Angela has done and asked her to share some tips with us. Her rules apply to any type of online community: engaging with others on Facebook, Twitter, etc. This is a valuable skill to have if you’re in this game.

Thanks Angela for sharing:

Top 5 Rules of Running an Online Community

Have you ever struck up a conversation with a complete stranger in the checkout line at the grocery store once you both realize the line hasn’t moved in the last ten minutes?

Perhaps you’ve locked eyes briefly with a parent as you both painfully watched another parent manhandle their screaming 3-year-old at the park.

The connections you make with strangers in these types of situations are based on a shared experience. Something that affects you both and has no bearing on whether or not you were previously acquainted.

These are the same connections we can make online, and sharing personal experiences is one of the most effective ways to engage an online  community.

As a community manager, I have employed many tactics to engage members and encourage participation. Some work better than others but nothing seems to resonate more than a personal story. When you share something personal, it evokes emotion and prompts others to share similar experiences.

When I blogged about the anniversary of my father’s death, stories about dad’s who’d died too soon poured in and the level of sharing was unbelievable. The same thing happened when I recounted a time in high school when I almost froze to death while waiting for the city bus. It was as if there was suddenly a competition to see who had endured the worst winters and could recall all of the gruesome details.

If you ever want to start a conversation fast, sharing something personal will get the job done. If you share something from your own life, it is almost certain others will follow suit.

It is what I consider one of the top five rules of community engagement.

Here are the other four:

Stroke a few egos
Flattery will get you everywhere. It is imperative that you go above and beyond in this department. When you have constant contributors, and people who are vested in the best interest of the community, you have to express your grattitude. and tell them how much you need and appreciate them.

Ask questions
Never underestimate the power of a question. Ask members what they think about current events, or potential changes in the community or forum.Find out what they think about local and national issues. Ad don’t think your questions have to be intellectual. Sometimes something as simple as “What are you cooking for dinner tonight?” can create a major dialog.

Acknowledge good work
See, “stroke a few egos.” Acknowledging good work publicly is good for everyone. It encourages the contributor and shows your appreciation of their time and efforts

Accept and respond to criticism
This simply shows that you’re human. Building an open honest relationship with your community is key. When people know that you are accessible and available and willing to hear them out and respond, you build a level of respect that cannot be bought. It also illustrates your commitment to the community and how much you value their presence.

Today’s consumers are faced with infinite choices, and if you don’t provide an experience worth their time, they won’t be back.
Remember, we are living in the conversation age, where the number of choices online are infinite and the audience that was once easily bought must now be earned.

You can find out more about engaging online communities in Angela’s new book, “18 Rules of Community Engagement: A Guide for Building Relationships and Connecting with Customers Online.”

On Amazon: 18 Rules of Community Engagement (Happy About, May 2009)
@communitygirl on Twitter

Blog: Online Community Strategist

Forward by Peter Shankman

I’ve used Sharpie pens for years. I use their highlighters & their permanent markers in all colors. I’ve had a mini sharpie on a keychain (abandoned that idea). When I was at DisneyWorld I noticed the tables with Sharpies so and masks kids could color. In all of the busy lines and chaos it was great to have a place to take it easy. Plus they make the masks like a passport of everywhere you’ve been at Epcot.

What has really been impressive though is how Sharpie is using social media, (though being a somewhat boring product). They are getting raving fans instead of people like me who simply liked their products but never evalangelized them. They had a lot of passionate Sharpie lovers out there so they just joined the existing conversation.

Examples:

1. They set up a celebrity booth in LA with camera crews and PR attention for a new stainless Sharpie pen (I learned about from David Meerman Scott’s Facebook update). They keep you updated on their blog and social media sites. Think about this: could you get that kind of buzz for a new pen?? If you’re Sharpie, yes!
2. Celebrities and bands get involved.
3. They talk about different unique ways to use their product, like how to decorate a basement with $10 worth of Sharpies (great discussion during a recession!) and making wrapping paper. Their pens are an artist’s tool for kids and adults alike.
4. Sharpie is an example of a trusted brand with a great image and decided to join the conversation with videos on YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, a blog, and a Facebook fan page. They fan the fire that was already there (another good argument for building trust with your customers over the long haul).

Sharpie started social media marketing less than a year ago. From the slogan: Write out Loud! To the spend: $2,000. All with one woman: Susan Wassel, social-media manager for Sharpie (fun job!). She says:

“Everybody owns a black Sharpie, we want to give them a reason to own the rest of the colors.”

I love seeing the fun and creativity Sharpie brings to their marketing. Follow them for inspiration!

There’s a lot of talk about disclosing about paid links and  getting payment for blogging, tweeting, or otherwise making cash from social media. First, there is no way to disclose all of this.

This issue gets really messy (read this post about conflicts of interest by Penelope Trunk, warning: the post has some overshare that can be offensive to some readers, but otherwise does a good job at illustrating the point).

For example: how do you disclose that your link on twitter is an affiliate link - in 140 characters or less? Does it really matter? Do I care if someone makes money recommending someone if it’s a recommendation from someone I trust? NO. If they’re like me they won’t recommend something just to make money or their reputation will be shot.

However, there are some accounts that the only purpose is to make money and they use affiliate links to do that. I’m surprised again and again just how much MLMers are using Twitter and how much they advertise but people still subscribe.

Same with Guy Kawasaki who I recently called out for marketing a car on his blog. Do you really think he would’ve taken the time to write a post this involved on his own? And how exactly does it change the world? Thankfully he has Prius ads on his blog to redeem himself to environmentalists. He’s quite open about marketing and we still follow him (Alltop is a great resource I recommend to find places to guest post or find bloggers to involve in your social marketing strategy). He just markets well.

I just talked to a group of affiliate marketers yesterday about techniques affiliates are using to make sales from Twitter.

I’m already promoting PRWeb and now that I’m an affiliate I can make money doing it. That’s fair. It motivates me to find time to seek out and answer questions people have about PRWeb which I would do anyway. (disclosure: the PRWeb link is an affiliate link, so is this one for my most coveted gift: an Amazon Kindle - and if you buy one using this link I’ll make $35).

Here’s an excerpt from Jeremiah Owyang who has been posting on this topic.

How to make affiliate links work on Twitter

• Make sure it lines up editorially with your personal brand, promoting a product that people don’t associate you with will raise eyebrows.
• Disclose it’s an affiliate link, perhaps with a hashtag #affilliatelink.
• Be sincere about your recommendation. If you truly love that product you’re promoting, perhaps write a review on a blog first, explaining why.
• Be fully transparent before people follow you: Create a link from your Twitter profile page that is up front about how you use Twitter, and explain your intentions when it comes to product recommendations and affiliate links.

What if you send links directly to the merchant and don’t have room for a long hashtag like #affiliatelink? What if you have no personal brand (like most affiliates I know)?

Twitter is a blog post so it shouldn’t be any different when it comes to disclosure. When I’m flat out paid for a sponsored post - I state that. I obviously got some swag for blogging about a local jeweler. I have affiliate links on my blog and they are the same as my ads.

Jeremiah’s post goes into the legal issues and you should read all of it.

Oh, and the next time you talk to me and I recommend that you attend Smart Media 2009 - remind me to disclose that I have a financial stake in the conference. I’ll be there. I’ll present with my friend Nate Moller about how to use Twitter for marketing. I hope you’ll be there.

I’m a social media junkie and love how press releases, blogs, and social media can combine to create some amazing PR campaigns and results. This campaign was to help business for a car web web site.

The site is basic - it highlights cars on eBay that go for under $1,000. So he (Chris Hedgecock - is that his real name??) doesn’t have his own product (which I like - I hate dealing with products). You too could start a business like this if you have some online savvy.

I thought it would be a great idea to buy a car for under $1,000 from the site and drive it coast to coast in an attempt to get some news coverage and visitors to the site. We were successful in appearing on a dozen news broadcasts and driving almost half a million visitors to the site in three weeks - all for free.

On the largest day we did over 110,000 uniques - all for free. Not to say it wasn’t a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun.

You’ve got to read about it on Shoemoney’s blog for the details. While he didn’t hire a PR firm, he did get friends involved (and he has good contacts who had the know-how). I wouldn’t say it was free but it was definately less than he could’ve spent running ads and much more effective.

Notice that he had:

• A personality and attitude - he likes meeting people (being social). He was willing to be creative and then do what it took to accomplish what he was after.
• Time. Notice he drove across the country and planned all of this - lots and lots of time. He wasn’t sitting in his office. He followed up A LOT and kept track of things. He took the time to make the story relevant to the local market he was in.
• Know-how. He learned or knew how to create a YouTube channel, video, blog, etc. If you don’t have this, you learn or you pay someone for consulting.
• Contacts. His real estate friend did a lot of legwork. He had someone write the press release (free?)
• He used News Power (the free trial?) who figured the news value was over $92,000!!!

Here are some posts from Drew Schulte:

Tips for social networking
and another list of niche social media web sites

Many times the trick is tracking results. He had web site analytics see to see how many people were coming to his site. He then used News Power to track how many stories resulted.

Thanks for sharing your experiences - a great example of creating your own news and running a campaign around it. I talk about this in my book. If you don’t have something newsworthy, then create something. These can be some of the best campaigns.

I recently participated in a social media campaign as a blogger and learned a lot from it. It took place in Utah but it has principles that could apply to your business. My friend Jyl did a great job working with the bloggers on this campaign and consulting with the client on what goes into a successful event.

Who: Goldsmith Jewelers in Provo, Utah
Goal: increase foot traffic to store (1 location)
How:

• Invite local bloggers to a special event commpelling enough to draw them in. You must provide a lot of value because they aren’t paid, they’re busy and they have lots of offers from brands. Make it worth their time (read: you’re going to need to spend some cash - but do it right and it will be more than worth it).
• Communicate with us regularly before and after the event.

Online Presence (Before): they don’t have a great web site, no blog, and before now had never done social media and had no presence on social networks.

Results (After): Facebook profile, many blog posts on popular blogs (example, example), Flickr feed, lots of foot traffic to the store. Google “Goldsmith Jewelers, Utah” and one of the blog posts is already #2 and this just happened last week. Since I’m a little competitive I’m hoping this post will show up on the first page As I love to suggest for events like this, use PitchEngine for a social media press release (could be updated with video and photos though).

Most helpful: Giving bloggers images, sample Twitter posts with a link and Facebook Wall suggestions. Being open about expectations after the evening.

Jyl worked with a PR firm and identified key women who blog or are active on social media (mom blogs).  It’s vital that you work with someone who “gets” the culture and can interface with bloggers and build credibility. You must be compelling enough that they will come and participate. You must frame it well. There’s also a LOT of planning/managing involved.

Bloggers were invited to a red carpet event. We literally walked on red carpet, had our pictures taken and ate great food. We each got gift bags including product information (images, etc), product catalog, and a strand of pearls. They cleaned our wedding rings (mine has not been this sparlkly since I got it). The best part though was to be among other bloggers and get to know some of the local big shots.

The jewelry store was debuting a new line they are carrying called Pandora. We each got a bracelet and a charm and could buy more at a discount. I got one called “happy little bird” in honor of Twitter.

In addition, there were prize drawings and everyone got coupons for a free strand of pearls to give away on their blogs. Others got gift certificates to use as a giveaway.

This was much different than my experience with tech bloggers. We couldn’t wait to see what each other writes and comment on each other’s blogs. We’re very interactive online. We talk a lot in real life but it’s a different tone. It’s more like what we’re doing professionally and new technology we’re using. Then catching up on local goings on with others in the group.

With the mom blog crowd it was more like talking to a group of girlfriends. We talk about everything. We are vocal about what works and what doesn’t. However, the posts are written for the readers and not for each other.

My advice

Goldsmith should have their best rep who really knows the new line preview it in detail for us. Create profiles for everyone (in writing). Take our wrist size and preferences. Show us everything. Helps us assemble a bracelet that we’d like, writing down all of the beads we would need. Then give us a copy and keep one on file (for gifts in the future - we could send our husbands in to pick up if we wanted to). THEN take us to pick out our bracelet and bead.

Don’t market to us overtly but let us know about the discount and make it quick to purchase anything we choose while we were there. This is a balance but I felt they could’ve been more open to some marketing.

I also would’ve put a stipulation on the strand of pearls - either put a minimum purchase on it ($25) or ask people to preview the line and give feedback - a quick 5 mins.)

I’m not a mom blogger and generally speaking I don’t have local reach on my blog. I do have a more local following on Facebook and I write a neighborhood blog (which I keep thinking of expanding to Utah in general).

Next: I hope Goldsmith will invest in a new web site or blog with a gift bag and links to individual products. Great example of PR 2.0!

PRNewswire has added a Digital Center to their social media press releases (they call MultiVu). Basically, it’s a CMS (content management system) to hold your video, audio and digital photo content for your news stories.

“As more organizations create digital content, there is an increasing need for multimedia portals to archive, manage and make that information available, 24/7, to anyone, anywhere in a format that is easy to download. With The Digital Center’s online platform, storing, sharing and distributing multimedia materials is a seamless process.”

Here’s what you can do:

1. Upload your video, photos and logos into one place to store and manage them.
2. Download content in multiple formats that cater to journalists in the US and Internationally.
3. Distribute an advisory to PR Newswire’s vast communications network reaching thousands of media points and Web sites, and to the tens of thousands of members of PR Newswire for Journalists each time new content is uploaded.
4. Make your information public or password-protected so you control the media, bloggers and websites that can access the digital assets.
5. Comment and rating system that enables consumer and media to provide feedback on videos and other promotional materials.
6. Reporting and tracking so you can see how many times a video is streamed and what is downloaded.

You can upload existing video “or enlist MultiVu to produce new video, audio or other multimedia assets.” I’m not really sure what they mean by this - if they will produce content for you or if they have a DIY system.

Recently PRNewswire added a package that lets you display photos on billboards in Times Square and Las Vegas. They also have direct-to-blogger distribution and SEO capabilities (though I’m not sure what they are specifically). What I like is that you can grab video (either singly or by RSS feed) to go along with a news story you want to blog about.

Example of a multimedia press release on MultiVu: I saw a story on MultiVu from Google.org about geothermal energy - something I’m really interested in after watching 60 Minutes last Sunday and being reminded of the mess we’re in because of global warming. If I click on the video title I can download or insert the video onto my blog. Pretty slick. It’s much easier for Google.org to store and manage those videos as well as control who gets them.

Here’s more information about pricing and services from PRNewswire: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/multivu/37897/docs/37897-PRN_Digital_Center_FINAL.pdf

This is a sponsored review.

I’m usually upbeat but I’m on one today…

I’ve never been a fan of forums. To me they seem to be the most unfriendly communities. Facebook and Twitter are inviting and people are friendly. Places like Wikipedia, most forums I’ve been on, Digg and others aren’t. Which is why I gravitate towards Kirtsy.

People with large egos or power on these site get ruthless. They have something to protect. Maybe they don’t actually like dealing with people in real life or virtually.

Antisocials running social sites.

From what I’ve seen they don’t show a lot of tact - especially to marketers (thanks to the marketers who spam who we all pay penance for). They ban people. They seem to feel everything should be done out of the goodness of your heart - failing to recognize that people who contribute have a reason to. Even if that reason is for fame or the exposure of their ideas (something I know a lot about!). If you get banned from these communities (heck, even if you get banned from Google) forget democracy because you have little recourse. Unless you’re lucky (which I was once - I was banned from AdSense when I was new. I was kicked off of Commission Junction for not making any commissions in 6 months - but they let me back on and I have made money ever since). To me they act like you should be put in prision for breaking one of their rules. And the rules are paragraphs and paragraphs that no one ever reads.

If I could break down the rules for a community it should be not to dominate or harm the community. If what you do doesn’t violate that you should be given some leeway. Perhaps be treated like something besides a criminal.

I suppose I’m grouchy about mean-spiritedness - I’ve been watching and reading too many stories that show disregard for others in one form or another. I like people and socializing. I take a stand for treating people with dignity and respect - even online - and even when they’ve broken the rules.

I didn’t start out the day feeling great. Then I read Facebook’s trial they’re testing to have friends rate each other on the value of their status updates. Facebook is trying out an idea where your friends can give you credits if they like your update. It’s like a reward system or leaving a tip that can be traded for virtual gifts.

Sure people spontaneously send you gifts or give favors if you provide them value (I was given a domain name once). But to have it built into the system so that there is competition bothers me. There’s already competition about how many friends you have - but now it will also be on the value people find in what you say.

It’s not just an update, it’s a judgement?!
I’m not big on the idea of tipping my friends whose updates I like. I wouldn’t mind the idea of earning and sending Facebook “gifts” for other things. Like birthdays. And making it easier to do that. But isn’t there already a built-in feature to weed out people who status updates you don’t like (unfriend them or ignor them). When you respond to their updates, isn’t that feedback enough?

“Credits can also show Facebook much deeper information about what people think of each other. If you’re constantly crediting back and forth with a few friends, for example, Facebook would learn that you all care a lot about what each other have to say.”

I like friends and relatives on Facebook regardless if their updates are interesting, entertaining, or valuable to me beyond that. This seems a bit like rating people which is outside of the definition of friendship to me. At work and in other areas of life we have competition but Facebook is a place where we can let our hair down a little (and for some, too much so). I value friends that I can be myself with. I also sense that this has an alterior motive - a way for Facebook to market better.

Ideas for Facebook

As I mentioned Facebook could get more into gift giving (virtual and in real life) by integrating this into times when it’s natural to give gifts. Mother’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries, new babies, weddings, etc. I might not send a friend on Facebook an actual wedding present, but I might be willing to give send them a Facebook wedding gift (some rice throwing, an e-card, etc. as a way to acknowledge the event). People are congratulated just about any time they go from single to “in a relationship” or “married” — even if they’ve been married for years. So Facebook could actually help people celebrate with vow renewals or a section that recognizes newlyweds.

While I’m brainstorming…why not have a button that says “promote this update” or a Digg-type voting system? The most valuable updates could be voted on and be promoted to the home page.

Faciliate Fun

Facebook is about fun - and the more they can encourage that part of it the better the experience. People will pay a lot to have fun or be entertained (look at sports, concerts and Disney). As far as online worlds - Second Life does a good job at enabling fun and making money doing it. At some point it stops being fun - and to me that’s when it becomes too competitive. And if that’s what Facebook becomes I’m unfriending it.

You might notice a theme lately as I look for ways to automate parts of my business for me and for my clients. I write and then I want to get visibility for my work. That’s the tedious part. Yet it’s so effective that I need to do more. There are lots of social bookmarking software choices but most have cheesy sales pages and I tend not to trust them.

Many seem to have a variation on a name that includes the words “social” or “submit.”

Here’s some I’ve been looking at:

My favorite: http://www.socialposter.com/

I like Social Poster because it’s free and gives dofollow as well as pagerank. Fill out your site information (or post info) and choose the sites you want to submit to. Choose the frame version and then it puts a toolbar above each login page. When you finish submitting to one you click “next” and register or submit to the next site. They have about 160 different social bookmarking sites to choose from. Just getting to the right ’sign on page’ saves time and hassle.

http://www.mass-automation.com/products/auto-social-poster/
This is a Wordpress plugin that isn’t free and is rumored not to work on the current version of Wordpress. It lets you bookmark your own posts within your dashboard. I’d like to get more information about it.

http://www.onlywire.com/ is another service I want to try out it’s free if you have ads on it

http://www.socialsubmit.com free

http://www.submitsocial.com $150

socialpost - recommended in a comment that I lost because of a problem with a blog upgrade.

Have you used any of these products or do you have another to recommend? Please comment!

I found this list of niche social networks by category. One thing I’ve noticed is how SEO and internet marketers tend to talk about the same old sites to get links. There are so many more options out there than we talk about. Branch out a little, here’s some inspiration…

Activism: Care2, TakingITGlobal
Art & Design: Amateur Illustrator, Stuart, Teapotters
Auctions: biddingBuddies
Books: LibraryThing, Shelfari, Tagabook
Cars: CarDomain, CarSpace, Carster, Motortopia
Clubbing: AfterTheClub, DontStayIn
Comics: ComicSpace, Hypercomics
Cooking: BakeSpace, Group Recipes, Open Source Food
Cycling: BikeSpace.net, velospace
DIY: Curbly
Ethnicity: BlackPlanet, Koolanoo, Quespasa, WorldLounge
Fashion: ShareYourLook, Shoutfit, Trendmill
Fitness: ontri, PlayLocal, Traineo, We Endure
Film: Flixster, Yamji
Football: Joga
Gambling: Gaambol, Gottabet
Health: DailyStrength, OrganizedWisdom, RealMentalHealth
Hunting: TheHuntZone.com
Intelligence: intellectConnect
Motherhood: ConnectingMoms, MommyBuzz, MothersClick
Music: Hip-Hop.net, Linked Musicians, MakeOutClub, MusicHawk
Neighbourhood: ((echo))MyPlace, My Neighbourhoods
Outdoor activities: MyOutdoors.net, Outdoorzy.com, thoos
Parenting: GotKidsNetwork, Minti
Pets: Animal Buds, Catster, Dogster, Fuzzster, HAMSTERster, Petster
Photography: The Black Stripe
Politics: essembly, HOTSOUP.com, My.BarackObama.com
Religion: MuslimSpace, MyChurch, OakTreeIdea, ShoutLife, Xianz
Rugby: RuggerSpace.com
Smoking: Smoking Passions
Sports: FanPage, FanNation, FanSpot, Takkle, SportsMates, Ultrafan
Trainers: CriticalSole, Sneakerplay
Travel: TravBuddy, Travellerspoint, TripConnect, TripUp, WAYN
Video games: Gamervision, The Great Games Experiment
Wine: Bottletalk, Cork’d, Vinorati

If I get ambitious I’ll add the other social networks that I found to this for one giant list. If you get to it before I do, let me know!

I’d also like to compile a list of sites that lets you submit your articles to with links - such as Divine Caroline. These are communities, not article sites.