Top 10 Points from Cultivating Online Community

I want to share with you the Top Ten points from my 2:1 Conference break out session, Cultivating Online Community.
What is Community? websters: a unified body of individuals, an interacting population of various kinds of individuals - in a common location

Community is about a place and interaction - not about numbers!

Connect not collect!

1. YOUR BLOG IS YOUR ONLINE HOME SO CLEAN IT UP !
Comfortable space is a healthy environment for growth! You have less than 30 seconds to make readers feel comfortable. You want to create space that will be a place readers want to return. Mistakes to avoid: dark backgrounds, unfriendly fonts, music, super-sized: photos -headers buttons … be consistent!  ”everyone and their mama now has a blog – learn to format your posts.  Avoid posts longer than 700 words and a sea of gray”.

2. INNER CIRCLE
 Every blogger has community. What are you doing with yours?  Focus on building relationships with your “inner circle”.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3

Your inner circle consists of your regular readers who …
link to your site within their posts
retweet your posts
facebook share your posts
other social media (stumble, pinterest, etc.)

 4. CULTIVATING ONLINE COMMUNITY
How did Jesus cultivate his community of disciples?
taught them Truth
showed them love
healed them
reassured them
encouraged them
included them
prayed for them

How are you cultivating your online community?
what are you teaching them? (or are you just complaining)
how are you loving them? Love = T.I.M.E. (Rick Warren) (reply to comments, interact, read their blogs)
how are you encouraging them? (are you wrapping your posts back around to encourage)
how are you including them? (twitter parties, giveaways)
are you praying for them? (not for your posts to rock but for your reader’s hearts to be open and God to move)
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3 

5. DIVISION ONLY HURTS YOU
God does not call us to division as believers, but rather to unity. (work together two are better than one)
Don’t be a “Mine” blogger – Nemo photo (all the birds, “mine mine mine mine”).  If it’s all for Kingdom glory does it matter who’s idea it was?
 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3
  How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! Psalm 133:1
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus. Romans 5:5

6. GIMMICKS & TRICKS?
Reviews & Giveaways: responsibility to company, time it takes, hosting giveaway and/or promoting review, does not sustain readership, always have to top the last giveaway, hit or miss products

Ad Space: have to make money to spend money, might not hit target audience, not guaranteed pageviews, the bigger the site the bigger the ad space $, only lasts 30 days

do not manipulate your readers to follow you.  Good content is a guaranteed follow.

7. GIVING INCREASES YOUR COMMUNITY
Rather than focus on getting followers focus on giving to them …
give an ebook to your subscribers
offer free planning, organizing, information (Five Js)
offer free curriculum (Homeschool Creations)
offer printable encouragement (Homeschool Encouragement in Scripture)

Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Luke 6:38 

 8.  GOOD CONTENT IS KING
slide – top 10 posts from The Homeschool Village April 2011-2012 - none reviews nor giveaways all quality informative posts.

9. DO ENGAGE!
leave/reply to comments
tweet to bloggers
share other’s posts
have a contact page
offer different ways to comment (Name/URL)
what you put in is what you can expect to get out!

10. DON’T WORRY!
COMPARE – (God gives everyone different gifts) Comments vs Obedience — It’s not a good post because you received a comment (or a pageview) - it is a good post because you were obedient to write it and publish it.
number watch
ask for likes (does not sustain readership – get the likes that interact)
complain (Philippians 2:14)
give up – (Galatians 6:9)
don’t live online (you will get buried, set boundaries)
good things take time

* these are my words from the 2:1 Conference break out session Cultivating Online Community.  Feel free to link to this page – but please do not copy and paste sections – thank you!