Online Community Handbook: Building your business and brand on the Web

Anna Buss · Nancy Strauss

März 2009 · New Riders

Über dieses E-Book

Successful online communities don’t just happen by themselves. They’re the result of a carefully executed strategy, solid design, and patient nurturing. Though they may seem like a lot of work, the benefits an online community can bring to your brand make the efforts worthwhile. This book will provide you with the essential tools to build online communities. You’ll learn how to:

• identify the business objectives for your online community
• develop a community strategy to recruit and retain members
• create brand loyalty, bring in new business, and offer value to customers that your competitors cannot imitate
• take advantage of free advertising opportunities
• use communities to gain market insights and establish a direct line to your customer base

In addition, you’ll discover the risks and costs of an online community project, how it can end up saving your company money, and even how it can become an important new revenue source of its own.

You’ll also be inspired by exclusive interviews, where the people who manage thriving online communities share the lessons they’ve learned and the secrets of their success.

Autoren-Profil

Anna Buss is a senior information architect and also teaches online journalism at the University of Mainz. She has 10 years of experience with usercentered design, concept development, consultancy, brand strategy, CRM, and usability. Her clients come mainly from the automotive, financial services, and telecommunications industries. Nancy and Anna met at Ciao, where Anna worked as a user experience manager. Born in Berlin, Anna received her diploma in molecular biology from University of Konstanz in 1995.

Nancy Strauss is a consultant specializing in website communities, online communication, and globalization. She is also owner of William Victor (www.williamvictor.net), a global content and translation service with native writers and translators working in major world languages. She has managed online community and panel communication for Ciao.com and Greenfield Online. A Cincinnati native, Nancy received an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. Since then, she lived briefly in the Czech Republic and has been living for the last ten years in Spain.