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We launched groups on BlogHer a couple of weeks ago and some of you have taken advantage of that functionality by creating your own groups and by joining groups that others created.
But what now?
You have the group. You've joined a group. What do you do with it? How do you help it grow?
That's the million dollar question that everyone asks. It doesn't matter whether you're talking about message boards, blogs, groups, or online communities of any kind. What do you do with it and how do you get people to use it?
As I sat down to write this post, I started thinking about the differences between growing a group and growing a blog. There aren't many differences, really. It's all community building.
I considered taking the time to interview women who I know are really good at growing groups and online community but I realized that my interview with these women just wouldn't work. I know what they'll say before they say it because we've all learned how to do this together or we've learned from each other. So rather than interviewing them, I'll link them at the bottom of this post and you can track them down and ask them questions.
Instead, I'm going to dig into the existing BlogHer Groups and give you some examples of group building strategies that are working on BlogHer and tell you about some of my personal experiences with these groups. (There's absolutely no reason why you should not join these groups, simply for the purpose of looking more closely at what group owners and members are doing - you can always un-join them once you've checked out the examples I'm sharing with you. In fact, I recommend you join for that purpose.)
First look at my very tiny little Caregiving group. It's very quiet over there and that's ok. I think that's one of the first things to remember - a new, small group is going to be new and small - and very quiet. It will grow, if you give it time and attention.
I created the group on the very first morning we launched. The first thing I did once I'd created it was go to some blog posts that I thought caregivers would be interested in reading and clicked the "send to group" link at the bottom of those posts. I didn't overwhelm the group with dozens of posts, I just picked a few - some of mine, some written by others. I picked a range of posts, some funny and some serious. Some about Alzheimer's, some not.
And then I created a forum post. Nobody replied (until today when TW, my partner, replied.) That was ok. It was quiet - there were only three members.
Then, I stumbled across a BlogHer member who had blogged about caregiving. I clicked "send to group" and then I left a comment to her post actually replying to what she'd said but also telling her that I'd sent her post to the group. And guess what happened... she joined. And she posted her own forum post. Now there are three of us in there talking about caregiving. We don't have any hard answers for her but we can offer her a heck of a lot of support as she and her dad try to find what will work for them.
Recap: Send content to your group. Send a few posts written by you and by others on the first day you launch and then regularly send blog posts, blog listings and chatter posts that are applicable. Give members something to read - even if there are only three members. And when someone joins, reach out and talk. This is super easy in a new, small group. Even if the new member doesn't say anything, you'll know she's there because you'll see her photo in the members section. Read her profile, look at her blog, get to know her and then invite her to talk about something you know she's interested in. She might just be shy...
Now go take a peek at the Creative Writing group, since we're talking about shyness. The group was started by an old friend of mine who I generally call RE but for you I will call "nelle". Nelle is very much into creative writing right now, and she created the group. But then she didn't do much to promote it. She's shy in many many ways - until you
