Power to the… community

…Not only do your customers tell you exactly what they want, they essentially create and perpetuate the market for you. Community building is not just about slapping a mesageboard on your site, there are all kinds of inventive ways to get your customers involved in your business.

Beautiful words from Jeffrey Kalmikoff of skinnyCorp. Building a community gives you control of the conversation and also allows your customers to guide you in the direction they need to go. The years of second-guessing your customers’ needs are over. With an appropriate communication platform in place, customers and business owners have a bi-directional channel to discuss potential improvements and generate new ideas.

Worried about a competitor snooping in your community and running back to base to report on the plans? Don’t be – communities catch and crucify moles. Here’s the benefit; without communities there is usually no proof of exposure, so competitors can be free to ‘steal’ ideas at will. As we know this has been occurring for years in the middle ground between product development/mild espionage/moles/paid leaks. When this happens there’s often no history and a competitor can successfully ‘steal’ and launch an idea.

When the idea evolves within a community the time of conception is known. Would-be copiers know launching a competing product or service will be at the mercy of community members witnessing the conception of the original idea. The date and time are recorded forever. Original ideas remain the property of the originator, and it becomes a lot harder to ‘steal’ ideas from an originator when you’re up against a loyal and passionate community.

The benefits of community backing are priceless. What does your business have; a passionate community or a much less valuable customer base?