Day 24: Connect With Your Community

If it takes a village to raise a child, it certainly takes a Community to raise / maintain / monetize a business. Here are a few ways you can connect with the members and brains of your Community:

Communal knowledge sharing
One of the greatest assets you have as an entrepreneur is the collective brainpower of the seasoned veterans and whiz kids of your Community. There are many Web tools to not only keep in touch, but to regularly contribute and reap the benefits of the experiences and learning of your Community:

• Create Twitter lists of local business owners, reporters, educators and other inspirational citizens – learn how to curate topic or geographic specific content here
• Instead of bookmarking your favorite articles or Web site posts on your computer, sign up for a social bookmarking tool like Del.icio.us or Diigo and encourage your colleagues to do the same. That way you can subscribe to their latest bookmarks and always be on the same page.
• Track your Community members blog posts and Web site updates by setting up an RSS feed reader like Google Reader or Pageflakes . This will help you knock out those extra minutes visiting site after site, keeping you posted automatically when someone updates their respective online space.
• If you are keen on growing your skill sets and broadening your library, sign up for a social reading site like GoodReads to track the books on your bookshelf, write reviews and make recommendations to friends. Use this kind of network to share books, read books as a group or just discover your next summer novel (entrepreneurial in spirit, we’re sure).

Socializing with your Community
There’s nothing like that face-to-face discussion and idea sharing to get your creative juices flowing and inspiration growing. Learn to gauge the appropriate kinds of interaction at different events – not all social hours will be business card collecting events, sometimes it’s just a great opportunity to connect and grow those relationships on a more personal level.

Brush on your social skills with these handy networking tips or learn from a networking master and grow relationships on an entirely new level. A great way to jump into any event, regardless of how introverted you are, is to bring a camera along. Capture the event and upload the photos to the event Web site or Flickr group. You’ll be memorable, have an excuse to talk to everyone at the event and will have lots of opportunity for follow up.

Take the good with the bad
So let’s talk for a bit on the less-than-pleasant side of Community participation. The ‘close talkers’, the braggarts, the flakes, the ‘I think I’m great so just want to monopolize the conversation with stories of my entrepreneurial prowess’.

Sometimes connecting with your Community means connecting with those folks too and that’s really a-okay. Keep in mind that the skills, talents and experiences that your Community members bring can often (hopefully) outweigh the negative aspects, if you focus your attention on just that.

The fun, the boring, the smart, the crazy, the hyper and the over achievers – they are all part of your tribe. Things just wouldn’t be the same without them – just as they wouldn’t be the same without you!

Today’s activities:

1. Discover those hidden Community networks and find the best ways to engage with them, you never know when you’ll need a local support system. A great place to start is by growing your ‘Support Local, Grow Together’ organization (listen to the Overtime Show episode dealing with just that here). The Open Coffee Club is another great movement to know as an entrepreneur to regularly connect with like minded business owners and investors.
2. Learn how to deal with those, shall we say, more ‘challenging’ Community members by listening to the “Overtime Show’s ‘Bullies, Braggarts and Jerks’ episode:”http://www.thebusinessmakers.com/episodes/the-businessmakers-overtime-archives/2010/april-2010-ot/episode-037-ot/special-features-037.html and by reading this insightful Psychology Today article on ‘Dealing With Difficult People’.
3. Create a Facebook page to keep in touch with your Community both near and far. Keep it private and invitation only, keep it open and let new members join at will – it’s all up to you.

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