You heard this before. “Build a community within your business” “Look at what Build-a-Bear-Company did” “Look at the Harley Davidson and their community” “Community equals loyal customers.”

I couldn’t agree more, but what are some ways of building a community  in the online world as well as the offline world?

Community = bringing people together. Few ways to do that …

1. Company Blogs = Write about things that are happening in your company and within your industry. Write about things that will interest your target market. Don’t be afraid to let your visitors post comments on your blogs. Start discussions, polls…

2. Discussion Forums = When you add a discussion forum to your website you simply let your customers network with each other, exchange ideas and just chat. For many companies this would be a good idea. For some it wouldn’t be recommended.

3. Backyard Parties = Many medical practices do this. They invite all their patients to a party they host. Expensive? Maybe, but it’s still worth the cost for them.

4. Live Teleseminars = How about this. Once a month you host a live teleseminar where you might interview some of your customers and also add some new information that the listeners will enjoy and benefit from. Just notify your customer base about this and let them listen in.

5. Member Discount = Give your loyal customers special discounts or perks just for being your customer or you can even charge a yearly fee for a “Elite Member Group” membership.

6. Host Shows = How about gathering your enthusiastic customers to show off whatever it is you sell or something that you did that ultimately created a “show off” product for them. Example: Bikes, Cars, Hobby items…

7. Share Online = Your customers can send you pictures of whatever it is you helped them with. At the end of the month, you can pick one that will win a prize for the best *****. You get the point.

8. Member Only Page/Access = A place where your customers can log in to the site and enter a special section of it just for them. From there use your imagination. There are many things you can offer. Chats, boards, personal profiles to share with others…

The list can go on and on. Bottom line is … in order to create a community you need to make it fun, exciting, educational and worthwhile for your customers to join your community.