If you instantly picture having a picnic in the park listening to the town band playing under the gazebo on the Fourth of July, your memories are nice, but your picture is a hundred years old. Today, community is a tool that can double the traffic to your website, improve your bottom-line and keep them coming back for more. Communities provide tightly targeted audiences for higher ad rates, more efficient merchandising and effective marketing. In general, communities are loyal and active. Audiences are willing to talk up a site to their friends, participate in the generation of content and the management of the community, pay fees for premium services, add-ons and brand extensions, and willingly participate in promotions.
Communities connect people to people and bind the world together.
Participation, referral and subscription levels at community sites are extremely high. Community doesn't just happen. Unfortunately, it doesn't usually work out that way. Just like in bricks and mortar businesses, you need a plan. The first step is to figure out whom the visitors to your site will be.