There is no shortage of people willing to freely give their time to their favorite sites, and certainly, companies are quick to reap the benefits. Mindful of the legal pitfalls, executives are hiring consultants to show them new ways to involve volunteers online without incurring liability. Cothrel says community guidelines make it clear to site visitors that volunteers are not speaking for companies. Although outsourcing community works fine for some companies, it has drawbacks. Amy Jo Kim, a community strategist, designer, and author of Community Building on the Web , says some firms choose to outsource community for a while, then bring it back in-house because they want to be in a closer relationship with their customers and want to control how their brands are presented to the public.
Some consulting firms specialize in training employees to manage community in-house.
Companies are also hiring paid community managers to involve volunteers in other ways. Other companies are building communities that connect partners, suppliers, and third-party developers. One example is Hallmark's Gold Crown Retailer Knowledge Community, developed with Pensare in 1999, which connects Hallmark with its independently owned retailers, who learn from one another's success stories. For example, one retailer passed along his discovery that customers were hesitant to use headphones on a CD display for sanitary reasons. Jim Cashel, who coedits the Online Community Report with Dan Shafer, says people are just beginning to understand the power of online collaboration.