okay, so now I have set up some 'barebones' coffee venues - I selected them randomly rather than based on their functions / abilities - it was random in the sense it was a cross section of social networking portals that see activity in my e-mail inbox. I opted for a cross section as it widens reach .
I get alot of friend requests and interaction via the random selection from my inbox, and this activity is usually done by people, and it's people we coffee people want to interact with right ?
So I am taking our coffee venues to the places of activity.
I work on a similar princible to what Thomas Power is talking about over on Ecademy 'ORS' Open, Random, Supportive - look it up in the blogs there, but the concept of ORS in terms of our (and I have made them for more than just me!) coffee venues -is like a cafe or bistro in a shopping center - you are going to get a lot of people (quantity) walking around the shopping mall (a social network), some will walk past your cafe, some will come in, some won't
- some will walk by the cafe every day thinking I will have to pop in for a coffee one day, some will just "have to come in" to start their day - a habit that 'center's' them/ starts them for the day. - The point is - the cafe is there in the first place - if it wasn't - people would go somewhere else or have different habits.
Yet we also know that " build it and they will come" - doesn't work by itself alone on-line - this is proven over the years by many stores that come and go because they can't get awareness to their target market - in order for a shop or venue to work - the shop keeper has to do some enticement, which could mean putting some tasty cakes in the window, it could mean offering a freebie, and it could mean finding or attracting a range of people that work in a similar industry -
Imagine a cafe convention (or family/ friends) supporting your cafe on opening, same kind of thing - this network of friends supporting each other kind of works on Ning - the main difference with this - is it's coffee related as a main subject - a way for others to add in this situation is to make sure you have the equivalent of a notice / community board - where people can leave their messages, things for sale, classified adverts, events, yard sales etc.
- this is where team work from other people in your industry comes in - you offer some free cakes to the cake society - IF they come and eat those cakes in your store. You also have some good products, good deals - and good content for both - people see other people enjoying those cakes in your cafe - then they want some - your cafe is associated with a place where people enjoy cakes.
- why compete for business when there are enough people to share ? - affiliation works on this revenue model - REV share does work, just ask an affiliate agency! - If they didn't make money from sharing revenue and make a profit - they would not be doing it - they are a business - not a social welfare agency!
A group/venue is much like a blog too in that you need to keep it updated with fresh content or activity to attract people.
So my next stage of these venues is to add content, that coffee lovers and coffee people will find useful, and to also find the experts and "cake" people that can fill up each venue.
If you have something you can offer people for free that is coffee related - you are welcome to post it in the venues =)
Not ALL these venues will work - BUT - that doesn't matter - as some will - consistency and fresh content is the key to success with any blog /website or venue - together with effort to attract the right kind of people - extract the quality from the quantity as they walk by the cafe-
- You have to be visible and in the stream to attract attention real-time communication is one tool that gets you there, that is what all the top experts are saying - not just little old me BTW!--
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