Ask the Experts in Online Communities

A good community is often found with the expert knowledge and goodwill within it. I wanted to “field test” the expert knowledge of a community and the free information that is readily available to anyone with a computer. I simply asked the community on Linkedin “What are the best Social Media Business Development “how to” sites?” The results proved how effective reaching out to the community knowledge base can be.

My test question was fairly broad, but detailed enough to give someone direction on what I needed:

“I am looking for everyones input on sites dedicated to best use of social media tools and developments for business owners. What are the best blogs, how-to, and guide sites out there covering the latest Web 2.0 / social media trends in regards to business development?”

In less than 24 hours, I received four different responses that were pretty clean and actually useful. One of them even gave me a resource that I wasn’t aware of (that takes a lot of skill considering I spend 30 to 60 hours a week researching social media and online marketing.) After another day, I had received a total of six different answers.

Callan Harris - Online Marketing Manage at Ministry of Sound - “Mashable is the best source for any news/developments in social media, and specifically social networking - great site.” I couldn’t agree more. Mashable is one of the best sources for the latest developments in online tech and social networking services.

Sante J. Achille - Search Engine Consultant - ” There is a lot of noise out there these days on Social Media - you can easily spend days at a time just reviewing countless posts and articles on Social media . Your best bet is to determine your exact needs before venturing out seeking information and set up some queries on tools like blogsearch (google) and Ask (pretty SPAM free these days) and start reviewing what you find: if it isn’t good enough review your queries - a sort of trial and error process I find very useful” I agree again. There is A LOT of noise out there in Social Media. I would say less than 1% is worthwhile or on-target. It is however very cool that Sante is an SEO consultant from Italy. For $0, we received a good tip on filtering the large amounts of data we receive.

Robert Lesser - Direct Impact Marketing, Leadgen Tools - “We recently surveyed B2B marketers and asked for their votes on Web 2.0 tools. A high proportion of the responders are using these tools for business development. The site is free and frequently updated with votes by qualified B2B marketers.” Robert is right. The survey did have some useful information. It doesn’t have a huge number of respondents, but it does show some pretty clear trends.

Ian Lurie - Owner of Portent Interactive - “Copyblogger writes about writing, from the perspective of blogging and social media. The author is brilliant, and his thoughts are a must if you’re considering launching a new project.” Ian, fellow Seattle resident and online guru, is also right on the money. Copyblogger is an great resource of blogging 101 and online marketing information.

The amazing part of this very simple test is breaking it down to the fundamental access to reactive knowledge social media provides. I had four respondents who were all highly qualified professionals: from an expert living here in my city to an expert in Italy.

Stop for a moment and realize that these individuals are also in my field of work. They don’t feel any need to horde information or mislead. They instead leverage the medium of social media to expose the knowledge they have to the world. In the case of three respondents, it may mean increased exposure or a contact in a few months when I (or a client) needs their niche specialty. For Ian, it may also get him a free cup of coffee when we compare our favorite cafe choices in the area.

Biznik has a like-minded culture: there are dozens of highly skilled, well educated, and talented members who offer free information to questions and commentary.

Keep this information in mind:

• Do not take that free benefit for granted.
• Leverage the community members for what they freely offer.
• Return the goodwill to the community, recommend the group.
• Keep those favors in mind and take time to learn more about the person who aided you so that you can aid them.

Most importantly:

• Don't be afraid to ask questions
• Take the time to encourage others to ask questions.
• Provide the insight you have on your own niche.

Take a look at the thread on LinkedIn and then take a moment to apply this benefit to your own professional workflow.