With A Little Help From My Friends “There is immense value in community building, even if you do not (yet) have a product to sell or a cause to champion.”
BY ADAM WHITE
We are at a unique juncture in the development of social networking. While the public is well aware of services like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and major media companies are getting on board (with varying levels of success) adoption by ordinary businesses, particularly in small cities, is still low enough that participants from these towns can quickly build rapport with local enthusiasts. We will not be at this fledgling stage very long, but while the numbers are in your favour there is a fantastic opportunity to create lasting relationships. The Niagara Twitter community is a fascinating example. The number of locals using Twitter is small enough so that there is a huge amount of cross-conversation among people representing various interests that may not mix in their day-to-day lives. Farmers are talking to software developers. Outdoors enthusiasts are chatting with municipal politicians. The higher echelons of the wine industry engage with small scale bloggers. At this stage of growth it is possible for a new community member to introduce themselves to, quite literally, everyone. What is the common thread between all these groups? It is simply that they are local Twitter users, and that engaging locally via the service remains (at least for now) a rewarding and novel experience. This unlikely community has given rise to some interesting opportunities. Niagara-On-The-Lake winery Château des Charmes held their first “Twasting” in March, a paid wine tasting on their premises which was only promoted to the Twitter community. They filled a room with an interesting mix of writers, bloggers, media professionals and people from the hospitality industry. The winery was able to leverage that unique grouping to generate tangible profits and positive word of mouth. It is important to consider the intent of these local enthusiasts. The vast majority of them are utilizing YouTube, Facebook, Wordpress and other services purely out of curiosity, with no ulterior motive other than being social. There is seldom the feeling that one of these early adopters is engaging with you on behalf of a business plan. Of course wineries like Château des Charmes were able to draw upon the community to throw a for-profit event, but the winery only launched that modest initiative after months of genuine conversation and participation. You were just as often to see their representative chatting online about the fortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs then you were their wine. However when a member of the community does launch a new project or initiative, they are able to do so with a vocal and supportive built-in audience. I launched a new video blog exploring Niagara in early August, a site that while yet unproven had been embraced by the friends and contacts I had built rapport with on Twitter. With very little effort on my part they pushed out the link to their Twitter followers, posted about my project on their blogs, and shared my story to their Facebook friends. It was mere hours before the attention resulted in a call from a local newspaper reporter. Had I launched this project six months ago, I would have had no support. I would not have been able to trade on my name and reputation when trying to turn the ear of the public. There is immense value in community building, even if you do not (yet) have a product to sell or a cause to champion. In small towns with limited adoption of social media services the benefits of being an early adopter can be great.
Niagara Success Story
