If you as a product manager would like to build a user community that will self sustain, here are some tips based on my experience building the foundations of a user community on 3D ContentCentral website that currently has close to 450,000 registered members.

1) What is in it for them? – Have a dead simple value proposition for the users to join your community.  I repeat again – It has to be dead simple to understand. In the case of 3D ContentCentral, product designers got to download free 3D models of supplier components such as cylinders, motors, gears, electrical components etc. that saved them valuable design time that they would otherwise spend modeling these purchased components.

2) Enable sharing – Allow users to contribute to the community whether this is through discussions, add content to the website. Make it interactive. Tap into the wisdom of the crowd. But make the sharing process super easy to use. You need to act as the catalyst to start the interaction and then step out of the way. In the above case, we created a user library that allowed users to easily share 3D models of the purchased components between themselves. All we provided was free disk space and a website.

3) Enable peer recognition – Humans value peer recognition a whole lot more than monetary compensation. Who would not want to be recognized as an MVP by their peers? So enable it – allow users to recognize people whether it be via ratings and reviews or just by allowing people to say send a Thank you note via your community site.

4) Spotlight high performers: Recognize the high performers yourself. Have a spotlight section and recognize them. 3D ContentCentral has a spotlight that recognizes those users that contributed the maximum number of models. But don’t allow this to stagnate. Keep changing the user who gets spotlighted so that everyone knows they have a shot at it. Also ends up to be peer motivation – if he can do it, why can’t I?

5) Listen: Allow users to tell you how you can help them interact better. Listen to their ideas and the make the experience better. User community will use the site in ways you never predicted. But don’t put up a front and say – this is the way you shall use it. Forgo ownership (as long as the site is not being hijacked in illegal or unethical ways), play the role of the catalyst. You will be surprised as to how well the community will police itself and kick the bad guys out – all because of the tremendous value the community is providing them. Stand on the side and watch and step in only when absolutely needed. Again, provide a mechanism for the community to notify you so that you can take action. For example, we had a simple “Report inappropriate content” feature which allowed users to flag bad stuff. And guess what, such reports were not that many. When you do get valid reports of inappropriate stuff, thank the person who notified you and immediately take action whether it is to remove such stuff or kick out the repeat offenders. But use the feather first and the hammer only if absolutely needed.

[via ProductMarketingTips] by Gopal Shenoy

I’VE TALKED TO a lot of people who have found a promising market by coming up with a product or service that would solve a problem. But they’re paralyzed about taking the next step. What if they put in the time and effort — and possibly money — and it flops?

There’s one process they’re missing. Validating your market after you’ve come up with a niche business idea is a crucial step you can’t afford to skip.

Of course, there’s no way to guarantee success, but ask yourself the four questions below. If you can check off every one, you’ll know — as much as possible — that you’re onto a winner.

1. Is there a demand for your product or service?
You need to make sure there are enough potential customers out there to keep you in business.

Are people trying to solve this problem on the internet and not finding a suitable solution? If you’ve done keyword research to find a niche market, you should already have a good idea about this.

Don’t overestimate the numbers. Just because you think every cat owner in America needs to buy your revolutionary cat bed doesn’t mean everyone will. A good number to use is 2 percent. If 2 percent of the visitors to your website become customers, you’ll be doing well.

2. Is there any competition already supplying the market?
Search for your top keywords and look at the rival sites that come up. What do they sell and how do they make money?

Most sites you find won’t be actual competition — they may just have some related content or be luring traffic for the sake of advertising revenue.

When you find real competitors offering something similar to what you want to sell, dig deeper into their businesses.

What can you do better than they do? Build a more professional, easier-to-use website? Write better pay-per-click ads for the same keywords? Put more keywords in your copy and code to attract the search engines?

These answers will put you ahead of the game and give your potential customers a reason to choose you over your rivals.

3. Will you get high-quality traffic?
Are people looking for something free, or will they actually buy from you?

Search for the terms (free) + (your keyword). Is there a free product competing with your product? If so, people won’t pay for your version.

It’s also a good idea to search Amazon and eBay for previously sold items to see whether people are willing to buy products similar to yours.

4. Does your internet business have a high lifetime value?
Lifetime value means the total value of each customer to your business as they buy from you again and again.

Can you turn one-time buyers into repeat customers? Are there add-on products or services you could offer to develop lasting, valuable relationships with them?

If you have a single product or service, try to come up with more things your niche market would buy — because it’s much easier to sell to repeat customers than it is to develop new customers.

Once you’ve thoroughly — and honestly — assessed your niche business idea by answering these four questions, you should feel much more confident about making it a reality.

[via SMSmallBiz] by Derek Gehl