• Want to Know What Community Members (a.k.a. Customers) Need? Just Ask.

    Are you “Member Shy”? In its most basic form, a community strategy is a balance of an organization’s goals and its member’s (a.k.a customer’s) needs. Organizations have methodologies for developing goals and objectives, yet I continue to be surprised at how many organizations are missing research as a core part of their online community development process. Even for organizations…

  • Speaking: #OCTribe Meetup | SF Jan27th

      Hi Folks – a quick post to let you know that I am leading a discussion at the #OCTribe Online Community Meetup in SF this Wednesday night. I’ve been involved with this meetup for many years, and it is an honor to be asked to speak! Description and registration information follow. I hope we…

  • Introducing Network Thinking: A Mobile Approach to Customer Communities

    Customer Communities Don’t Have To Be Complicated We know companies that invest in creating networks of relationships perform better than those that don’t. We also know that customers connected to a company’s “network of relationships” are more valuable. One of the best ways to create a customer network is to develop online communities. There are myriad vendors,…

  • The Secret Ingredient for Customer Lifecycle Marketing? Community Management.

    Clearly Customer Lifecycle Marketing is incredibly valuable when all stages of the lifecycle are addressed. So what is the problem? Based on my direct experience and years of studying the intersection of marketing and online community, I would assert that building meaningful relationships at scale is still an undeveloped function in the majority of most…

  • My First Year as a Consultant and what 2016 Holds for Online Communities (I hope)

    Honestly, I wasn’t going to do this. I’m already rolling eyes at all the “prediction” posts. And there are way too many 2015 retrospectives to look back on… but I’m feeling optimistic and inspired! You are taking the time to read this – THANK YOU! I have had an incredible amount of support for my…

  • Collaborative Economy Roundup for the Week of November 23, 2015

    As the United States prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, the team at Structure3C is thankful for another great week of growth and development in the #CollaborativeEconomy. We also have some exciting news to share: Bill Johnston (Founder of Structure3C) was nominated in the first cohort of Fellows for the Life Reimagined Institute. Read the full news…

  • Collaborative Economy Roundup for the Week of November 16, 2015

    With the horrible events of last week in Paris, Beirut, Israel and Kenya on my mind as we start the work week, I want to encourage everyone to think of ways to use connected technologies to bring us together instead of pulling us apart (as the extreme elements want). I wish you all a peaceful and…

  • Collaborative Economy Roundup for the Week Ending November 6th

    This week saw 2 major events in public policy & politics related to the Collaborative Economy: The defeat of Prop F, which sought to limit the rights of AirBNB hosts and the SEC approving an expanded set of rules for equity crowdfunding. See something we missed? Email us, we’d love to hear from you. 1. …

  • Announcing a New Online Workshop: The Collaborative Economy Kickstart

    Every organization in the world is being impacted by the Collaborative Economy in some way. Smart organizations are engaging now by addressing emerging threats and identifying business opportunities. I created the Collaborative Economy Kickstart as a companion to our longer-form workshops. In 2.5 hours, participants will get a briefing on the Collaborative Economy, a facilitated exercise…

  • Collaborative Economy Roundup for the Week Ending October 30

    Your Weekly #‎CollabEcon Roundup for the Week Ending October 30 We hope everyone is geared up for an extra #spooky Halloween weekend. Uber’s latest valuation and funding round might be scary (actually, terrifying!) We’ll get you up to speed on this week’s best #CollabEcon articles. Just settle in with some trick or treat goodies and read the…