NEW: Building Relationships With Your Community Members
Community Experts Series, Google+Vanguards Initiative

The best experience is to be present during the event and jump in to ask your question. Join Moderators Community: https://plus.google.com/communities/104190940017258117231

I most enjoyed learning about the weekly winners'system +Sonali Dalal introduces Community events. It's just one takeaway of many from this conversation:
https://plus.google.com/+RachelBakkered/posts/NXjxgYqPrpi

#GooglePlusKNowledge #CommunityExperts #CommunityManagement

NEW: Community Experts
Google Vanguards Initiative for Community Moderators

This new event is in support of Community Management. Are you in Moderation and Community Management?

As a Moderator of Google-owned Collections Community together with +Azlin Bloor who is the expert chosen to open the new series of events, I highly recommend you learn from Azlin's in-depth knowledge from long years expertise in Community Management, multicultural open conversations, and open mind thinking.

Ask to join the public Google owned "Google+Moderators" for the exchange of best practices for growing and sustaining your Google+ Community! https://plus.google.com/communities/104190940017258117231

Take part in the conversation how to sustain long-term engagement and success in your Community

Here:
https://plus.google.com/+RachelBakkered/posts/172X1pEWrXb

#GooglePlusKnowledge #CommunityManagement #CommunityExperts

CommunityExperts, Q&A on Jan 8, 2018
To join the conversation with Azlin , look for a #CommunityExperts post Monday January 8th. Talk soon!

This will not be a Q&A Hangout, but it will take place in textual form on g+. And if you are interested in tuning up your community management skills, bookmark this Monday.

Announcing #CommunityExperts - starting January 8th, 2018!

Hi Google+ Moderators Team,

To help us continue growing our Google+ moderator skills, we're starting a new series called #CommunityExperts. Twice per month an expert from Community Vanguards will answer questions and share best practices on making our Google+ communities as effective as possible.

Our first #CommunityExperts guest is +Azlin Bloor, who will share insights about sustaining long term community engagement and success. Azlin is a former English and Economics teacher who long ago discovered the joys of cooking. She's now a chef, cookery teacher and food blogger in England. Additionally she runs two large food communities on Google+ and moderates the Google+ Collections community.

To join the conversation with Azlin, look for a #CommunityExperts post Monday January 8th. Talk soon!

#Community Experts Recap - featuring +Azlin Bloor
Sustaining Long Term Engagement and Success in your Community.

Whether you're a new or seasoned community moderator, I encourage you to check out +Azlin Bloor's sage advice on sustaining long term engagement and success in your community. She is a goldmine of proven best practices and innovative ideas, taken straight from her experience on the foodies+ community and beyond.

Sustaining Long Term Engagement and Success in your Community

Community Success Formula
1. Rules - everyone needs guidelines on which to base their work on; some people happily embrace them, others don't. We are comfortable losing members or potential members who don't play by the rules.
2. Moderators - our moderators keep in touch with each other regularly, with questions and updates. They are also vigilant and not afraid to enforce the rules.
3. Consistency - we are consistent in the projects, themes, and games that we run, so there's always a reason for members to engage. But don’t forget, variety is the spice of life, so keep the topics interesting and varied.
4. Delegating - this is really important, as it prevents burnout, keeps mods/members invested in the community.

Respect Original Content - in our foodies+ community if we come across members who lift and post recipes, images and links that do not belong to them, we ask that the poster attributes the content to the original creator or the post has to go.

Put Out The Welcome Mat - welcome every single new member! Make them feel comfortable and excited about joining the community.

Manage the Conversation - as owner/moderator, you have to reign members in when they get heated up, and simply put an end to it if members do not listen.

Be Present - engage with your community as much as is possible. As I tell my mods, 5 minutes a day is a whole lot better than once or twice a week. That 5 minutes will allow you to comment on at least 1 post, and perhaps clear up some spam, if need be.

Leadership - a community can go a long, long way if it has someone to steer the ship. Maybe for some communities, that's 2 people.

Your Community Brand - having a brand that members identify with and are proud of is crucial in ensuring loyalty and participation. That brand and identity can be promoted with real meet-ups and brand merchandise, just to illustrate 2 examples.

Rituals - rituals keep members coming back and also make management easier, as you don't have to come up with new activities every week or month.

Incentive to Engage - tagging people in your posts (whether they are yours or your members’), initiatives and events are powerful ways to encourage engagement. Also, asking members for their opinions, whether in polls, or regular posts is a sure fire way of getting participation.

Thank you Azlin Bloor for leading our very first #CommunityExperts event! And thank you +Pete Bleackley, +Monika Fuchs, +Ed S, +Christian Nalletamby, +al m, +Nina Trankova, +Lisa Watson and +Pam WhimsicalVintage for your excellent questions.

See full #CommunityExperts conversation here: https://plus.google.com/+RachelBakkered/posts/172X1pEWrXb

#CommunityExperts with +Sonali Dalal - January 22nd, 2018!

Hi Google+ Moderators Team,

Get ready for our second #CommunityExperts event starting Monday January 22nd! Sonali Dalal will share her knowledge about building relationships with community members!

Sonali is a hobbyist photographer who co-owns and manages many communities on Google+, specifically directed towards India and Indians.

To join the conversation with Sonali, look for a #CommunityExperts post Monday January 22nd.

#Community Experts Recap - featuring +Sonali Dalal
Building Relationships with your Community Members.

Check out Sonali’s best practices and experiences. As owner and moderator of six Google+ communities, she excels at making her members feel welcomed, helping them develop their skills, and encouraging them to be active contributors.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Comment On Each and Every Post
● Words of appreciation and encouragement give new members confidence to participate.
● When I see a new member leaning towards a specific community interest (in our case a genre of photography), I PM them with related videos and articles.

Help Members Develop Their Skills
● I share articles and videos and start discussions related to the skills they are developing.
● Our communities also post assignments (challenges) that help members practice their skills. In our case, that’s photography.
● During these challenges we post helpful articles related to their assignments.

Give Members Specific Assignments
● Post a 30 day challenge - 30 small assignments for 30 days.
● Post a challenge that gives members a single specific assignment.
● Host weekly events where members post their content and a winner is celebrated every week.
● Host a 3 to 4 day event that pins their "best of the year" posts every few hours.

Lead By Example
● Post regularly.
● Be the friendly administrator.
● Constantly think "what next" to keep interest of members alive.
● Realize it is hard work and requires dedication.

Be Willing To Demote
● You have two types of moderators. Those who are diligent, work hard and take responsibilities and others who are simply there.
● When moderators become inactive I remind them of their duties but this only has a temporary effect.
● Be willing to remove moderators who aren’t pulling their weight.

Thank you Sonali Dalal for leading our latest #CommunityExperts event! And thank you +Tatyana Inarsh, +Margaret Tompkins, +al m, +Rajesh Narayanan, +Azlin Bloor, +Nina Trankova, +Freya de Castelbajac, +Miyan love, +Pam WhimsicalVintage, and +Ravi Patel for your insightful questions.

The Secret to Long Term Community Success

In last week's #CommunityExperts event, +Azlin Bloor shared excellent advice about the importance of consistency when running a community.

Azlin's Advice
(from #CommunityExperts https://plus.google.com/+RachelBakkered/posts/172X1pEWrXb)
I think the single most important factor in our long term engagement, and therefore, ongoing success, is consistency. Whether it's the application of our rules, the moderating or the projects, it is all about consistency.

How do you maintain consistency in your community?

Image Source: +Geri Linda Metterle https://plus.google.com/+GeriLindaMetterle/posts/TePCz4QWRq4

#CommunityExperts with +Sonali Dalal. Join Us Now!

Welcome to #CommunityExperts with Sonali Dalal, where she'll share her expertise on building relationships with community members.

To learn from Sonali, ask your question in the comments section of this post! If you have a question about a specific community, include the community url in your comment.

Rules
● Please only ask questions about building relationships with your community members.
● No promotional content and no promotion-related questions.
● Be respectful.

Join the conversation now!

About Sonali

Sonali is a hobbyist photographer and co-owns and manages multiple communities on Google+. Many of her communities are specifically directed towards India and Indians. She is a professional working woman running an export house for more than 25 years. Apart from photography she enjoys traveling, music, reading and occasionally writing.