Patrick O’Keefe

Social Media Case Studies: Patrick O’Keefe

January 28, 2009 By Des Walsh

Yesterday I led a session at the Social Media Telesummit, on the topic: Why Building Traffic Isn’t Enough: How to Become an A List Blogger in Your Niche

I focused on how blogging can be and is used for business, rather than blogging as a business.

This is how I described the session in the promotional material:

This session is about blogging for business, not blogging as business. It’s about why the usual story, that blogging is good because it increases traffic, is only one part of the big picture of blogging for business and not the best part. It’s about how blogging well, blogging as the successful bloggers do, will renew your spirit, rekindle your creativity, make you stretch, give you bigger goals and help you enjoy the journey. You and your business will be more successful, and better equipped for the long haul.

I needed some case studies to help illustrate the main points I wanted to make and some colleagues were kind enough to oblige. I sent some questions and they responded via email. There is some great information in what they provided and as there was simply not enough time to go into all of it yesterday I thought it would be good to post the full documents here.

The first is from Patrick O’Keefe, author of the book Managing Online Forums, which I reviewed here last November.

What I love about Patrick’s responses is that they are so not your regular social media expert’s take on what to do in the social media sphere. This guy doesn’t follow the crowd and he marches to the sound of his own drum. Enlightening, thought-provoking.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

D. Has blogging been a key driver for your marketing strategy or just a minor component?

P. I’m not a huge marketing guy, to be honest. I might not be giving myself enough credit, as a lot of things I do are surely marketing related, but I spend my time, primarily on developing and managing the websites and blogs themselves.

For me, a big part of “marketing,” is creating good stuff and trying to make sure that people can find it.

The blogs in my network are definitely a part of that. I wouldn’t call them a “key driver,” (the top 3 traffic sites in my network do not have a blog component) but I wouldn’t call them a “minor component,” either. They are somewhere in the middle.

D. How has blogging helped you build your business? Or not?

P. My business is managing a network of websites. As I have multiple blogs in my network, the answer would be yes, that they have helped me build my business. They have helped me, at times, to grow my business through growing my knowledge or through promotion, as well.

D. What is the business/product/service you aim to promote through blogging/social media?

P. I would say that, at this point in time, I have four key things that I am promoting through my blogging and through social media.

The first would be the content of my network. This is blog posts, yes, but it is also forum posts, downloads and other content. I want my sites to have useful content and that, in itself, is something to promote.

Following that, we have the environment of my sites, specifically my communities. My communities are built upon kindness and respect and are generally family and/or work friendly within their specific niche, as much as they can be. I work hard to create a certain environment that is welcoming and structured and I believe that that is a big selling point.

Those are the two big ones, really. But, there are two other things I promote, as well.

The third would be my book “Managing Online Forums”, as the website dedicated to the book is a part of my network and is something that I am constantly talking about.

Finally, we have my personal brand, as a writer, a speaker and an entrepreneur.

D. Would you recommend reading your competitors’ blogs, even those of your rivals, and if so why? Do you do this and if so does it help and how?

P. I’m not all that bothered by “competitors.” Everyone is a competitor, whether directly or indirectly, because what we’re all competing for is someone’s time. Some people get so concerned with their perceived competitors that most of what they do is worry about them and not their own offering.

I’ve seen some people so infatuated with what someone else is doing, that they never do anything on their own account. Even if you are never number 1 in your space, there is most commonly a lot of room below number 1, for other people to succeed and thrive.

Would I recommend reading a competitor’s blog? Depends. Are you interested in their blog? Do I do it? Yes, if I am interested in their blog. Time is short, spend it on stuff you like, if you can. I have probably checked out a competitors blog numerous times, even if I didn’t like reading it, and I’ll do it in the future, that’s natural and can be good for you, to see what they are doing. It can help you to come up with ideas and to see things that, perhaps, they have missed. As long as it doesn’t become an obsession. But, generally, I’d only regularly read a blog if I liked it.

Let me give you an example. I blog at ManagingCommunities.com, where I talk about online community management. Community Spark is a popular blog that talks about the very same thing. Some might take us as “competitors,” since we are talking to the same people… but I’ve developed a friendship with the author (Martin Reed) and I genuinely like reading his stuff. I don’t read it as him being a competitor, I read it as two people talking about the same subject, putting their own spin on it (though, most of the time, Martin and I simply agree, to be honest). So, yeah, focus on yourself.

D. Have you ever had blogger’s block and if so how do you beat it? Any tricks of the trade?

P. I’m sure I have as it’s a natural thing. If you can, I would say to take a break – do something else. Get some fresh air. Play a video game or some sort of activity that is fun for you, that isn’t work. If, for some reason, you can’t take a break (even a short one, like 15 minutes to an hour), maybe take a look at what other people are writing about and see if that gives you an idea. Credit any sources you use, of course.

D. We all talk about being transparent and authentic in our blogging – have you found that something that came easily or has it been a learning process: or don’t you bother?

P. I think it came easily, in a sense. How I write is how I write. It changes, it evolves, it improves. I’m an honest guy, anyway, but I don’t use my honesty as an excuse for being rude. I don’t call people names and then say “hey, I’m just keeping it real here.” You can be honest without being a jerk. And that’s what I try to do, if I can. The thing about transparency is that it’s great, but it also has a limit. Not everything should be told, not everything should be shared. You have to be able to find the balance.

D. If someone wants to be an A-list blogger in their chosen market niche, do you have any tips or advice, what to do, what not to do?

P. Prefacing this by saying that I am not an A-list blogger by any stretch, I don’t know about the whole A-list blogger thing, really. I’ve met numerous supposed A-list bloggers online and offline and the fact is, they are just people. The same goes for celebrities, they are just people. Sometimes it’s lost in our crazy, gossip driven society, but… Britney Spears is just a person. Paris Hilton is just a person. Corporations are just people. Microsoft is just people. Apple is just people. That’s not an excuse, but the fact is… A-list bloggers, for the most part, are just regular folks that have taken their talent, nurtured it and worked hard. With a little bit of luck, they are A-list. That’s the recipe, I think. Some (or more) talent plus a lot of hard work and drive plus a little bit of luck. The key component, though, is work. Finally, you should actually enjoy what you are doing. Find what you like talking about, what you can talk about all day, what you know about… and just go in. Dedicate yourself and work hard. That’s what I say.

I hope that this helps.

It sure does, Patrick. Great sharing of your experience and wisdom.

One statement I liked particularly and was delighted to be able to quote on the Social Media Telesummit call is:

For me, a big part of “marketing” is creating good stuff and trying to make sure that people can find it.

That, my friends, is for me a wonderful encapsulation of the committed blogger’s daily challenge and privilege and responsibility.

Tomorrow I have the privilege and pleasure of bringing you the case study report from Becky McCray from Alva, Oklahoma, rancher, store owner, small business expert and dedicated blogger.

How to Manage Online Forums: Book Review

November 17, 2008 By Des Walsh

Book cover via Amazon

I’ve been talking lately with a colleague about possibly setting up an online forum or community for a project we have in mind. So I had an immediately personal reason to be delighted to receive a few weeks ago a review copy of Patrick O’Keefe’s new book Managing Online Forums

Then, just over a week ago, I seized an opportunity while traveling to read it right through at one sitting.

That might not be how most people will use this book. My guess is that experienced community discussion board managers will skim the book to check out its scope, then focus on particular sections which address their immediate needs, and those just setting up a community will likely focus on the earlier chapters first and perhaps make use of the excellent templates provided for community discussion board owners.

A summary of this review is:

the book incorporates a huge amount of information and speaks at every turn of the author’s practical experience, over many years, in setting up and managing online communities
it should prove an invaluable resource for anyone who is considering setting up an online forum or already managing one or more
there are templates included, for guidelines and contact, which can be used and adapted freely
advice on community software is restricted to vBulletin and phpBB but the principles and practices set out in the book can be applied more widely.

My frame of reference was as a participant in online forums for fifteen or more years, going back to the days when The WELL (which had started in the 1980s) was still pretty prominent and Compuserve Forums. I have also been and in some cases still am a member of various Listservs, Ryze groups, Ning groups, Yahoo! Groups and Google Groups, some of which have been run well to brilliantly, some of which have verged on or tipped over into anarchy. I am also founding moderator of the now 900 or so member forum, LinkedIn Bloggers.

My personal preference (bias if you will) is for groups to be well run and the discussion managed in a kind of “loose-tight” way that means you can spend your time online enjoyably and/or usefully and don’t have to put up with nonsense and spamming.

From reading Managing Online Forums, I get the sense that the author too has a low level of tollerance for nonsense or spamming.

Managing Online Forums has a very readable, conversational style, which I found congenial. It would perhaps have been easier for the author to write more of a “shopping list” of things to do and not do, but I for one would probably have found such an approach not only boring to read but less than convincing. With Managing Online Forums I felt I was in the presence of a master, who had not only “been there, done that” but had reflected long and deeply on what works and what doesn’t.

The sub-title promises that the book will provide Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards. I found that to be a somewhat over-ambitious claim – perhaps a bit of publisher hubris: the author himself makes it clear that some aspects won’t be covered, for example technical issues (p 2) -

For the most part, I try to steer clear of technical issues, such as your particular administration-control panel, code editing, and custom programming. That’s not what the book is for.”

Nor does the book have specific advice with regard to other popular platforms as Google Groups, Yahoo! Groups or MSN Groups – as is acknowledged also on page 2. There are huge numbers of forums on these and other platforms and it is inevitable that people managing communities on them will be looking for guidance, the specifics of which they will not find here. To provide one small example, as co-moderator of a group on Yahoo! Groups and requiring a specific identification detail for new members, I and my fellow moderators have found interface for joining totally inadequate, with the result that we have to go to considerable effort to help people join. Information on this sort of dilemma is not to be found in Managing Online Forums.

Although, as mentioned above, the principles and practices in the book can be applied to these and other platforms.

Chris Brogan was not impressed with the organization of the book but while I might have used different chapter headings I found the organization fairly unexceptionable.

The chapters are:

Laying the Groundwork
Developing Your Community
Developing Guidelines
Promoting Your Community
Managing Your Staff
Banning Users and Dealing with Chaos
Creating a Good Environment
Keeping it Interesting
Making Money

Then there are appendices:

Online Resources
Blank General Templates
Glossary

Two chapters which I found particularly interesting, from a forum founder or moderator viewpoint, were those on guidelines (Chapter 3) and on “Banning Users and Dealing with Chaos” (Chapter 6). As an aside, from reading these chapters it does appear that Patrick O’Keefe as a forum manager has had more than his fair share of difficulty-creating people to deal with. In his own words (p 3),

Part of managing a community is dealing with spammers, idiots, and people who just can’t seem to follow your guidelines. Of course, it gets worse – there are people out there who will actually want to do harm to your community.

Complementing these chapters on guidelines and “dealing with chaos” is the set of general guideline and contact templates in Appendix B: Blank General Templates. I would love to have had these templates a few years ago when LinkedIn Bloggers was just getting going – and am looking now at what can be gleaned from them. Having guidelines in place and known to members makes it a much more straightforward task to deal with behavior that does not serve the community. I know it’s a bit of a cliched expression, but the fact is that this set of templates alone is worth the price of the book and more – much more.

Overall, it is evident that Patrick knows his stuff: he has been building online communities for years and it shows. Anyone who wants to set up an online forum or already has one can learn from this book. Anyone who wants to know how to build a community online, can find plenty of guidance here. If you want to know how to deal effectively with troublemakers and wreckers, you may need some trial and error but there is a ton of practical advice here. If you want to know how to manage and lead staff (paid or volunteer), it’s in the book.

On a less positive but hopefully constructive note, it would have been beneficial to have some more rigorous copy-editing, to improve the flow of argument. I find it distressing to see a book as professionally produced in other respects, as this, let down by a lack of thoroughness in final copy editing. In one instance, I had to read a sentence two or three times before I understood the instruction being given. Elsewhere, there seemed to be a proliferation of unnecessary commas, which had the effect of breaking up the argument, or making the flow of thought more jerky than it needed to be. Hopefully the publishers will put some resources into some smoothing, when the time comes, as I am sure it will very soon, for a second printing or second edition.

My main takeaway from reading Managing Online Forums was not so much about the mechanics of setting up or managing a community, but more about personality traits and character-building. It was pretty clear to me that if you are going to be a successful forum manager/community builder for the long haul, you’ll need a blend of thick skin, sense of humor, respect for others, a sense of order and a determination to apply the rules firmly and fairly, without fear or favor. There is an excellent section on this, under the heading “What Skills and Characteristics Do You Need to Have?” at pages 14-16 in Chapter 1, Laying the Groundwork.

You can order your own copy of Managing Online Forums from Amazon at this link.

Photo credits

Managing Online Forums book photos – Des Walsh, Creative Commons

Photo of Patrick O’Keefe by Wendy Piersall via flickr – Creative Commons license