Online Communities Offer Myriad Opportunities for Marketers

* People’s desire to interact. Understand that people have an urge to collaborate with others who share a common interest. You’re providing a forum for this interaction.

* It’s O.K. to charge for membership. If you create a community where you provide valuable information to others, the ability to share information amongst themselves and the assurance that you’ll keep out defectors, then people will pay for the benefits you offer. It’s necessary to gain the trust of the community and not break that trust with purposeless fees. Make sure that what they are paying for they’re getting.