How to build community and attract advertising at the same time.
6/28/2004
Many Web sites are all about building community—developing a core group of enthusiasts who spread the word, attract more adherents, and propel your growth into profit land. About.com was a pioneer on the World Wide Web (as differentiated from Wellspring, CompuServe, and other e-community endeavors before the spread of the Internet), attracting knowledgeable users to lead a large number special-interest forums and build an advertising base. TV Tome follows an About.com approach but with a very focused audience: TV aficionados. (Of course, the great benefit of this focused audience is its great cut across every major demographic.) The goal is to marshal a large army of volunteers to catalog each episode of every TV show ever to air in the U.S., and information on the actors that appeared in those shows. Check out the recruitment pitches for volunteers to become Lead Show Editor, Person Editor, etc. The site also provides information on shows currently in development, reader reviews, games, and forums for users to exchange information. For marketers looking for a lesson in community building, a stop at TV Tome may be worth missing an episode of The Sopranos.