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Monday, January 14, 2008

Community is About Being Cost-Effective

One assumption underlying some client conversations I have is that community comes cheap.  It may have something to do with the hippy-trippy quality of the word. 

Unfortunately, it's just not true.  As the splendid Community Guy notes it can often cost more than some traditional techniques - mainly because there is a start-up stage.  But this is really just an investment like any other.  One that, over time, will create a valuable asset.  However, the classic comment about open source software is highly relevant: "Linux is only free if your time has no value." 

Community building is about smart people spending time building relationships in a way that machines will never do.  Make no mistake community is all about being cost-effective - not cheap-and-cheerful.

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About the author:
James Cherkoff is a Director of Collaborate Marketing, a consultancy in London which helps companies in Europe and the US operate in networked media environments. He is editor of the blog Modern Marketing and contributes articles to the FT, BBC, Independent, and the Guardian. James speaks at conferences and events around Europe and the US, including MIT MediaLab and Reboot in Denmark. You can here him here. When he isn't knee deep in the blog-world he is likely to be discussing Arsenal FC or playing peek-a-boo.
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