With all the talk about social media, it can easily make a website owner or company think they need to create a community. But it’s not as easy as getting a great script, software or integrating Facebook. Running or creating a community is a full time job. It takes work, not only to promote it but also to make it remain popular and engaging. and once it up, who will monitor it?

This is not even to mention what happens if you fail. What message does it send to have a forum with no posts, or a fan page with 5 subscribers? Sure there are ways to promote a forum and a community, but before you leap into creation, make sure you study your market. Does it even make sense in the business area you are in? For example, if your focus is B2B (Business to Business) your users may very well not have the time or the ability to engage with your content. Demographically your audience might also have no interest in it as well.

Then there are other barriers, such as  technological, in the B2B sphere. There is a growing number of companies blocking Facebook and Twitter. If you rely on their Authentication or content, this alone could kill the involvement in your community. The old thought of: ” build it and they will come”, is no more a fallacy with community as it is with a new restaurant thinking by simply existing and having great food means people will show up.

Before you begin to even consider creating a community we suggest you think long and hard about the pros and cons. If you are serious about communities (and have the money), we suggest you use a reputable company, and have a detailed action plan. You can also consider free self-hosted options like Elgg or BuddyPress, but be aware of the hours of customization this will take. Just like a website, your community is a reflection of you.

In the end, should you decide to create a community, have patience. Very rarely does it explode to success over night. Much like a website, it takes time to get traffic. We also suggest you start small with a select handful of your best customers to try it out (in Beta), so you can slowly build content. Most importantly you can gather feedback before you launch and get the word out. And don’t be shy to pull back if it does not fly in your industry. Not all solutions are one size fits all.