For many years now, the concept of an online community has grown from dreams to reality. Many different organizations and groups have formed some really amazing communities. I was once part of a great company called Pensare, where the mission was to build communities of MBA candidates getting their degrees online! That was a fun time for me in my professional sales career. We learned much about getting people to be online with peers. Online communities are fun and are a place where real conversations occur in real time and people work together to learn, develop, and grow as professionals. We get better by not being in a vacuum. We get better by working together and seeking counsel and input from fellow sales professionals. I have never stopped learning by seeking your advice. Now we can seek each other’s advice and support on the way to closing the deal!
To make this happen a few things need to occur:
- A community obviously needs a group of people who want to learn from peers and other successful people in their field.
- A vehicle has to be established for people to be a part of the community – in this case, the BLOG at ToddCohen.com is such a vehicle
- A nonjudgmental atmosphere to share, contribute, and live.
- A reason to visit often and contribute and help make the community grow. This part we share together. I will create as many interesting topics as possible. It also takes you to make the community grow by adding your thoughts and questions to the community.
I want to build the best online sales community I can. One that helps salespeople at all stages of their careers be better. This is an exciting time! Tell me what a good sales community looks like to you…and welcome to ToddCohen.com! I am glad you are here!
Let’s continue the conversation and build our sales community.
Todd- your 4 comments are good ones– for me, they are necessary but not sufficient to create a vibrant community. In my experience, the one thing vibrant communities require is a shared commitment to a bold, specific, and explicit compelling future. This gives a reason to visit often and contribute–because it advances the shared commitment. In the heat of our other activities, merely interesting topics as per your item 4 are not enough to hold our interest. If our interest is pinned on genuine shared commitment, then learning, a vehicle, and a non-judgmental atmosphere will all accelerate whatever bold future has been declared.
For me, the most compelling declaration I have heard you make is that “Everyone is in sales– they just don’t realize it”. You might consider that a sales-oriented blog will only attract people who already identify themselves as salespeople. Perhaps transforming the sales-averse to instinctive sales gurus is a bold enough goal!