If you own. moderate, or participate in a community...

If you own. moderate, or participate in a community...
This will be of interest.

Originally shared by Google+

Community Management Best Practice: Boosting Community Engagement

This post was written by Community Vanguards member and toy photographer Shelly Corbett

Communities are more fun when you have consistent and quality engagement. But how do you create an environment that will foster this type of behavior? Sharing and learning together is one way to accomplish an active and engaged community. In the Toy Photographers community we take engagement seriously; we enjoy learning from each other. No matter how much we think we know about our specific subject, we love to expand and improve our knowledge. Here are a few of the ways that we’ve found to boost engagement in our community:

Have fun!
If you’re having fun, then everyone else will too. To be a successful community owner or moderator you need to be an enthusiastic cheerleader. If you’re excited, then everyone else will be too!

Share your passion!
If you’re enthusiastic about what you’re doing, don’t be surprised when your enthusiasm becomes contagious. If you’re excited about your community, your members will be too!

Quality engagement!
Early on, we made a decision to leave meaningful comments on every post. We want to give our members a reason to post to our community. We learned early on that our members like to be actively engaged.

Share your knowledge and expertise!
If you’re starting a community then you’re probably an expert. Share that knowledge through interesting posts such as “How to”, “Behind the Scenes”, or “Tips and Tricks”. But don’t simply post a link, tell your members why you think they should read what you’re sharing.

Ask questions!
Present open-ended questions designed to engage your members. Invite community members to share their own knowledge and experiences. By doing this you’re showing them they’re valued members of the team. We can all learn from each other.

Lead by example!
Be the type of member you want to have in your community. Moderators and owners are not only there to keep order and enforce the rules; they’re there to contribute, encourage and support.

Hold regular contests!
Nothing engages a community like a contest; everyone likes to show off their best work. The winner could even be your next month's banner photo?

Have fun!
Did I mention this already?

Running a G+ community can be a lot of work. But it can be also be extremely rewarding if you approach it with a sense of fun and joy. I know this is true because I take great pride in the Toy Photographers community that I run with Tony Tulloch aliceincleveland, and Jason Nvrmore. If you like toys and photography, stop by and say ‘Hi!”

Shelly Corbett runs the Toy Photography Community on G+: https://plus.google.com/communities/107717476696294795419
Check out our Collection for more Community Best Practices: https://plus.google.com/collection/4G0lkB