4 Tips For Building a Social Network on a Shoestring Budget
Say you’re a consultant, a small business owner, wanting to create a social networking site and community. You have no big company support or venture capital funding. You may even just want to create a community and social network around your passion or favourite activity or business expertise. A place where like-minded people connect with each other, share tips, make referrals, build business and contribute insights.
How much does it cost? What about the building, design and programming? Can you really create your own social networking site without it costing you hundreds and thousands of dollars?
Yes, you can.
The good news is that it’s pretty easy to create your own social networking site. You can brand it and provide many features such as profiles, photo and video sharing, podcasts, groups, discussion forums and more. The options are endless. You can set up a free social network in a few hours.
The bad news is that it takes time to learn what’s available in terms of social networking sites. If you don’t have a big budget what you need is a DIY (Do It Yourself) solution.
Ning, and CollectiveX are two social networking options that don’t require a lot of technical skill. With Ning you don’t need any programming knowledge, and you can brand your social network and add a wide range of features. There’s no charge either – however if you want to make advanced customizations you will need to upgrade to the premium option for a fee. CollectiveX has similar features and, if you explore open source software, you’ll find the options are even greater.
The most important thing need to know before setting up a social network is what fits your goals and what’s possible. That means you must be clear on what your goals are and you must do your research.
Here are 4 tips for creating your own social networking site on a shoestring budget.
1. Do your research
Be aware of what’s possible. Do you want a social network hosted on another company’s servers or do you want to self-host? Hosting on another company’s servers may limit you. Hosting on your own servers may require you to have some technical skills. Explore what’s possible by typing “creating your own social network” into your search engine of choice.
2. Understand the cost of free social network solutions
You get what you pay for is as true in things social media as it is anywhere else. Creating a social networking site on a shoestring budget means you’ll have to make some concessions. For example:
o You may have to live with the company ads on your site (they get the revenue, you don’t)
o you may lack a domain name, potentially hurting your organic search engine traffic,
o you will have limited branding options,
o you may be limited as to what you can put on your site (such as certain scripts or even products) Scripts are often necessary for things like tracking visitors to your site “Free” can quickly become rather less attractive if you don’t have all the features you want on your social networking site, so bear this in mind from the beginning and decide if it’s something you – and your business – can live with.
3. Asses your technical skill level
Do you know the difference between your .php and your .asp? Or do the words “add this html to your template header between the opening and closing tags” bring you out in a cold sweat and a blank mind? Then either choose a system which is completely DIY (and which may be limited) or budget money to hire someone who has the technical skills you need.
Many people underestimate the need for technical skills down the line, because at first they don’t need them. Don’t. You will some technical savvy as your site grows and you may find you have no desire to spend time on technical tinkering at all. Factor this in from the beginning. There are many skilled people who can help with the technical aspect of social networking sites, they don’t cost an arm and a leg and they will save you many headaches later on. Hiring a skill you don’t have is a wise investment in your business.
4. What business model do you want to follow?
Different business models require different approaches. For example:
o Do you plan on creating a site that generates profit from advertising revenue, sales of your own products, or affiliate sales? Then you will also need ways to collect payment, promote products and build up your affiliate network
o Will your network be a fee based membership site providing content for your members? Then you will need to also have a system to deliver fresh content regularly, collect fees and as well as a way to keep your members informed whenever you have new content.
o Do you want to generate publicity, buzz and awareness for your business or a cause with no particular profit motive? You’ll need to know how to use existing social networks and tools to drive traffic and potential supporters and build viral content.
Whatever your answer, take the time to assess your strategic goals, your options and your skills before jumping in and setting up your social networking site. Look at what others have done, especially when researching your software options. Contact them and ask them about their experience especially how they found the starting up phase and how long it took to get their social network going. Everything you want to do has probably been done by someone…take advantage and learn because their experience could save you significant time.
Setting up a social networking site (and the needed social media applications) needn’t cost thousands of dollars. However it does require planning and research. Success is the result of being strategic about your goals, finding out what’s possible, deciding on the best social networking model to achieve your goals and budgeting some resources to hire the help you may need.
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