The Value of the Online Community

"The most innovative membership organizations have a model that is based on community" - Anna Caraveli, PhD

According to Anna Caraveli, PhD and author of Leading from the Outside In, at high-performing associations, the value of membership is not a package of static benefits. The value of membership is a structured member community where members can collaborate with each other, access information in real time, and answer questions to help other members. Although associations are created for a variety of reasons, a strong sense of community is at the core of every successful association. Professionals join associations for the value that they provide. As the role of associations continues to evolve, an online community has become an essential feature of an influential and successful association. For most for-profit companies, an online community for customers, users, or staff is clearly supplemental to the core product. At an association, on the other hand, community doesn’t merely support the core product; community in many ways IS the core product. Members want to learn, derive meaning, collaborate, and get speedy answers to their questions. They want access to the entire world as a participant, taker, and creator.

Although associations are implementing social media as a tool to improve member engagement, a private online community can offer more value for an association than the social media platforms by eliminating the “noise.” Unlike social media platforms, we can ensure that our online community is always aligned with the goals and values of our association. An online community provides the opportunity for targeted discussion without the distractions. The election of 2016 is a prime example of the challenges with outside social media. The nonsense that filled social media had nothing to do with the legislative issues important to our association and our industry. The distraction of these commotions did nothing to pull together our investing community for common good. The National REIA community has to build on the things we have in common and provide a safe place for relevant discussions on issues directly pertaining to our businesses and our industry. There’s no denying Facebook has a large audience, but as we were busy filling that site with content and then it has a glitch for some users, like it did recently, we quickly realized the peril of building our “home” on someone else’s land. Facebook also makes changes to its allowances on a seemingly daily basis. It isn’t as if we are a paying customer. We will not

be advised of these changes ahead of time and they could have big ramifications on how we do business. More importantly, some offices block Facebook access for their employees. A lot of our REIA members have a 9-to-5 job in addition to their investing but still like to get investing advice and information on their breaks. Thus, those hours where they are most likely logging in would be banned. We developed an online community with its own domain, so we mitigate the risk that our community can’t always be accessed.

It may sound counterintuitive, but here are three reasons why our trade association has an online community (and why you should actively participate):

Trade associations have a unique dilemma - members may be competing or at odds with one another in a given industry. But there’s always common ground that isn’t inherently conflicting. Many basic questions and problems are best answered by members or member companies, since it’s specific to either the industry or to the structure of trade associations in general. Working together to answer each other’s questions strengthens everyone and doesn’t necessarily give one member the upper hand over another.

Who you know is key and online communities are a great way of meeting and collaborating with new members, industry leaders and constituents involved in current legislation. Rather than just using a social networking site like LinkedIn, an online community can help create deeper connections amongst people who have similar interests or roles within their organizations. Through private, searchable conversations and online libraries, communities provide more security and easier access to conversations. This only furthers the participants’ learning and benefits of the community as a whole.

Even if a trade association’s members are direct competitors, many times they have common adversaries, such as government regulations and laws. An online community can be a good space for constituents to band together and discuss how to deal with possible changes to a law or other industry specific issues that may be happening. There is strength in numbers.

We believe that all types of organizations can benefit from having an online community. There is so much power in connecting people, spreading ideas and empowering community members. Because of the amazing value of online communities National REIA has launched its own new community, UnitingInvestors.com. We believe the value this brings to the local groups and their members is immense. To reiterate, some reasons we made the investment are:

• Reputation Management - An online community is an excellent source of good, free PR for our associations and our industry at large. Many associations rely on media contacts and other influencers to promote their associations and industries. By building an online community we can collectively attract these individuals to our associations with an online community that provides value. • Industry Archives - Creating an online community is like creating an archive of all of resources that are relevant to our industry. As our online community grows, our members will compile all of the articles, websites, questions and answers that are useful to all the members of our associations.

• A focused online community will allow our members to get to know others in the industry, including peers and industry leaders, and will encourage members to invite others to our local associations.

• Power in Numbers - As an association, our members can use our online community as a meeting place to team up to influence government laws and regulations together. Members have a much better chance of reaching constituents involved in current legislation if our association is the face of the movement rather than individual members on their own.

REIAs, like the majority of professional trade associations have similar goals which include collecting and curating the collective knowledge of industry experts, providing opportunities for networking, granting access to resources and providing collective representation for members. To achieve these goals, member engagement is the key. We believe that Uniting Investors helps us reach these goals for our members by creating a trusted, relevant, beneficial community exclusively for investors. National REIA

Being a member of your local group means you’re automatically a member of National REIA. As you know, membership at both the local & national level has tremendous value. Not only do you get all the amazing local benefits but also access to the all of the valuable benefits that National REIA has to offer! Now there is new way to further those connections and get the support to grow your real estate business – National REIA’s online Community. Here you can get connected to the people and resources you need to make the best decisions for your business. Simply follow the steps below to get started! u Open your browser to https://community.nationalreia.org v Click on "Sign Up" in the upper right-hand corner w Fill out the blanks to create a login OR use your Memberflow ID login. x Confirm your email address in your inbox (if you create a new login ID) y Jump right into the discussions and then find your group in the Clubs section