Start your own social network site

Apr 30 2009 By David Haywood Smith, The Journal

FACEBOOK recently signed up its 200 millionth user, an incredible feat for a company just five years old.

Social networking websites are now so successful that they have become part of the fabric of the internet.

Have you ever thought about starting your own niche social network? If so, here’s how: start with a theme that you are passionate about, choose an appropriate medium to reach your target audience and then consistently add value to your community.

All successful social networking sites start with a distinct focus. For Flickr it was photos, for Last.fm it was music and Facebook got off the ground letting students share pictures of their drunken antics.

You can create a presence on existing social networking sites for free. This is a great way to test the market for your idea. It helps to consider your target audience and go to them rather than making them come to you.

If you have chosen music as your theme, then consider creating a MySpace page. If your idea is business orientated then you could create a group on LinkedIn. It’s a good idea to search for similar projects first. If they seem to be doing well, it might be easier to get involved there instead – someone has already done the hard work for you. Simply creating a presence and inviting a couple of interested friends along can be enough to get your community going.

Now for the tricky part: engage, add value and be patient. Talk to your members, answer their questions and help them out if you can. This is where a theme that you are passionate about becomes important as your passion will sustain you until your community starts to take off. Also, if you can engage with the wider community by leaving relevant comments on related blogs, forums and social networks then gradually your community will grow.

In due course, it may be a good idea to develop a stand-alone website to provide richer functionality but I would recommend doing all of the above first to establish that the demand is there.

So now you know what to do. Creating your own niche social network is a great way to engage with customers, friends or like-minded people whether as a marketing exercise or a hobby. Actually pulling it off will require diligence and persistence but, if you stick with it, you will be rewarded with the satisfaction of creating something valuable – and who knows where it may take you.