2010 FOOTBALL EVENTS AS A TOOL FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING

This year 2010 is a strategic year for African Bloggers. It began this early with Angola 2010 African Cup of Nations. Later in the year, Africa will be hosting the world for the very first time in the highest ranked world cup in South Africa. All roads now leads to Africa.

The world is peeping through the Internet as a window into Africa. Some are coming live to witness the once-in-every four years event. These people are not just coming to watch the event, they are also coming to see Africa first hand and confirm the true lies they were told about us. They are coming to see "Poverty". To see "Primitivism" and the wild life courtesy of National Geographic.

I want to use this post to educate us about the opportunities these events hold for us. As I write, I just saw how Niyyie of www.davidajao.com/blog has started using the Nations' Cup in Angola to boost his blog traffic with live tweets/peeps. Other bloggers are at the shore about jumping into the ocean. Before you decide that, please I want to share some ideas with you:

1. Watch and analyse the football events from the eye of your personal brand. Don't be jack of all trade. I'm interested in learning personal branding through social networking lessons from the football events. If you are a tourist blogger, view the whole event from a tourist's point of view. If Niyyie is following the events and Robert Bravery is following, people will perceive Niyyie as an Opinion leader/Blogger and Robert as a Web developer/Blogger. Why? Their blogs define them.
2. Represent Africa. Whether you like it or not, your readers will take your opinions and comments as the voice of Africa. Don't doubt their perception. Avoid negative perception. You are an African Ambassador online.
3. Build trust. Consciously win the heart of especially the foreigners with your blog posts and comments. Be courteous. Be friendly. Reply comments. Get personal. Win their heart enough for them to keep coming back to your blog long after the football event.
4. Unbiased judgement of the football matches. No sentiments. No racism. Be fair enough to be referenced.
5. Visit football blogs and post comments. Your comments will be hot enough to gain traffic to your website. Remember to check the email feedback option so you could keep pace with the discussion threads you are involved in.
6. Snap, collect and share the events' photos. Those who will be privileged to be there live are lucky. We that won't be there live will collect the pictures from you and share them across our social networks and blogs. Photo sharing will be very hot. Photo commenting will also attract traffics.
7. Sell your ideas. Sell your services. Make them simple and noticeable on your blog and social networks. Create values and deliver results!
8. If you religiously follow all these instructions, you will succeed in creating an online community around your blog and most importantly, your personal brand.

My conclusion:
Building an online community is hinged on the factors i mentioned above and even more. Please educate us more on this topic by commenting below. Thank you!