Is this year the year that you’ll start building a community around your small business brand?  Sure – it might be scary, but there isn’t a lot of risk and a whole lot of reward.  So why not spare a few hours a week of your time and make it happen?  That’s what happened behind today’s featured small travel brand:  Bike Friday

What Is It?

Bike Friday is a company that manufactures easy-to-travel bikes.  The company only has around 30 employees but seems to have endeared a world-wide cult of raving fans who love talking about their brand.  The company’s founder says “running a small business is never plain pedaling, even if a product that is loved and admired the world over…. Our design process starts at the customer instead of ending with the customer simply buying the results” and he states that their success is down to the fact that they form a “one-on-one relationship with each customer.”

If that isn’t remarkable enough, listen to this:

“We have a unique product. But we’re a very small, yet paradoxically international custom builder and cannot afford a big glossy ad budget or conventional placement in stores. We can only succeed if our customers love their Bike Fridays, and tell anyone willing to listen. We have grown by referral….Conventional marketing tells us that if we wanted to make a bicycle that goes in a suitcase and also make money, we should use bigger wheels, for no other reason than to stay squarely in the comfort zone of the mass-market mindset. It is always risky to go against the flow, but there is putting your financial safety first, and there’s doing it right.”

Amen.

What Is Remarkable About Their Community?

It’s Personal.  It feels a genuine part of the Bike Friday brand.  So it’s not just a “Q&A Forum” but it’s a YAK forum instead.  It’s not a Photo gallery but a “What Do You Do with your Bike Friday?” gallery.    There’s tons of content by customers as well as by the team, and lots of information about the company and their mission (which is expanding).  You can easily see who is in this community and why you would want to join in, even if you don’t have a Bike Friday bike!

There are Privileges. Sure, it’s always nice to belong to a tribe, but Bike Friday gives all community members discounts on products!  That’s pretty remarkable.

It’s Expansive.  Wow, there is lots of cool stuff going on.  Local chapters, events, discussions, reviews, tips…it’s not overwhelming, it’s just lots of little nooks and crannies that a bike lover will be drooling to explore.

Their Community Manager is a Parakeet. Yes, really.

What Could They Do Better

Improve the User Experience. I’ll be frank:  the community website’s user experience is appalling.  Some pages load embedded PDF forms for contact details, the site flips back and forth between the “community.bikefriday.com” and “bikefriday.com” sites (which have similar, but very different, layouts), leaving the user feeling like they’ve driving a bumper car.    There’s *tons* of amazing and useful information here, especially for anyone who is a bike enthusiast, but unfortunately much of that is hidden beneath unclear and haphazard navigation.  Make it easy for people to be a raving fan, not difficult.

Consider their Social Networking Style.  I noticed they are very active on their Facebook Fan Page but their Twitter account leaves a lot to be desired.  Remember, strategically pick the networks you want to invest your time and don’t overextend yourself.  It just looks bad when that’s the first thing people see.

To Learn More

Want to build online community but just can’t find the time?  Or need a helping hand? Our extensive community building strategy can help make sure you have the right foundations in place.  No matter what your situation, get in touch by taking our free, no obligation small business assessment to see how TOP can help.