Master both! Content is king and community is queen.

One of the reasons to create a website is, after all, the "automation of customer acquisition," which is indispensable. We want to somehow replace the sales and customer acquisition efforts that we've diligently carried out offline with online methods, using minimal effort. So, specifically, how can we acquire customers through a website?

The simplest solution is "owned media and community."

First, let me explain owned media. Owned media is like a web magazine owned by your company. By primarily writing articles, publishing them on a blog, and having many people read them, you spread awareness and your company's ideas. And if the articles themselves are useful or enjoyable, people will become fans of your company, inquiries will increase, and sales will rise.

Of course, it's not just articles. There are various types of content you can disseminate, such as videos, slides, and audio. It's best to create content that your company can produce most easily, but in any case, it's important that the content is well-crafted.

Once you've created content, you need a way for users to see it. Even if you publish great information on your website, it's meaningless if users can't find it. So, where should users discover the content you've created?

There are mainly two user traffic sources: social networks (SNS) and search engines. Social networks and search engines each have different characteristics, and their strategies differ significantly.

First, the excitement on social media is often temporary. Social networks are where you drop some content and gather a large, sudden, and extreme amount of access for a day or two.

On the other hand, access via search engines is permanent. Even if you half-heartedly leave it alone, it will bring in thousands of users. However, it's important that the content always deals with the latest information, so you need to constantly update it, and to strengthen authority, you need to continuously engage in activities, both online and offline, that enhance your company's credibility.

The instantaneous buzz of social networks and the permanent access via search engines. By mastering these two, owned media gradually gains momentum.

So, once the media is thriving, what should you do next? You've written many articles. You've created content. You've made products. Now it's time for monetization, but before that, there's one thing I want you to create.

That is the community. A space that connects people, fosters communication, and can generate direct excitement. That is the role of a community, which cannot be created solely through media or social network broadcasts.

Community and media are an incredibly good match.

If you nurture media, it will bring in a large number of users. However, people are merely coming for information. Next, you need them to "like" your company or individual beyond the scope of the media. They need to like the human aspect, the corporate aspect, the raw warmth and pulse, and the words and culture.

If they come to like you as a living entity, the distance with users will instantly shorten, and you can create an environment that appeals more to their hearts. In a sense, it's like breathing life into a media that is only information. This act of breathing life is precisely what a community is.

First, let's start a group, whether it's a club, some activity, or even just a simple get-together. Then, let's provide a place where users who read your media can interact with each other.

Also, simply gathering people isn't enough. Start various activities: drinking parties, lunches, tea parties, morning activities, parties, trips. The operating side should also communicate with users.

By doing so, the thoughts, feelings, and personalities of the people actually running it will be conveyed, and more people will develop a stronger attachment. They will become ardent fans.

If media is a place for dissemination, then community breathes warmth into the media. Conversely, media becomes a platform that actually brings participants to the community.

By mastering both community and media, a platform truly loved by fans will be formed.

Master photos and videos to create tons of content.

However, just having fun and being lively isn't enough. Even if you have enjoyable parties, talk about various things, and communicate, if the media and community aren't properly linked and designed, it will often "just be fun and then it's over."

It would be a waste if it's not a relationship that goes beyond temporary enjoyment, where they continuously enjoy your company's content and media, contact you regularly, and even lead to business. It's not just a sales venue, but a community for long-term engagement.

Furthermore, acting as a community needs to create a mechanism to attract new people and gradually expand. It's important that all activities bring synergistic effects with media, websites, business, and community, leading to sustainable sales.

Therefore, what you absolutely must acquire are non-text content such as "photos" and "videos," and reports. Content that shows the site/scene and people is crucial.

People become interested in places that look fun, get excited, and are drawn by lively phenomena to take a step forward. When you participate in an event or get involved in something, which would you prefer: "seeing people's faces" or "not seeing them"?

For example, which would you feel more attached to: "a lively and fun-looking place" or "a deserted place where you don't know what's going on inside"?

In most cases, people are interested in places where they can see someone's face, hear their voice, and where it seems fun. Let's use photos, videos, and audio to fully convey the passion that "this place is fun, and this is who we are."

By seeing and hearing, in addition to actually reading, people can more easily receive that sense of excitement. Even without meeting in person, they can judge that it seems more enjoyable.

As a result, the distance between "the media and the user" shrinks compared to when information was conveyed only through text, allowing the media to be remembered and its name to be learned.

Content created from the community creates momentum.

People like an exciting atmosphere. "Exciting" doesn't just mean making noise or drinking. For example, a place where people debate passionately is "exciting," and the phenomenon itself where people connect and new challenges emerge is also "exciting."

Even if their types differ, people who participate in communities or events tend to gravitate towards those that feel more exciting. At the same time, simply having people gather in a community and appear to be enjoying themselves will draw attention, making people think, "There's momentum here."

The very act of making people feel there is momentum produces tremendous effects. Where there is momentum, people not only cooperate and show affection but also lend their strength. As a result, you might unexpectedly be approached by large corporations or encounter unforeseen opportunities.

Creating momentum is not just about being remembered by users. By showcasing it through actual activities, you also attract opportunities.

Simply by saying "this activity is exciting," someone might spontaneously promote it, spread it, or even offer unexpected job opportunities.

Creating excitement is fundamental to linking communities and media.

Once you've gathered a large amount of access to your media, the next step is to form a community and thoroughly build excitement with photos, videos, and real-life events. Through the synergy of community and media, it becomes possible to dramatically expand the scale of your activities.

Summary

Content is king. Community is queen. By fully utilizing these two mechanisms and sharing their mutual benefits, you can more effectively attract customers.

If you dislike people or absolutely want to operate solely on the internet without interacting with others, you might not need to use this. You can still attract customers and monetize.

However, if you want to establish it as a real business, creating and energizing a community will significantly accelerate your growth rate. You can even aim for monetization through the events themselves.

However, there is one important thing I must tell you here.

Please wait a bit before trying to "make money."

Initially, it's more important to thoroughly offer everything you have without holding back and to build a large fan base. If you try to monetize at an inappropriate time, your fans will quickly leave.

The most important thing for monetization is the moment your fans feel that "there's something they want to get, even if they have to pay for it" from your media. And it's when you have precisely prepared the products or services that they feel "they want to get, even if they have to pay for them."

Until then, don't rush; just focus on making the place enjoyable, exciting, and generously providing things that will be a plus for people's lives. So, even at this point, please wait before rushing to monetize. If you steadily build content and community, the right time for monetization will surely come.