Atlanta’s MFG.com, the world’s largest online marketplace within the manufacturing space, today soft-launched their new project: MFGX.com. In essence, it is MFG’s attempt to leverage to social media (specifically wikis, forums, ads, and jobs), to offer a value add to their customers and users.

I’ve written on the issues of B2B marketplaces and online communities before (here and here), and I’m glad to see MFG moving in that direction. This will be a very interesting experiment for them.

I really like the fact that they decided to brand it “adjacent” to their marketplace site (MFG.com), rather than making it part of the marketplace site itself. This will provide a nice way to offer some free tools to non-marketplace participants as well, and hopefully serve to drive new subscription traffic into their crown jewel at MFG.com over time.

There isn’t much content up there yet - but this will change in the short-term I am sure.
Cheers.

Jack Humphrey had a great post this morning summing up why he thinks the Web 2.0 free-for-all is over, yet the Web 2.0 movement is just beginning. A great read, especially if you are an entrepreneur feverishly building an online community, social network, video-sharing site, etc. that you think you are going to sell for millions in the next 30 days. This is a logical and timely extension to my post on the real value of a social network.

The real winners are going to be those who can innovate and build businesses around them - not just be the first guy to clear a path into the woods.

Cheers.

My good friend Gregg over at Bikerworlds.com has started an interesting project. His mascot, Larry the Bikerworlds Bear, is riding across country to raise money for Toys-for-Tots. This is not only a great cause, but a really creative way to get online community members involved in offline activities.

What is really nifty is this promotional video that they put together, showing the current progress of Larry’s trip. This is a MUST SEE video for anyone looking to get their online community members involved in a charity cause or event.

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I received this in my inbox the other morning, and instead of simply replying to the person, I thought I’d share my response here, so that others in similar positions may benefit from the discussion. For protection of this person’s privacy, I have removed any personally identifiable information (including his domain names). His email is broken up into quotes below, with my comments under each.

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One of the biggest challenges in operating a community-based web site also happens to be one of the age-old mysteries of the Internet: how can you monetize the site? You’ve got great content, and a growing base of members, but where is the cash? In this article, I’ll describe a rather unique method I patterned loosely after Priceline’s “name your own price” model.

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Building a successful online community is no easy proposition. However, there are some proven strategies that can be employed to help ensure your online community gains enough traction and solidifies its position over the long-term.

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I was having a cup o’ Joe with a good friend of mine yesterday (after moderating a panel on business blogging over at the 400 Technology Connection), and the subject of B2B exchanges came up. Since we had just attended a discussion around blogging, we wondered whether or not the new iteration of the web (so-called Web 2.0) could provide the much needed ingredient for the continued resurgence of the online exchange model.

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