Bank of America Small Business Online Community Goes Live
October 16, 2007 at 6:39 am by Ehab Bandar 
On the heals of launching its Online Business Suite of products, Bank of America has just launched perhaps its biggest push for the hearts and minds of small business owners. The new Small Business Online Community — with the unfortunately long URL http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/ — is a place for any small business owner to see and be seen. It is a place for small business regardless of their bank affiliation to get information on growing their business, as well as an opportunity for others to market their business. Like LinkedIn and Facebook, this online community is a mix of self-branding and self-help. Here’s some first impressions of the site:
What it does have or do
- Online forums and advice on topics ranging from starting a business to taxes
- Expert articles on small business matters
- RSS and Email watch subscription
- User-submitted success stories
- Member directory and rating
- Profiles of businesses and their contributions to the community
What it does not have or do
- Social networking
- Bank of America advertising or product info (except for the ‘powered by’ logo)
- Member-to-member communication
- Finding service providers
Like the OPEN Forum by American Express, this online community is intended to be created for and by the community itself. For Bank of America, providing a free service that actually has some valuable, ‘independent’ information is always a good idea. The interesting question will be what happens when the community grows to the point where self-moderation goes against their very sponsor. But then again, perhaps this is just the type of community feedback and insight that a bank needs to succeed and be competitive.
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