Inside the halls of Demand Media we talk about what it takes for our media sites to have SOUL.  I coined the phrase a couple years ago when we started the company. There was no better way to describe the passionate, authentic and rapidly growing network of websites that we were truly “cultivating.”  We were acquiring small niche vertical sites at a rapid pace and it was critical that we did everything we could to preserve their uniqueness. If I had to define Soul in the context of a website I would say that it is the personality of the website.  It is the true differentiator of the site and it cannot be copied, manufactured or simulated by a machine or another human.  It is easy to define but hard to replicate.

As the head of product and community for Demand Media, I see a lot of action on the frontlines and will be sharing war stories that may help you manage your own online community – big or small.  I’ve been really lucky to have worked in product management for online communities since 1995 – starting in the online gaming space (at one of the first online gaming networks for DOOM, Duke Nukem 3D and QUAKE called TEN) which turned into Pogo.com (now part of Electronic Arts), then at Intermix (parent of MySpace) which was sold to Fox Interactive Media, and now at Demand Media.  WHEW.  I learned a lot about what to do and what NOT to do and still learn every day.  Bringing SOUL to a site is HARD work and cannot be simply automated with technology.  We spend time focusing on it because it gets great results – our own network grew organically almost 60% year over year.

First thing to note is that online communities are not much different from offline communities – both start with people gathering around a common interest, cause or experience.  Chatting around the water cooler about the most recent episode of “Lost” is effective in person but can be equally, if not more engaging, on Facebook with a larger group of your friends.

The great advantage of offline communities is that in-person communication is powerful and you get the added benefit of leveraging the physical location to create Soul.  Bars, clubs, hotels and restaurants have a very distinct atmosphere, and it can be difficult bringing that real world atmosphere to the Internet if you do not spend the time focusing on it.  There is no “one size fits all” solution for creating Soul. It is a one-site-at-a-time process that requires a passionate, dedicated human or group of humans whose charter is to create, develop and nurture the soul day in and day out.

At Demand Media, Soul takes many forms.  With a network of over 50 websites we see a lot of different manifestations of Soul depending on the site.   On Cracked.com the Soul is the editorial voice of the site.  Cracked does not simply link to funny news items or viral videos; it puts its personality stamp on everything – from original to third party content – which makes it uniquely theirs.  The editorial team’s voice on Cracked reflects the community’s take as well.  This is what people remember the site for, why people tell their friends or Digg it. 

On eHow.com users share knowledge by helping publish the site’s content.  Our eHow members are providing information and answers to a vast array of How-To topics and they do it with their own voice and Soul.  This to us is LONGTAIL Soul – as we truly believe that Everyone is an Expert at Something. 

Finally, Soul jumps off the page on LIVESTRONG.COM.  The Soul on LIVESTRONG.COM is a massive team effort that includes Lance himself, his foundation, our experts and our community of millions who use the site every day for information and to track their diet and fitness with The Daily Plate application.

These are just a few examples of how we bring Soul to sites every day.  It is a job that does not end when you leave the office or go on vacation. If done right you will create living, breathing, vibrant community websites that need constant care and feeding.  Remember too that creating Soul is a team effort that includes staff + community + partners (advertisers, business partners).  Once you start it you be amazed at how many people will help you cultivate and maintain it.