Min: 0
Planning
The first thing I need to do is take pictures, so for 10 minutes I run around the office like a madman snapping pictures of my co-workers enjoying their swag.
Min: 10
Building
I go to http://www.ning.com/, create a profile page, name my network, and fill in the necessary fields: network name, tagline, description and keywords.
Min: 13
Select features
I certainly need photos, a forum, a blog and an activity chart on the site. I don't think I need music, so I leave that off. I will leave the possibility for videos open in the event of swag with moveable parts.
Min: 14
Choose a theme
I imagine this part might take a bit longer if you want to customize a theme for your brand. Given correct planning, and accounting for how busy your graphics person might be, I'd expect maybe another 15 minutes. I am located in Los Angeles, and that's good enough for me, so I'm going with the L.A. theme. This is also the part where you can pick your font and other appearances. I imagine most will be fine choosing from the fonts that Ning offers.
Min: 17
Choose user questions
Ning enables users to create their own multiple choice questions, so I picked, "How much do you love swag?" with the possible answers: A) No swag love, B) I'm swagtastic, C) Love? Is there a stronger word? and D) Can't talk! Too busy basking in swag!
Min: 20
Create graphic and upload pictures
While I'm waiting on our graphics guy to design a logo for me, I upload the pictures to the site.
Min: 30
Invite friends
I'm still waiting on our graphics guy to get the logo to me (he's so busy!), so I begin to invite my colleagues to the site to pass the time.
Min: 45
Still waiting
While I wait, I check the site, add a discussion and encourage my friends to interact. I get very excited when somebody comments on a discussion. Zuckerberg eat your heart out.
Min: 57
Logo arrives!
I quickly upload the logo to the site and update. I click the "manage" tab at the top of my screen to go back into the site options. Only the creator gets a manage tab.
Min: 60
SwagMe.ning.com created!
Come join my site and talk about your swag. Sure it's completely goofy, but we all know how much you love it.
Ning is accessible for all sizes of business and across all verticals. It may be the only thing that goes smoothly today, and it's fun. Snoop around.
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Adam Shahbaz is assistant editor at iMediaConnection. Read full bio.
