Manage Quora Presence as a Service to Companies?

This is what I’m thinking to do, actually. I would love to know what you think about this idea. To be clear, consultants and socialmedia consulting companies manage Facebook, blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. accounts. Why not Quora? Why not me?

In Quora, I have been developing a presence for myself and the KdL Web2.0 Social Media Group (formed initially in LinkedIn, one and a half years ago, 2/15/2010), and find it a great place to get reactions, be seen, build credibility, and manage brand image. In the last six weeks, I have built a bit of a following in Quora, and the more I use it, the more I find I get direct answers to the questions that I direct to specific individuals (an option to do with an already-posted question).

I am pondering the value (and how to price this…?) of working with companies and organizations, to manage their Quora presences as well as teach their staff basics in using Quora as a learning tool, a “live reference” space, if you will.

For organizations, non-profits, I envision training staff in:
* Researching facts related to the causes that the organizations support
* Querying the attitudes and beliefs the people have about the work they are doing
* Learning more about the resources that people rely on to get the information their beliefs and attitudes are built on
* Recruiting supporters who are passionate about their cause and willing to support others who are interested in the topic also.
* Discovering, over time, which answers to problems and questions are valued most by the community
* Networking with other companies/organizations and finding ways to collaborate on issues
* Refining messages and statements based on the feedback that employees/organization members get from others

Is this a viable service to market, though? How do you charge social media management clients for managing their Quora presence? << Wow, a new question to post in Quora! Here is the link, so you may see the reactions this garners. Here is how I worded it in Quora:

How do you charge social media management clients for managing their Quora presence?
Is this a viable service to market?

Flag-block request:
I am well aware that we may not have an account with a company name. Kindly consider how many company names are ‘Topics’ in Quora. Those topics are searchable. Any of us may answer questions tagged with those company name topics – and as such, we do see staff of topic-tagged companies defending their brands, products, and firms.

Why not offer this as a service? How to bill, what to offer clients, I would love to know your ideas on this.
For fun, initially I added topics as below. Let’s see how many get cut by the Quora Gestapo, and if the question gets re-directed or edited (I will add to this blog post if and when that happens, and also add reactions as garnered in Quora):

Social Entrepreneurship
Corporate Image
Social Branding
Topics on Quora
Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Social Commerce
Brand Strategy
Quora (product)
Corporate Social Strategist

As a last note, having just launched this question and then tweeted the link, and finally, I directed it to people whose opinions and advice I value, on the topic of economic viability of such social media management services. I would ask you to consider how this question will likely receive more comments and answers in Quora than it will on my blog. Where will you comment?

http://osakabentures.com/2011/02/manage-quora-presence-as-a-service-to-companies/

About Saul Fleischman

Founder of emerging social media tool sites. Bootstrapping innovation with lean startup development teams. I do project management, user experience, PR, marketing and community development.

Related OsakaBentures Must-Reads