Building communities around your product is a really great way to grow your userbase and enhance your brand if you do it right.

##Riverford really get this right...

My wife, son and I recently went to "Pumpkin day" at the Riverford farm that is local to us.

Wow. Really brilliant community building. Free entry, no overpriced nonsense, great easily accessible entertainment for the children, a box of (free) fruit by the door, A nice tour of the farm...I could go on.

What I found so inspiring was the lack of commercialisation of the whole thing. Enormous pumpkins were £2, the coffee was less than a coffee shop, there was a discount on all farm products on sale by default.

Everything was simply, here's what we do. No hard sell, just enjoying the farm for what it was...My son was really excited (and slightly incredulous) that he was allowed to pick and taste the herbs, straight from where they were growing.

I don't really have any more point to make than if you open your product up to people, in a genuine and engaging way, you'll enhance your brand, and possibly even gain new customers.