The Village Marketer: Problems and Prospects for Community Development

The main objective of this research was to examine and find patterns of community empowerment through the development of marketer villages. The objective was to identify the general and specific problems, the degree of severity, and their impact on marketer development. The research was set in Tunjungmuli Village, Karang Moncol District, Purbalingga Regency, Central Java Province. The research method used in both stages was the embedded case study. The research design used qualitative and quantitative approaches. Primary data sources were all community members who use information technology. The technique of determining informants was using purposive sampling, while other primary data sources, namely key informants, were selected using the snowball technique. Secondary data was collected through content analysis techniques. All data collected were analyzed using interactive techniques, reflection tests, and simple statistics (percentage values, tabulations, mean values , and frequency distributions). The results showed that external problems were found, as many as 12 points, ranging from weak internet signal, problematic tower, only one provider, power failure, fictitious messages, and customer complaints related to products. There were no payments if marketers were not present. There is still a scarcity of human resources and skilled workers, ads blocked by customers, expensive shipping payments decreased turnover, and potential buyers giving false hope. As for the internal problems, 10 points were found, namely: starting limited credit (not enough balance), limited internet quota, isolated locations, damaged hardware technology facilities, disrupted Random Access Memory (RAM), competition for signals, product promotion time ran out, promotional product designs changed, ideas for non-creative promotions. Keywords: marketer, village, community development, digital technology, the cyber community