Building content on a forum

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<html> <head> <title>Building content on a forum</title> </head> <body> <h1>Building content on a forum</h1> <div class="info">Author: <a href="http://www.a1articles.com/author_1_176123.html">Anthony Coundouris</a></div><div class="body">Once you have built a reasonably sized following of members, you want each member to post at least once a day. After all it is the content people want. At the same time, this is the means by which prospect members find the forum. Tap the passionate few It is necessary to identify or establish a core of 'passionate posters'. These are dedicated individuals, who post regularly and have a high sense of ownership of the content and direction of the forum. Without these passionate posters, you won't have enough posts to jump start the forum. The core group is essential and can be counted on to perpetuate the discussion even during slow times. The core group is rarely a substitute for the 'critical mass'. Without the critical mass, you wind up with a forum which looses momentum as the core group disappears through attrition. Nurture lurkers Most new visitors to discussion forums are 'lurkers'. Lurkers stand on the sidelines, and watch how those involved in the forum interact. Most members start out as lurkers. The challenge is to create a place where lurkers feel appreciated and respected. They should feel nurtured by the community. Lurkers are also less likely to put themselves down on the record. They may be more open to a chat with an expert, where they can ask questions without fear of reprisal from the community. This helps lurkers move off the sidelines and become posters. And the more posters you have, the more successful your discussion forum. Create identities People don't return just to read banter or content. A major factor for repeat visit each is how much belonging / ownership the member attaches to the community. Members must feel they are heard and integrated into the community. This means helping them to establish an identity in the community. And encourage them to be themselves by focus on their strong points. A member with an identity is no longer an anonymous outsider; they are community. Each personality is integral to the community — the know-it-alls, jokers, stirrers. The feeling of being a somebody will keep them coming back. A monthly forum 'award ceremony' for the best joke, debater, poster can be an easy way to build a community feel. These activities encourage members to get to know each other. More reasons not to abandon a forum. Get them to post pictures of themselves, describe where they live, talk about their other hobbies. Encourage socialising within the forum. Regular contact with members After launch, a forum can enjoy a wonderful sign-up rate of members. However, administrators may quickly discover only 10% of members are actively posting. There are ways to kick-start an inactive group. Sending out emails to them remind them of their membership or when someone has posted a question can work, but some members may find this irritating. Some forum scripts add-ons are available which analyse a user's activity and put messages at the top of the screen, encouraging them to post. Desktop widgets or gadgets can be a lightweight option for attracting posts. Rather than visit the community, members can post remotely by watching post feeds and who is online. Reply promptly Respond to every message promptly. When visitors see message questions are answered promptly, they are more likely to post their own messages in the forum. If messages are rarely or never answered, they have no reason to post their own message. So don't leave a poster hanging. Reply to all messages promptly. Self-promote community Let visitors to your forum see at a snapshot the forum is buzzing with discussion by displaying headlines from recent posts to the home page. These headlines can intrigue and prompt visitors to read and participate in the discussion forum. Administrators can be quite creative in the manner in to display this content. Using <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/08/02/data-visualization-modern-approaches/" target="_blank" title="Data Visualization: Modern Approaches">data visualisation techniques </a> could give the site and brand an edge. Offer incentives Incentives can entice members to join or post. These incentives don't have to be monetary. Rewards could appeal to one's ego. For example rewards may elevate a member's standing in the community. Competitions can work, but you need a prize which has a high perceived value and a channel off-site to promote it. If people don't know about your forum and competition, hardly anyone will participate. One type of competition that works well is referrals. </div> <div class="source">Article Source: <a href="http://www.a1articles.com/building-content-on-a-forum-1059653.html">http://www.a1articles.com/building-content-on-a-forum-1059653.html</a></div> <div class="author"> <div class="authorOccupation">Occupation: Director and marketing consultant</div> <div class="authorBio">Anthony Coundouris is a director and digital consultant for the digital marketing agency Firestarter. Servicing multinationals companies in Singapore and South East Asia, Firestarter provides business leaders avenues to engage and convert prospects using social media marketing. Visit Firestarter to read more articles or contact me.</div> <div class="authorUrl"><a href="http://www.firestarter.com.sg" target="_blank">http://www.firestarter.com.sg</a></div></author> </body> </html>

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Building content on a forum Author: Anthony Coundouris Once you have built a reasonably sized following of members, you want each member to post at least once a day. After all it is the content people want. At the same time, this is the means by which prospect members find the forum. Tap the passionate few It is necessary to identify or establish a core of 'passionate posters'. These are dedicated individuals, who post regularly and have a high sense of ownership of the content and direction of the forum. Without these passionate posters, you won't have enough posts to jump start the forum. The core group is essential and can be counted on to perpetuate the discussion even during slow times. The core group is rarely a substitute for the 'critical mass'. Without the critical mass, you wind up with a forum which looses momentum as the core group disappears through attrition. Nurture lurkers Most new visitors to discussion forums are 'lurkers'. Lurkers stand on the sidelines, and watch how those involved in the forum interact. Most members start out as lurkers. The challenge is to create a place where lurkers feel appreciated and respected. They should feel nurtured by the community. Lurkers are also less likely to put themselves down on the record. They may be more open to a chat with an expert, where they can ask questions without fear of reprisal from the community. This helps lurkers move off the sidelines and become posters. And the more posters you have, the more successful your discussion forum. Create identities People don't return just to read banter or content. A major factor for repeat visit each is how much belonging / ownership the member attaches to the community. Members must feel they are heard and integrated into the community. This means helping them to establish an identity in the community. And encourage them to be themselves by focus on their strong points. A member with an identity is no longer an anonymous outsider; they are community. Each personality is integral to the community — the know-it-alls, jokers, stirrers. The feeling of being a somebody will keep them coming back. A monthly forum 'award ceremony' for the best joke, debater, poster can be an easy way to build a community feel. These activities encourage members to get to know each other. More reasons not to abandon a forum. Get them to post pictures of themselves, describe where they live, talk about their other hobbies. Encourage socialising within the forum. Regular contact with members After launch, a forum can enjoy a wonderful sign-up rate of members. However, administrators may quickly discover only 10% of members are actively posting. There are ways to kick-start an inactive group. Sending out emails to them remind them of their membership or when someone has posted a question can work, but some members may find this irritating. Some forum scripts add-ons are available which analyse a user's activity and put messages at the top of the screen, encouraging them to post. Desktop widgets or gadgets can be a lightweight option for attracting posts. Rather than visit the community, members can post remotely by watching post feeds and who is online. Reply promptly Respond to every message promptly. When visitors see message questions are answered promptly, they are more likely to post their own messages in the forum. If messages are rarely or never answered, they have no reason to post their own message. So don't leave a poster hanging. Reply to all messages promptly. Self-promote community Let visitors to your forum see at a snapshot the forum is buzzing with discussion by displaying headlines from recent posts to the home page. These headlines can intrigue and prompt visitors to read and participate in the discussion forum. Administrators can be quite creative in the manner in to display this content. Using data visualisation techniques could give the site and brand an edge. Offer incentives Incentives can entice members to join or post. These incentives don't have to be monetary. Rewards could appeal to one's ego. For example rewards may elevate a member's standing in the community. Competitions can work, but you need a prize which has a high perceived value and a channel off-site to promote it. If people don't know about your forum and competition, hardly anyone will participate. One type of competition that works well is referrals. Article Source: http://www.a1articles.com/building-content-on-a-forum-1059653.html About the Author: Anthony Coundouris is a director and digital consultant for the digital marketing agency Firestarter. Servicing multinationals companies in Singapore and South East Asia, Firestarter provides business leaders avenues to engage and convert prospects using social media marketing. Visit Firestarter to read more articles or contact me. http://www.firestarter.com.sg

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