Play detective to attract more forum members

[Kay]

Since the subject has come up about this quite a few times recently in various threads, I thought I'd give some general tips from my own experience. I suggest you set aside a particular time slot for this exercise, say an afternoon or evening or even a whole day. What you're going to do is visit some of the very successful forums out there you know of related to your niche, not forgetting the ones you frequent often yourself as a member.

The difference is you're going to look at the forums not as a member or visitor, but to analyze why they're popular. The insights you gather here will help you build your own. Have a notepad handy, then don your deerstalker hat and pipe, Sherlock! :) If you can get into a roll with this, you can cover a lot of ground.


First of all look at, with your pen at the ready :

The forum's setup and layout.



First impressions: what do you like/dislike about its look or layout?

Do they have areas/categories/features your forum doesn't? Would you want them?


Are there any kind of special offers or privileges they have which attract a lot of attention?



What is it about the forum that makes you want to be there? The people? The content? The contests? Basically, what's the draw or what do you see that you think's pretty cool.



Which folders are the most popular? Look inside them. Scan them to see what kind of threads are responded to most and what's left behind in their dust.



Check out the Feedback/suggestions folder. Is there anything members have mentioned they'd like that this forum doesn't have yet? Could you incorporate it into your own? Note down anything that strikes you as a good idea.



Is there anything they don't like? Do you do the same thing at yours they're complaining about?


These are just some ideas to give you an example of what you can observe and learn just from looking and learning from the success of others. Add to or amend it to suit your own needs.

Comments welcome.

.

[Kay]

Potential members - last but not least on your analysis list.

I'm posting this separately because it deserves to stand out on its own and be noticed. The question to ask yourself is this:

Are there members at the forum you're analyzing that you feel would be an asset to your own forum? For example ones I'd look for would have traits such as (in no particular order):

1. obvious experience/knowledge of the subject matter but doesn't act like a know-it-all or look down on people who are new to it.
2. very friendly to newcomers
3. always helpful
4. can lift people's spirits
5. not involved in cliques
6. no drama queen/king tendencies
7. debates topics rather than getting drawn into arguments
8. a sense of humor

You'd be very lucky to find any one person with all those but surprisingly they can be right under your nose at forums you already hang out in. We get so used to seeing people around forums we're regulars at that we don't realize what a positive role they play in a community until they up and leave.

Suddenly a yawning gap is there and only then do we realize what an asset they were. If you can get a solid core of members right from the start that even vaguely resemble half of those traits, your site will do very well. Good people + good content = success.


So what do you do when you find them?

Well, there's a few options. You might want to approach them privately and invite them along or even offer them mod roles for a particular folder or a role such as "meet and greet."

Alternatively you could simply drop them a nice note and tell them what impresses you without actually inviting them. You can pay someone a compliment without it sounding like you're trying to steal them away. Having your site in your sig can be enough to make them come along and sign up.

It's your call and I'm not taking the blame whatever you decide LOL. I've tried both ways in the past when I had my own community and it worked both ways. :) Just be sure it doesn't come across as spam. Be sincere and do what your gut tells you depending on the individual.

Read the note twice before sending and think about what it would be like to be on the receiving end of your note: if you'd got that same note from someone else, how would you feel about it? That will tell you if you sound like a spammer or not.

You do need to be careful about poaching (or approaching) someone else's mods though! Or at the very least don't leave a trail of evidence ... ;) If you PM them, chances are they'll inform the admin if they don't know you that well.

The last approach I mentioned - dropping them a nice note and saying what impresses you without actually inviting them -would probably be the best method for them and keep you out of hot water with the other admin. Ideally send them it by email outwith the forum because some admins are extremely precious about their mods.

I know not everyone will find either of these methods useful but I have, especially the potential members part. One thing I've learned is people who are popular at a forum will bring a bunch of buddies with them shortly after they sign up if they like it, who in turn bring theirs, and so on and so on.

Slow and steady wins the race.

This is not a method where you'll see overnight results. You need to take time to gather and then go over the information you've collected. After that you have to decide what you'd like to implement or change at your own forum based on your findings.

People also can't be rushed into signing up and will come by in lurk mode usually first a few times and then decide to. Which again is why a core of good members is essential. You want your forum to be so irresistible that they can't wait to dive in and post.

Try playing detective and see what you learn. You'll be surprised at how differently you see things with a deerstalker on instead of your member's hat.

Especially if it's over your eyes. :p

[silent_thunder]

Go!! Kay!! Awesome post Incredible !!Reps added:D

[Swastik]

Awesome post really. Very nicely organized and I specially liked the potential members one. Thats where I got to work more and more.

Reps!

[flashgordonweb]

Very nice post. I don't own or run a forum, but I sure visit a lot of them and have begun to notice which ones seem to be more popular and which aren't. The same can apply for websites as well. A great way to see what your competition is doing.

[Kay]

Well shucks, thank you kindly guys! I appreciate your kind words. It did turn into a bit of a novel there I know. When I saw how long it was after I posted it, I thought no one would read it so thank you for sticking with it! :D

You know me, never say something with one word when you can use five. LOL, I can't help it. :D

[Nazreen]

Very nice post Kay. Asking yourself questions is always a good way in doing things. In this case, it's to help improve our own BAF. Okay, I went about and checked other business forums and listed what I liked about them. I won't be adding their links here because they're our competition after all. :)


First impressions: what do you like/dislike about its look or layout?

I like some of the forums because of the following reasons:

Nice banner.
Short intro about the forums.
Has a nice attention getting statement/question in the home page.


I don't like some of the forums because of the following reasons:

Space allocated for the forum is only half the computer screen.
Very small font.
Forum extended more that the width of the screen.
Too many advertisements.
No suggestions and feedbacks section.




Do they have areas/categories/features your forum doesn't? Would you want them?

Some of the categories I liked from these forums:

Small intro on the admins and mods.
Success Stories
Trading Section
Starting a Business Section
Freebies Section




Are there any kind of special offers or privileges they have which attract a lot of attention?

I saw one forum where I thought that the layout was terrible but it was still at the top of the search results in google. This is probably due to the fact that they offer a lot of free ebooks and newsletters in their forums.



What is it about the forum that makes you want to be there? The people? The content? The contests? Basically, what's the draw or what do you see that you think's pretty cool.

I think that it's the members of the forum that will make you want to be there, to stay there. If the people are nice, friendly and quite helpful then I'd like to be a part of that forum. I also saw one forum that has a lot of diversity in it's members. They have people from different countries and different occupations - lawyers, businessmen, etc. But I also saw some of them who tend to be full of themselves and will flame new users for posting something that has already been posted before.



Which folders are the most popular? Look inside them. Scan them to see what kind of threads are responded to most and what's left behind in their dust.

Here are the most popular categories:

Trading Section
Starting a Business Section
Freebies Section

[Fergal]

Excellent tips there Kay. I've added this post to the Featured Posts section in this category.

[youbetcha1018]

You have posted great! I like it. Well, I hope I can run my own forum someday.

[Kay]

Very nice post Kay. Asking yourself questions is always a good way in doing things. In this case, it's to help improve our own BAF. Okay, I went about and checked other business forums and listed what I liked about them. I won't be adding their links here because they're our competition after all.

First impressions: what do you like/dislike about its look or layout?

I like some of the forums because of the following reasons:

Nice banner.
Short intro about the forums.
Has a nice attention getting statement/question in the home page.


I don't like some of the forums because of the following reasons:

Space allocated for the forum is only half the computer screen.
Very small font.
Forum extended more that the width of the screen.
Too many advertisements.
No suggestions and feedbacks section.




Do they have areas/categories/features your forum doesn't? Would you want them?

Some of the categories I liked from these forums:

Small intro on the admins and mods.
Success Stories
Trading Section
Starting a Business Section
Freebies Section




Are there any kind of special offers or privileges they have which attract a lot of attention?

I saw one forum where I thought that the layout was terrible but it was still at the top of the search results in google. This is probably due to the fact that they offer a lot of free ebooks and newsletters in their forums.



What is it about the forum that makes you want to be there? The people? The content? The contests? Basically, what's the draw or what do you see that you think's pretty cool.

I think that it's the members of the forum that will make you want to be there, to stay there. If the people are nice, friendly and quite helpful then I'd like to be a part of that forum. I also saw one forum that has a lot of diversity in it's members. They have people from different countries and different occupations - lawyers, businessmen, etc. But I also saw some of them who tend to be full of themselves and will flame new users for posting something that has already been posted before.



Which folders are the most popular? Look inside them. Scan them to see what kind of threads are responded to most and what's left behind in their dust.

Here are the most popular categories:

Trading Section
Starting a Business Section
Freebies Section



Nazreen, thank you so much for taking the time to show it in action! Nothing demonstrates the usefulness of this technique better. :) That will be a great help to Fergal, I'm sure. I can see at least one thing we've been discussing around here as a possibility - the ebooks/freebies - seems to be a popular option. I'll be adding well deserved rep for you for doing so!

Your post is also a great example of something else I should have added to my list of a great community member's traits that I forgot - does things they don't need to do for the overall good of the community and/or its members. :)



Excellent tips there Kay. I've added this post to the Featured Posts section in this category.

Thanks, Fergal! I'm flattered. :)



You have posted great! I like it. Well, I hope I can run my own forum someday.

Thanks! And I'm sure you could, youbetcha. It takes up an enormous amount of time and is often a thankless task but rewarding one when you see it growing. Patience is the key. :)

[jwhitakr]

Great post, Kay and glad to see that it has been marked as a Featured Post.

I think the bottom line is that any forum trying to attract new members has to have all of the basic features covered (nice design, well defined categories, etc.) and also be able to offer something unique to differentiate itself from other forums. That's the hard part, I think ... and you have to market that "uniqueness" in order to attract new members.

[Fergal]

Some great tips there indeed. I'm happy to have read this thread again as the information is still very relevant.

Thanks a lot Nazreen for taking a look at other forums to see how BAF can learn from them. BAF has seen some developments and improvements since the time you made that post, however some points are still relevant and we can indeed learn a lot from others.

[Brack]

There are some fantastic tips there.

I do believe I have already played at detective at various other forums.

The one thing which does put me of many is when swearing is used.

I had thought of asking a couple of users from FP about affiliating but have decided against this after witnessing their attitudes on FP.