Social Network Marketing Tycoon

**jamestl2** · 05-28-2008, 05:09 PM

I really do appreciate the fact that some of my members stick around and post, and check it out daily, even though my forums don't appear to be "that" active (Even though threads are likely to get a response within that day or two).

I was thinking about different ways I could show them gratitude, but came up on the short end of the stick.

I don't exactly have the finances to pay them or anything, nor is it making loads of income, and it's not what my forum is all about (sharing knowledge and getting to know conspiracies better, is).

Not that my current members are asking for anything in return, but I'd still like a way to show my friends that I appreciate their contributions.

**Nebuchadnezzar** · 05-28-2008, 07:21 PM

This might sound a bit cliché and perhaps maybe not exactly what you were looking for, but how about a thread that is sticky'ed that serves as a thank you to all those you wish to thank.

I manage a restaurant and I can't tell you how many employees tell me a simple "thank you" makes their day a lot better because they know they're appreciated.

As your membership grows you might be able to get some freebies from places that do sponsorships to give away to your regulars.

**MinisitesWizard** · 05-28-2008, 08:04 PM

Without spending money? Hmm thats difficult.
Perhaps reward them with moderator status? Or some sort of rank increase.

**vangogh** · 05-28-2008, 09:33 PM

I like the thank you sticky idea.

I'm not sure how many members of your forum have their own site, but if they do you could allow them to post links or add their banners in a rotation somewhere on the forum.

You might be able to talk your way into group discounts for your members for products and services they'd like.

You could offer more privileges to their accounts. It won't seem like much difference now, but as more people join the extra privileges will mean something.

**jamestl2** · 05-28-2008, 10:00 PM

So what could I say in the sticky? I haven't really seen any other forums use "Thank You Stickies" before (so I don't have any ideas there as to what it would say or how it would help).

I've also already had considered mod status in mind, but a forum my size ATM doesn't really need moderators (Although it something I'll probably do in the future).

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

I'm not sure how many members of your forum have their own site, but if they do you could allow them to post links or add their banners in a rotation somewhere on the forum.

Not many, I imagine. Signatures are enabled and I do allow link drops (if they're relevant to the thread, or conspiracies in general, etc.).

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

You might be able to talk your way into group discounts for your members for products and services they'd like.

You could offer more privileges to their accounts. It won't seem like much difference now, but as more people join the extra privileges will mean something.

Any ideas? Right now all I have is a "basic" forum to discuss, debate, make friends, etc. I'm not selling products or anything (just a few adsense ads at most)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebuchadnezzar

As your membership grows you might be able to get some freebies from places that do sponsorships to give away to your regulars.

What do you mean? What kind of "freebies"?

**Nebuchadnezzar** · 05-28-2008, 10:19 PM

I was able to get Geeks.com to sponsor my forums for a while in which they sent me some items to give away in exchange for banner ad space.

Like I said, it seemed cool at the time, and then I realized that I was really boxing myself in to people who only had interest in winning a new motherboard or an ATX computer case. Not to mention shipping a computer case is a hassle.

They key is finding relevant items to give away that will appeal to your members and future members.

**vangogh** · 05-29-2008, 07:45 PM

I think you should just say whatever you want in the thank you sticky. You want to thank everyone and I'm sure you have reasons. Simply be honest and it should be fine.

With the discounts I was thinking if you can think of some products that would interest your typical member maybe you could get in touch with the company in some way and offer a trade of advertising or something in exchange for a discount on the product for your members.

Basically what Nebuchadnezzar is describing above.

What kind of a deal you'd set up would come down to what you're willing to give and what you want to get back. There are probably ways to work it out so both you, the company, and your forum members are all happy.

**willcode4beer** · 09:40 PM

Could you spend a "little" money?

I've ordered t-shirts from cafe press, from time to time, for content contributors. It's not much money, and all devs like a willCode4Beer shirt

[warning, self promo]
BTW, if you want to share some coding tips and tricks, I'm looking for content.
I'll give you a t-shirt for anything I use

[/warning, self promo]

Right now, I'm trying to find a supplier of bottle openers (that I like) that I can throw my logo on.
It'd be awesome to give those away at the parties that happen at conferences.

**jamestl2** · 05-29-2008, 10:11 PM

I didn't really want to resort to doing anything to gimmicky, like giving away prizes based solely on post counts, or thread creations, etc. Those tend to distract from the quality of forums (Meaning that you'll usually get short "I agree" or "Yes or No" types of posts, just for members to increase their rates), from my point of view. Plus the traffic those contests bring doesn't stick around as much, they seem to leave as soon as it ends, as there's nothing really to gain for those sorts of people.

Or is it just that you'd pretty much "have" to start something like a contest to help get a forum's ball rolling? (That is, if you don't have much of a budget). As mine isn't really based off a blog community or some similar existing userbase, it's just the forum.

Quote:

Originally Posted by willcode4beer

Could you spend a "little" money?

Paul, like I said before, I don't have much money, (I'm a college student

). I barely have enough now as is, just enough to squeeze by with my current expenses.

**SMGenius** · 05-29-2008, 10:50 PM

Best way to say thank you? Write a personal e-mail to each one saying so.

I'd like it anyway

**VirtuosiMedia** · 05-30-2008, 03:57 PM

This is incredibly silly, but it might work. How about a king or queen (or whatever title you want to give) for the day contest. Here's how it would work:

Start a thread called "Weekly Royalty." Every Monday you'd see who had the most posts from the week before and that person will be the king or queen for the day. You and other members could post pictures that incorporate the person's avatar somehow in a fun or goofy way. Or, if they don't have an avatar, you could write little stories. The person could also make (fake) decrees (or if you wanted to, you could let them decree the color of the website, the logo, or some other aspect of it for the day or week).

I'm sure you could think of some more ideas along those lines. It would take a little bit of time, but it wouldn't cost anything. It would serve as a kind of running contest that will boost forum activity and community and it will also reward the members. It's silly, but it might be fun and it just might work.

**colbyt** · 05-30-2008, 06:51 PM

Frankly, I contribute what I can to each of the forums that I visit because I owe an great debt to the many people who have helped me over the years and it is the only way I can ever hope to pay the interest on that debt is to provide some small help to someone else.

Now sometimes I am a bad boy; but most times if I can not post something positive, I don't post at all.

A simple thank you or rep points if your forum uses them is all that most regulars would want. You can do t-shirts or other promos if you like but I don't think anyone expects them. Personally speaking I appreciate being a "guest in the home of" and try to conduct myself accordingly.

Sounds hokey, but it was off the cuff and honest.

**SMGenius** · 05-30-2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtuosiMedia

This is incredibly silly, but it might work. How about a king or queen (or whatever title you want to give) for the day contest. Here's how it would work:

Start a thread called "Weekly Royalty." Every Monday you'd see who had the most posts from the week before and that person will be the king or queen for the day. You and other members could post pictures that incorporate the person's avatar somehow in a fun or goofy way. Or, if they don't have an avatar, you could write little stories. The person could also make (fake) decrees (or if you wanted to, you could let them decree the color of the website, the logo, or some other aspect of it for the day or week).

I'm sure you could think of some more ideas along those lines. It would take a little bit of time, but it wouldn't cost anything. It would serve as a kind of running contest that will boost forum activity and community and it will also reward the members. It's silly, but it might be fun and it just might work.

Heh. I quite like that idea. However, I don't think doing it through a post count would be the best way to go as you'd have lots of meaningless messages posted about the place.

A vote system might work, Users vote for whoemever they would like to see King/Queen.

**jamestl2** · 05-30-2008, 07:08 PM

I do say thanks and give out rep where it's due for good posts (I think I give out about 90% of it on my forum, and have also given some to every contributive member too). Just wasn't sure if stuff like rep points would be enough.

Do things like emalis, sticky threads, etc. inspire members to stick around? I wouldn't enjoy losing top members, but at the same time even highly active boards like WT loses top members too, and there's not really much the staff can do about it, it seems. I guess it's just because they sometimes have other personal things going on in their lives.

@VM - I don't mean to sound harsh or anything, but I'm confused, I literally have no idea what you're talking about

, and don't know of any other forums that use a feature like that. How exactly would it encourage members and make them feel good about participating? Or what exactly would it "do", would winning it mean they get special privileges or something?

**VirtuosiMedia** · 07:37 PM

No problem. It was just meant to be a silly game that might actually generate good activity and give you a way to "reward" your members without actually having to spend money. The privileges could be real or imaginary, it's up to you. If you wanted to do real privileges, you could let them suggest a site color or logo for the day or week or have a link to their site at the top of the forum for that week. It's kind of like the employee of the month thing some businesses do. It doesn't really mean anything, but you feel good when you get it.

As an example:

**vangogh** · 05-30-2008, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Do things like emalis, sticky threads, etc. inspire members to stick around?

Absolutely. Personal touches like those will go further than any of the other stuff we're suggesting. The little things generally end up meaning more to the person you thank. I'd imagine the occasional and personal thank you email would go a long way toward creating loyal forum members.

@VM - I like your idea. Seems like a good way to add some random fun. It should keep people more engaged with the site and make them interact more with each other and the forum in general.

**jamestl2** · 05-30-2008, 09:44 PM

OK, it's not much at the moment, but I'd like to know what you guys think of this thread I started:
http://www.conspiracy-forums.com/for...s-members.html

Am I saying the right things? Do I have the right tone? I just decided to say that I appreciate the fruitful discussions and hope everything goes well in the future for the forums, etc.

In addition to the sticky threads, emails, etc. How do PM's sound? I don't want them to think I'm spamming their email addresses or inboxes or anything, and I'd probably look for other things to say to them than just "thanks".

Concerning the "fun game", I'm not really sure what I should do on that front. I guess I'm just searching for where I could draw the line between "having fun" and keeping things "professional" and not losing the "focus" of the forums.

**vangogh** · 05-30-2008, 10:13 PM

I like what you have so far. I think it's the perfect tone. Simple and honest. The honesty is what will make it mean something. One thing that probably isn't an issue is being careful listing names, not so much who you mention, but who you don't.

You could link to their forum profiles too. I'm guessing everyone knows each other now, but maybe in the future it'll be a help to new people finding the thread.

I think a PM would be fine instead of an email. It makes more sense actually since it's a forum we're talking about. The important part is the sending of a unique and personal message to each person.

**jamestl2** · 05-30-2008, 10:37 PM

Thanks Steve,

For this particular thread, the primary reason I named names was because of my forum's size, and it was easier to personally thank everyone right there.

I think as it grows I won't really name names like I did in the announcement because there'd be to many to thank all in one place, and it might seem to come across as a little tacky.