Comments on: Do you make these community building mistakes?

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:29:38 +0000

Dan – Being present, visible and active are all the same thing as far as I am concerned. If you aren’t active, then you aren’t present and you certainly aren’t visible!

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:21:10 +0000

Total agreement about the admin having to be not just present or visible, but active.

I’m not sure this is applicable in all stages of life of the community, too.. When it grows big, you can’t be seen everywhere.. and most of the energy can be needed on leading/motivating/checking the moderator team.. who then need to become the “vice-admin” to do the very same job… but yes, always someone from the “higher powers” has to be the lead-by-example type of energy on the forum..

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:20:40 +0000

Alvina – You make a good point; it is important that your community is able to stand on its own feet without you at some point in its development. That’s why it is important to step away from your community every now and then to see how it copes without you. Try weaning your members away from you slowly over time – a developing online community is just like a child. They need to cope with independence sooner or later!

By: Alvina

Alvina — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:56:43 +0000

Failing to get involved in your community –

I became so involved in my community that when I was absent for a while, my members made me a “miss you” thread. That was nice, but I think too much involvement isn’t good either because the members and especially moderators should learn to manage without the administrator too. Some expect not only the administrator, but the moderators and other staff to be there at all times, they expect them to answer their inquiries/requests immediately and seem to forget that they, as anyone, have their personal, off-line lives as well.

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 22:00:12 +0000

Vumpost – If you provide me with the name of your forum I can take a look at it and offer you some advice. The most effective way of making your forum different from all the others out there is to have your own unique content. Once you have this (and continue to create it), you can work on developing a unique personality for your forum.

Smiley – Well good luck, let us know how you get on.

By: Smiley

Smiley — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:59:35 +0000

I’ll happily share the name once the deal is done, if the deal ever gets done, I haven’t heard back from them yet!

I don’t want to say publically incase others reading this go and offer them a higher amount LOL. But if they let me buy it, it’ll get me hundreds of new visitors a day.

So yes, good point. Keeping an eye on the competition is always great.

By: Vumpost

Vumpost — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 20:57:49 +0000

I am having a degree of success with 2 of my forums, but I am not really happy and I think I can do better. I think the reason is that I am not doing anything different from others.
Even though I have original content and the forum skin was custom made by me I still can’t really differentiate my forum from the others.

Besides original content and a custom made design, what are other things that can put your forum in a different light? The only thing I can think of is installing different add-ons or whatever you would like to call them. Anything else?

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:36:57 +0000

Agnes – Thanks for your comment. Being different is really important. Just as important is dedication and perseverance!

Smiley – I completely agree; a site is never finished. It’s always a good idea to leave your community alone for the odd day or so to see how it fares without you. It also gives your moderators a chance to shine, as you found for yourself.

You also provide a great example of why it is essential to keep an eye on the competition – you know that a large chat site has recently closed down and are now positioned to take advantage of that.

Perhaps once you have concluded the domain name deal, you could share the name of the site you are referring to as I don’t have a clue!

Hirsutism – You’re right; content is king, but with a community you also need interaction!

Daniel – Long time, no see! How have you been? Thanks for your kind comment – I actually have an ebook planned for the future but am too busy to find the time to sit down and write it at the moment!

By: Blogosphere Update: Links of interest » Daniel B. Honigman’s site (Chicago 2016 news, epicure, cigar reviews, etc.)

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:22:47 +0000

[...] Reed goes over some common mistakes people make when they build online [...]

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:14:54 +0000

Amen, brother. Your points are so intuitive, but nobody has common sense anymore.

I think you may be the community-building version of Seth Godin, perhaps… (kidding.)

Now, write a book and call it “Green Goat” or something.