Comments on: Don’t lose existing members of your online community

By: Ed Harris

Ed Harris — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:22:30 +0000

I know this is a bit late, but I just noticed the “get to know you” comment.

Really, so true. The three Forums that I am very active in…I know the owner fairly well and the moderators. All three are financial Forums.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:50:53 +0000

After reading through this list, number 6 seems really interesting. I think you would gain a lifelong member if you interviewed them.

Other members might also become more involved after hearing about the interview.

By: Mingo

Mingo — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:38:34 +0000

Probably a quite common mistake is paying too much attention on how to attract new members for the sake of neglecting the existing ones.
It is hard to keep involved the whole community, better would be to design target groups.

By: Diego

Diego — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:05:49 +0000

I think it is definitely important to communicate with members. The trick is to give useful information and incentives that aren’t annoying advertisements. There is a lot of spam email from some communities, and that will chase away members.

By: Eve

Eve — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:22:49 +0000

I really like your approach. After all, a community is an all encompasing thing, it iis not up to us to chose who we include but to make sure we have our arms open to everyone. I am going to forward these tips to a few of my friends as I think it will be really helpful!

By: Nicole Price

Nicole Price — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:08:04 +0000

Thanks Tom, after posting the comment, I thought that perhaps I was out of line! I entirely agree that you need to stamp out any kind of bullying if it takes place, regardless of who the perpetrator is.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:50:38 +0000

Regarding #1, I most definitely agree. In fact, one great way to tell if you’re welcome messages are passing the “personal” test is if you receive replies. On many of my welcome emails, I receive a reply back that thanks me for the personal welcome. That’s when you know it’s personal enough for new members to feel the connection. Of course, this is yet another good argument for using a personal (non-auto-reply) email address when sending the welcomes.

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:40:13 +0000

Agreed, that I don’t mind. That’s just making friends lol.

It’s when certain groups start feeling superior to other users, particularly newbies, and feel they have the right to bully – that’s when I need to stamp down on them, regardless of whether they throw a tantrum about it or not, I promised to provide a site that is new user-friendly, and that’s what I’m going to do!

By: Nicole Price

Nicole Price — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:49:52 +0000

My response to Tom on the small gangs is this. One normally joins a new community on the invitation of someone who is already a member, a friend or a relative. It is but natural that this bond expands within the community to become a mini community within the site. It is not really creating a gated community as much as giving a platform for people with common backgrounds to form their own little group.

By: Footprints (30.09.09) | Chris Deary

Footprints (30.09.09) | Chris Deary — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:23:17 +0000

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