> Any Idea's?

Was thinking it has been quite around here for quite a while now, has anyone got any ideas how to go about to bring the punters in?

Giveaways?
Competitions?
etc...............

cold calling? only joking

If anyone has any ideas feel free to post them here

 

I think we have the Balance about right Technical / Social as it is now.

Admin may have a different opinion.

I have seen Games and Competitions tried on other Tech Sites,

and they haven't been very successful.

 

My thoughts on this subject are that CHF is a place for computer users to visit when they have a problem that they have not been able to figure out for themselves. It is my hope that many of those people will register on the site and visit us on a regular basis in the future.

It is also my opinion that the two main attributes our forum should have is to try and give prompt and accurate information to all that need it, and also to respect the opinions of those who have not been computer users for as long as others. Everyones opinions and ideas are valid.


So good information has to be the most important thing for us to share on this site. If the members problems are solved here...then they probably won't go anywhere else. And thats initially what they come here for...


I'd like to invite all members, not just staff or senior members to give us their honest opinions on what they would like to see on CHF. Do please post. I for one genuinely want to hear what you've got to say. And I know that the administration will be keen to hear your words as well.

 

Well Said that man

Were awaiting a games section apparently there isn't one compatible with this version of IPB yet, not that we think it would encourage members just something to do when board :snckr:

Competitions and giveaways are slightly complex, as for a competition you would need to give something away, like what? and where or who would pay for it in the first place? then there are the competition rules, etc etc

We do as you may have noticed send emails from time to time to try and generate more interest, but the main problem is getting people to visit the site it's getting them to post, over the past 12mnths hits and the amount of time people spend on the site has increased steadily, but the amount of people that post is very small.

also you have to take into account weather and holidays, the Christmas Holidays wouldn't have done a lot for people's internet time. but the key thing we believe works best PSEFrank has covered, the only thing he has missed is trying to get an answer or acknowledgement of a post ASAP. even if its a "I don't know but check back and someone else will"

But we are always open to new Idea's and suggestions, so if anyone has any please feel free to speak up

 

Its just i was thinking of ways to attract people to the forum, not so much games I just cant put my finger on it.

we all know what the main attributes are to the forum and i think we all do extremely well in doing what we do, but i still think there is something missing, what... i dont know.

this is why im asking for people to bring there positive idea's to the table

 

Couldn't agree more

 

I look but don't always post. BeeCeeBee I know from another forum and I've found him to be a wealth of good information.

I look for recommendations for good (usually free) suggestions for security software. Perhaps a section of recommendations that people have tried and found to work well for them would be something to consider here.

Suggestions on what type of software people may wish to have on their machines and where to download such software. I guess what I am saying is how about giving Major Geek and Gizmo's some competition.

Thanks
Wildman

 

Thank you for your good suggestion wildman and im sure this will be considered!

Thanks

 

I have been looking at the numbers. At our low point a few months ago we were averaging less than 20 actual registered members over a 48 hour period. Then our new membership started to grew and we got up to the high 20 and into the 30s. This dropped dramatically over the holidays but as of this afternoon the number is back to 30. There have been a few new members and that usually picks up.

As of right now there are 4 members and 13 guests on the site. Spiders and bots are measured seperately so do not count in that total.

My point is things are not as bad as they seem and I expect as the days go on they will get better.

 

I think that it depends on what you are trying to measure...

My personal opinion when I come online is to look for new posts and that is my version of being busy or quiet...

If Admin staff are measuring how busy we are by new memberships then there will be confusion.

We have explored this topic many times and looked at how to attract newer members and in all honesty its always going to be a rollercoaster from month to month

 

Have to agree.
A percentage of new members are Spammers and also members who join with no intention of posting.

Guests who visit our Site are searching for something,and because we are creatures of habit, it takes a special site to convince them to become members of our Site.

First impressions are so important.

We have to offer something special,and when they visit everything about our Site has to appeal to them.

The most important thing I feel is to have the right mix, which I believe we do.

I think a good idea is to invite our best friends to join from other Sites we visit as well.


Our Membership would increase quickly if we all did this.

I am always looking for New Members from other Sites.I invite them in such a way as to not look like pirating,and if they are still hesitant then I threaten them. KenB can vouch for my methods. :snckr:

 

I certainly can.

It was made very clear that I NEEDED to join - or my fingernails had a limited life-span.

 

Why not make a sticky post and label it WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ON CHF
then leave it ijust for members to reply to, not staff.

I am willing to bet a bucket of Swedish snow that the response would be next to nothing. As already said, people with PC problems come and go, if we are lucky one or two will stay around.

 

Yes this is the problem, at the moment the policy is to try and be friendly, informative, and entertaining, nothing like getting up in a depressed mood facing a day at work and nearly spitting your morning drink over the monitor as you try not to laugh at a comment someone's made :snckr: also this help's as people would then need advice in cleaning hot drinks off keyboards and monitors :snckr:

 

Thats actually a good idea, but as you said they maybe wont return after the comp is finished, however if you were to prolong the comp by suggesting something like whoever achieves lets say for instance...... you need to reach a certain amount of posts but these must be useful posts and when reached you qualifiy in entering the comp and then by writing a short story on whay you like the giveaway etc etc.... puts you in a draw to win or something along those lines anyway if you get my meaning

 

My guess it that right now is not the time to do anything. Forums are being inundated with spammers. One forum that is familiar to most of us has been showing a huge number of members on line. Most of them have either spammed already or will soon. We catch a lot of that automatically. Their actual valid new posts are not significantly different considering they are still more established than we are. One has to look at new threads started by new members and not continuing threads to see if we are lagging.

I am not suggesting that this is a competition, that is not my point, my only concern is whether we are doing something wrong or not doing something that we should be doing. At this point I see nothing.

Our periodic email usually brings back a lot of members and some even stay. Lets see how things go over the next few weeks.

 

Agreed, but I think Wildman had a good Idea that we should look at maybe as an expansion of the Download section we already have :unsure:

 

I agree with the above Opinion. A competition Forum would do little in the way of attracting New Members.
To set up, read posts,Police, Judge etc would be more time consuming than what it's worth.

It would have a limited lifespan as well. I think we are better off looking at other ways.

I am in favour of a Games Console if Bob Schwartz can set up and this Software would allow.

This would keep our members entertained, and has proved popular on other Sites.
I don't play Games, however many do.

 

Most forums are faced with the same issue you are. So here are a few suggestions along with comments.

* You can have Karma cookies - members & forum staff can give a member a Karma cookie for a good helpful or informative post or for any other reason. This is very competitive and was successful on another computer security forum. There was a lot of fun chatter over the Karma cookies and it sure got members not only visiting often but also posting. Once things got to a large membership, the forum owner/admins did away with Kama cookies.
* On our forum this issue is currently under discussion and we are going to give a different colored "star" [staff excluded] to members. e.g. zero posts to say 100 posts a member gets a green star; from 100 posts to 300 posts a member gets a yellow star, & so forth. A member that reaches 5,000 posts gets a superstar [small logo I created] and no further stars are given but subject to change. Our membership attendance is approx. 26 to 30+ daily, of which I would say 50% post and the others simply like to read. We want the readers to become interactive and will use the star system & see if that draws them into posting. We discovered the post counts are important to some members, whereas others could care less.
* Our visitor numbers can get high however, we get very few spammers registering ... visitors/members will browse, get their information and don't bother to register or log in. Spammers are not hard to spot - their user name gives them away.
* We are in the process of sending out emails to inactive members - some mail has been returned because the email address is no longer valid. Not sure how successful this will be as this is work in progress right now.
* Quite a few of our members have joined this forum - we usually direct our members here for expert advice. Our forum has a small computer section which I update daily, from which some member interaction is generated.
* You may wish to consider having a Software Support Category/forum - you would need to negotiate this with a software vendor who is willing to have one here and would also provide or you can find staff that would be here in support for the members who need it. Usually when users of a specific software require help, the company will refer those users to the forum that offers support.
* Poaching members is not uncommon including poaching of staff to another forum.

Regarding the installation of a games console, I can recommend you have a chat with our techie Martin .. visit www.circlesoffriends.us - Martin is our techie and takes care of all the technical board issues/installations . Martin also has an IPB support forum he recently re-opened. mySideSupport.Net
There you go .. you have me posting here.

Cheers