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6 Forum Management Essentials
If you are tasked with managing a forum, congratulations to you. If you find yourself weighed down by mundane management tasks, you are not alone. Let's examine some essentials to help you run an effective and vibrant message board community without the hassles of micromanagement. 1. Find a forum you like and stick with it. Yes, not everyone will be using vBulletin or one of the other wonderful PHP or ASP message board sites. If you like EZBoard or if you like making your own site up with PHP open source, then do it and stick with it. By now you know the pitfalls of the particular sites; can you really afford to regularly change to the latest and greatest technologies? Probably not, unless your site is already generating plenty of income through Google AdSense or similar types of PPC advertising. I am not saying to never update your site, rather weigh the costs of whether your site has to have a certain site or feel to be successful. Even ugly sites can prosper, witness Craig's List! 2. Find moderators who want to moderate. Not everyone who volunteers to moderate a particular forum on your message board is fit for the task. Some will sign up and then not moderate; better to go without a moderator then to have a "name in place." Keep your standards high and only the best will volunteer. 3. Envision long term. Unless you plan on rapidly growing your forum and then "flipping" it in a quick sale, you are better off looking at keeping your site for many years. Yes, in the land of the internet, everything changes so rapidly; still there are forums that can and do thrive the longer they are online, with proper management of course! 4. Reward your core constituency. Chances are your site is dominated by a small group of people who post regularly and are generally most helpful overall. Consider having a private forum viewable only to them on your site. Out of this group will likely come your moderators; run contests for this group only. Find advertisers to fund the prizes. 5. Ignore the squeeky, vocal minority. Yes, there will be the small amount of people -- usually less than 10% of your members -- whose demands on your time far exceed what is normal. They are the ones who want extensive hand holding and technical assistance...if they would only read previous threads or pay attention to announcements, your problems with them would be resolved. As much as it cuts against the grain for some administrators [heck, you are all about helping people, right?], you must cut them loose. You need not do it directly, but by not promptly answering their questions they will either figure things out themselves or move on. 6. Be well funded. Have a treasure chest or Paypal donation box on your site to welcome contributions. Run banner ads and join a successful PPC program. Find an advertising plan that works well for you. Seek grant money if your site is geared toward helping raise awareness about a particular health or social issue. You want to reap some monies from your site and you should pay yourself for your hard work. Not all forums are meant to succeed on the internet, nor should they. The successful sites are well managed and positively impact members and guests far beyond the internet. If you have one of these sites, congratulations and good management to you! Matt runs two successful forums which can be viewed at http://aviationemploymentboard.net/forum and http://corporateflyer.net/forum
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (AP via Yahoo! News) French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. JCDecaux and News Corp. in talks to combine outdoor ad groups (International Herald Tribune) The News Corp. chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, has recently expressed nervousness about investments in Russia, where News Outdoor generated the bulk of its revenue last year. News Corp tightens grip on Premiere with new CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch tightened his grip on German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere by appointing News Corp executive Mark Williams as CEO in a move to get the company back on track. News Corp says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp. executive Mark Williams has taken over as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere in an interim capacity, News Corp. said after the move led to renewed takeover speculation. News Corp. says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Mark Williams, a News Corp. executive named late on Wednesday as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere, has taken over in an interim capacity, a News Corp. spokeswoman said on Thursday. UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News (UPI) Kanye arrested in paparazzi scuffle ... Report: Critic smacked Ebert with binder ... Cafe Tacvba nominated for 6 Latin Grammys ... Groban to perform TV songs at Emmys ... News from United Press International. United shares climb after news debacle (UPI) CHICAGO, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A computer program assigning dates to news stories was partly to blame for a sell-off of United Airlines stock Monday, a Google spokesman said. JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (San Francisco Chronicle) French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. In a statement, the global seller of outdoor advertising said it was in exclusive talks with Rupert... Column: Palin's Nomination Good News Even For Democrats In Alaska (CBS News) So, John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Let me just say, wow. That's not exactly what I repeatedly shouted out when I first heard the news, but it's close enough for publication. Like everyone else, my astonished reaction wasn't due to the event itself being inconceivable - I've heard pundits debating the likelihood of a McCain / Palin ticket for months. Get the latest news in racing (Daily Racing Form) In order to read Daily Racing Form's free daily news stories it is required that you have a DRF.com free membership. If you do not have a DRF.com free membership, please register here . You will NOT need to be logged in to read each day's free news stories. Site: news - Google News New Voices in Congress Will Change the Tone of the Democratic Majority - New York Times
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for forums Three candidate forums slated in Oct. (Cape Cod Times) The Cape Cod League of Women Voters, the Martha?s Vineyard League of Women Voters and the Cape Cod Times are sponsoring candidate forums this fall. Watch Mo. Candidate Forums Live Online (KCTV 5 Kansas City) Candidate forums are scheduled Thursday in the races for Missouri attorney general and Missouri governor. Click here for a link to watch them online live. Forums Set To Discuss Next West Hartford Schools Chief (Hartford Courant) The last time the school board sought input on the town's next superintendent, a handful of residents showed up at two public forums. Forums on for N.H. candidates (Portsmouth Herald) CONCORD and#8212; The Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire announced recently that business forums featuring candidates for governor and U.S. Senate are confirmed for early October. Attend TGI political forums (The Garden Island) The Garden Island will host political forums for Kaua?i?s mayoral candidates on Sept. 25 and for County Council candidates on Oct. 16 at the Kaua?i Veterans Center on Kapule Highway. Doors open at 6 p.m. The forums start at 6:30 p.m. Expect a question and answer format with an opportunity for those attending to ask questions as well. Candidates to participate in lunch forums (New Hampshire Union Leader) Early October dates have been set for two midday business forums featuring candidates for governor and U.S. Senate. Gubernatorial and U.S. Senate business forums planned (Foster's Daily Democrat) CONCORD ? The Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire announced that business forums featuring candidates for governor and U.S. Senate are confirmed for early October. Forums Offer New Hope For Homeowners (Eyewitness News 3 Hartford) The state is offering a series of free forums to help homeowners with sub-prime mortgages convert them to 30-year fixed-rate loans. Public forums planned for candidates (MPC Newspapers) Public forums, organized by the Benton County Task Force Government Relations Committee have been scheduled in the coming weeks. The first will be held Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 12:30 p.m. at the Belle Plaine Community Center. Crime forums give ethnic groups a say (The New Zealand Herald) Auckland's ethnic groups are invited to have their say on crime and listen to a police "action plan" for keeping them safe at meetings on the North Shore and at Greenlane tomorrow. Site: forums - Google News Louisville residents provide input for Obama at healthcare forum - WAVE
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