Engaging Content

[Jason]

On my drumming forum I think package posters and people doing exchanges have produced a lot of good engaging questions about drumming, despite not being drummers. However, though, there are no drummers to answer the questions. Anyway, how do you feel engaging content makes a forum more powerful?

 

[Al]

How did you get your paid posters to maintain a reasonable level of activity? I paid someone for posts 4 weeks ago. He signed up, posted less than 5% of the agreed posts and hasn’t been back in more than two weeks. I wondering if I made a mistake paying in advance.

 

[Darth Cognus]

How did you get your paid posters to maintain a reasonable level of activity? I paid someone for posts 4 weeks ago. He signed up, posted less than 5% of the agreed posts and hasn’t been back in more than two weeks. I wondering if I made a mistake paying in advance.

Perhaps life came up or there is some other circumstance, but fairly or not this sounds like a rip off and a) disincentivizes getting into that kind of spot again and b) means you got a raw deal and that was a bust.

Engaging can only come from a compatible level of discussion after all, and is nigh impossible to elicit from people without meaningful stakes in the subject... you could poke and prod but at best you might get out what was agreed, at this point it sounds like that would be lucky, and nothing more.

Reach the right audience, multiply your odds of engagement just... coming to be. Lean on payment or outsiders without deeper stakes and the outcome will suffer from lack of life accordingly, especially if this is on a hobby community.

This seems like a poignant issue on what seems to be a business-first default approach by forum owners on AJ.

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

I wondering if I made a mistake paying in advance.

Possibly. I'm in construction, and sadly I see this all the time. I always tell homeowners to never ever pay the entire price in advance. Work out a payment schedule instead if the guy says he needs some money up front.

 

[Reverie]

Anyway, how do you feel engaging content makes a forum more powerful?

I think with the right advertising and getting users interested in the topic will be important. What is great though is if you truly do have the content then they will be able to immediately partake in conversations. Having engaging content gives guests an idea of what your community is about, and also a place for new users to share their own experiences. At the very beginning of a community before it's active and flourishing the more content created the better because it will give users a place to go. Things like tutorials and videos would be a great idea to share because maybe they'll find your community through those threads!

How did you get your paid posters to maintain a reasonable level of activity? I paid someone for posts 4 weeks ago. He signed up, posted less than 5% of the agreed posts and hasn’t been back in more than two weeks. I wondering if I made a mistake paying in advance.

I think in most cases people pay after the fact, or pay half up front and the other half at the end. It makes sense to me as it is a service. I've used websites though where you hire these paid posters and have to pay up front, but you're able to give them a bad review if they do not follow through. They want the best reviews to be able to continue to gain business. I wouldn't want to do business somewhere where I can't report their bad service. I feel like here on Admin Junkies if this occurred please let us know and that way we could follow up with them and see if we could mediate the issue, and if not there would be a consequence. I would also recommend disputing this fee on your account if possible as you did not get the services you hired for.

 

[Ravenfreak]

How did you get your paid posters to maintain a reasonable level of activity? I paid someone for posts 4 weeks ago. He signed up, posted less than 5% of the agreed posts and hasn’t been back in more than two weeks. I wondering if I made a mistake paying in advance.

I've never paid others for posts on my forum, though if I did I wouldn't pay in advance because I'd be afraid that this would happen. Even if he had a life event going on, he should inform you that it's going to take a bit longer rather than ghosting you and not keeping his end of the bargain. Anyways going back to the original topic it's best to find those who are familiar with the niche of your forum if you want drummers to engage in your community. It's tough when you have a very specific niche, but a lot of hard work in promoting your site can help. Reach out to similar communities, and see if the staff are comfortable with you sharing your community.

 

[Cory]

I think engaging content can often be the pinnacle of a message board. They say content is king, but when that content is engaging it is more likely to attract users of similar interests/needs to post on your board. You have to target the right audience often to find the type of people that would like to actively participate in your board, this can be the tricky part. If you are very familiar with the niche you have under your belt, then I think engaging content can come naturally from you.

 

[joelr]

On my drumming forum I think package posters and people doing exchanges have produced a lot of good engaging questions about drumming, despite not being drummers. However, though, there are no drummers to answer the questions. Anyway, how do you feel engaging content makes a forum more powerful?

I have two thoughts about your problem.

1. I know your question is about engaging content, but the root of your problem is totally different: you don't have an audience. You can have regular and fresh content, but if you don't have a steady stream of users in your niche, then the content is useless.

Are you known in the drumming niche? Do you regularly participate in drumming circles, have a following or are building up a following, in the drumming world?

2. If you insist on using engaging content to build your audience (which is a totally valid strategy), then your content must be best-in-class. What I mean by this is that: you need to offer definitive, authoritative, or comprehensive content that nobody else matches. Google and search engines will then drive users to you.

But if your content is nothing more than open-ended discussions that you can find anywhere else, you're awash in a sea of mediocrity.

I'm not really a drummer, so I'm pulling ideas out of the air, but you could build informational databases such as drum cadences, drum exercises, drum techniques, drum equipment, vendors that sell drum sets, etc.

 

[Jason]

I have two thoughts about your problem.

1. I know your question is about engaging content, but the root of your problem is totally different: you don't have an audience. You can have regular and fresh content, but if you don't have a steady stream of users in your niche, then the content is useless.

Are you known in the drumming niche? Do you regularly participate in drumming circles, have a following or are building up a following, in the drumming world?

2. If you insist on using engaging content to build your audience (which is a totally valid strategy), then your content must be best-in-class. What I mean by this is that: you need to offer definitive, authoritative, or comprehensive content that nobody else matches. Google and search engines will then drive users to you.

But if your content is nothing more than open-ended discussions that you can find anywhere else, you're awash in a sea of mediocrity.

I'm not really a drummer, so I'm pulling ideas out of the air, but you could build informational databases such as drum cadences, drum exercises, drum techniques, drum equipment, vendors that sell drum sets, etc.

Well, actually Facebook ads can help. A computer programming forum was built up that way. Also, Facebook boosting can help and I already have a huge page. However, the problem is I don't have money to boost the posts, so it has no engagement and certainly I can't get those people to the forum or the third-party page with interactive lessons.

It's all about money so I gotta dig myself out of a hole right now and it would be a few months, at the least.