Feel good factor being a webmaster

Creating and maintaining an online community can be incredibly challenging. You have to consistently generate content and promote your site, but after weeks of hard work, seeing only a handful of new visitors can make it hard to stay motivated.

Some people find that setting specific goals or targets helps them stay focused and motivated. For example, you could set a goal to post a certain number of articles per week or to increase your site's traffic by a certain percentage within a certain timeframe.
Others find that it helps to break up the work into smaller, more manageable tasks. Instead of trying to tackle everything at once, focus on completing one task at a time, and celebrate each small victory along the way.
Another strategy is to find a support system, whether that's in the form of other online community developers, friends, or family members. Having people to bounce ideas off of, share your successes and frustrations with, and just generally cheer you on can make a big difference.

Fortunately, there's something called the "feel good factor" that can help you stay motivated. Just think back to the last time you finally completed a task that had been on your to-do list for ages. Didn't you feel amazing? That's the feel good factor at work!

For me, clicking the "Publish" button after writing a new (blog) post always gives me that sense of accomplishment. Even if it's partly just relief that I finally got around to writing something, my brain rewards me for getting the job done.
Whenever I need to write another (blog) post, I try to remember that feel good factor and use it to motivate myself. Even when my to-do list seems overwhelming, I push through and work for hours until I clear it. The sense of achievement I feel afterwards is always worth the effort.

Remember, it's not always about seeing immediate results in terms of site traffic. Every time you add new content, improve your site, or cross something off your to-do list, your site becomes more valuable. So even if you're not seeing a lot of new visitors yet, you should still feel proud of your progress.
The next time you're feeling unmotivated, remember the feel good factor and use it to push yourself to start working. And when you're done, bask in the feeling of a job well done, and look forward to more of the same in the future!

Just my two cents about staying motivated! Remember why you wanted to start a forum in the first place.

So what strategies have worked for you? How do you stay motivated when the going gets tough? Let's discuss!

 

[Oblivion Knight]

My problem is that I don't set targets for myself, and nor do I monitor the actual website traffic coming in.. I simply go by the forum statistics of Threads, Messages, and Members.

Umbrella Online has had a much slower start than I'd have liked - not helped by my own personal battles with mental health and the like. I've just recently started to pick up the baton again after a relatively quiet 18 months, and have now crossed off several things that have been on my to-do list for some time.

Sometimes not getting the recognition that I feel the community deserves can be tough, but I've come to realise that numbers don't always matter. The project will grow of it's own accord and if it's meant to be successful, it will be.

 

[Reverie]

I set attainable goals. I would sometimes have the goal in my signature so the community could know it, or sometimes I would post about the goal. My first milestone is always that first 1,000 posts as well as first 50 and then 100 members! Celebrating these milestones helps the community feel included as well as feel like they are participating with the community. Kind of helps that family vibe in my opinion. The one milestone I also strived for was to have 50 members online all at the same time. This is one of my biggest ones because it isn't about posting, it's about bringing attention to the forum, the family.

 

[joelr]

Some people find that setting specific goals or targets helps them stay focused and motivated.

When setting those specific goals and targets, it's important to differentiate those between your control and not in your control.

For example, setting a target of the first 50 members is a weak goal. Youre not addressing the root reasons of when, how, or why a person joins. A better goal would be: I invite 5 people to my forum. I post 10 articles in a niche that is highly attractive to getting members to join. I host a contest that encourages existing members to refer a new user. I participate in a forum exchange 20 times, etc. Those are more actionable and within your control, and a consistent focus on these actions will yield the results you want. Everyone wants 10,000 members. The question is how do you get there?

 

[Cedric]

My problem is that I don't set targets for myself, and nor do I monitor the actual website traffic coming in.. I simply go by the forum statistics of Threads, Messages, and Members.

Umbrella Online has had a much slower start than I'd have liked - not helped by my own personal battles with mental health and the like. I've just recently started to pick up the baton again after a relatively quiet 18 months, and have now crossed off several things that have been on my to-do list for some time.

Sometimes not getting the recognition that I feel the community deserves can be tough, but I've come to realise that numbers don't always matter. The project will grow of it's own accord and if it's meant to be successful, it will be.

It’s also important not to get a burnout managing a community. Set goals which you can achieve, push yourself slightly without setting goals you cannot achieve at all. There’s no shame in not achieving goals - but a slight push is advised.