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Profit From an Online Community
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Profit From an Online Community
By Stephen Bucaro
What if you could setup a website, then lay back and
collect money while web users build your website for you?
Surprisingly, there are many ways to do just that. Examples
are websites that let users post classified ads, articles,
links to ebooks, and message forums. This article focuses
on starting and profiting from your own online community.
You could start a general topic online community, but it's
better to focus on a specific topic. Some popular forum
topics are: celebrity gossip, child rearing, relationships,
free lancing, and home businesses. Having a specific
topic gives website purpose, and attracts people interested
in that topic.
Users like an online community because they can communicate
even though they may be geographically separated, and they
don't have to be online at the same time. Newcomers can
read past messages to catch up on the conversation, and
join in when they're ready.
An online forum is profitable to the owner because they
start out with a targeted audience and by monitoring
message threads, the owner can fine tune the website's
advertising to the very specific interests of the Community.
The most challenging part of starting an online forum is
to attract people to the community. you'll need to set up
some threads and have some friends start discussions.
People are attracted to a community that has a large number
of active discussion threads.
After joining and participating for a while, members will
tend to stay because they make acquaintances with other
members. After the community reaches a certain number of
members, it will become self-sustaining without much effort
on your part.
One decision you need to make is whether to provide
synchronous or asynchronous communication. Synchronous
communications, for example a "chat room", allows members
to communicate in real-time. Of course, the members have
to be online simultaneously, and users with slow dial-up
Internet connections will not be able to keep up with the
conversation.
Asynchronous communications, for example a "message board",
means members leave messages that others can respond to
later. With asynchronous communications, users will be
able to put more thought into their messages before
responding.
Some online communities provide both message boards and
chat rooms. This allows individuals to break away from a
message board thread and engage in their own real-time
conversation.
Your online community can be moderated or unmoderated. In
a moderated forum, before messages are posted they must be
approved by a moderator to make sure that they conform
with the community's rules and policies. In an unmoderated
forum, messages are posted directly by the users without
filtering.
There are several options between fully moderated and
free-for-all totally unmoderated. For example, a new
member's messages could be moderated for a short trial
period, after which they would be allowed to post directly
to the forum.
The chat room or message forum could be left basically
unmoderated, with occasional spot checks to make sure that
everyone is conforming with the rules and policies. Or
they could be left unmoderated with no action taken against
members who violate the rules unless someone sends a
complaint to the website's operator.
You will need to establish clear rules and policies as to
what is acceptable by the community, and the sanctions that
will be imposed on those who violate the rules. What kind
of things are unacceptable for users to post? Personal
attacks, bigotry, and profanity should not be allowed. Will
you allow off-topic messages? How far off-topic?
Get all new members to agree on the rules and put a link to
the rules on all pages. Also provide a form that makes it
easy for members to report violators.
Have clear polices for what the penalty will be for
violating the rules and deal with the violator as quickly
as possible. Start by emailing the individual and politely
request that they review community's rules and policies
pages. If that doesn't stop the violations, enforce the
penalty.
Many web users conceal their true identity and use a
pseudonym instead. They pretend to be who they're not and
this is prone to abuse. Sometimes this results in the
exploitation of minors. There is not much you can do to
learn members true identities, but you should verify the
email address of new members by sending a message to which
they must respond.
Enforcement of the rules could involve subjecting their
messages to approval before posting, suspending their
posting rights, or banning their membership in the
community. Email them, letting them know that they are
being penalized and why. Let them know what they need to
do to get the penalty lifted.
If you want users to have confidence when they join the
community, you will need to post a clear privacy policy.
It should describe what personal information will be
collected and how personal data will be used. Put a link
to the privacy policy on all pages.
You should maintain a topic about the website itself where
members can talk about bugs, rules they would like to see,
or features they wish for. Here, new members can post
questions about how to use their computer, the web, or the
community website, and receive help from more experienced
users. Visit that topic regularly yourself.
One decision you need to make is whether messages be
archived and for how long? Will you archive all messages,
including ones that are just frivolous chat or gossip and
are not worth saving? Will you allow members access to the
archives? Will you be the only one who can delete messages
or will members have the authority to delete their own
messages?
You can start your message forum on a site that offers free
message boards and as your community grows move to your own
Web site. Below is a list of some websites that offer free
message boards or free message forum code.
Boards2Go (www.boards2go.com) provides free message boards
hosted on their servers. There is nothing for you to set
up. Boards2Go's message boards can easily integrate to your
website's layout. Your visitors will never know they left
your website. All configurations may be made via our web
interface administrator area.
Web Wiz Guide (www.webwizguide.info) provides free ASP
forum code, and The Free Country (www.thefreecountry.com)
Provides Free PHP Forum Code.
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Resource Box:
Copyright(C) 2005 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain
your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web
site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com
To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit
http://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp
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About the Author
To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web Visit bucarotechelp.com To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit
http://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp
Written by: Stephen Bucaro
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