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After the old forum software breaking in a way that we were unable to fix, we've migrated the site to a new platform.

Some elements aren't working as we'd hoped - some avatars didn't survive the transition, and we're still having issues with attachments that weren't added as inline images, but we're hoping to have that all sorted out soon.

HOW TO ATTRACT NEW MEMBERS - Ideas please?

MoonMoon
edited January 1970 in Have your say
Ok .. here's my idea

Running competitions is in my opinion the best way of persuading guests to sign up and become members.

Of course .. the prize needs to be alluring .. and the competition itself would need to be displayed in a prominent position on the forum so that everyone who visits the forum sees it.

Here's my suggestion for a prize

500g of roasted or green beans of your choice .. delivered twice a month for 3 months = 3kg

This prize to be offered twice yearly.

The competition would need to be advertised on the Home page of the forum.

Forum sponsors who sell beans offer up the prize .. and take it in turns. Their business logo is enlarged and also appears
on the home page.

There you go. Everyone enjoys a freebie .. and all you have to do is sign up.

Perhaps a minimum number of posts before being eligible for the prize could be adopted to encourage those signing up to participate in the discussion.

Can't remember how many posts before we shed the 'Instant drinker' tag .. 50? This could be used as a minimum.


Anyway .. just thought I'd put it out there


Comments .. suggestions?
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Comments

  • Dry_bean.Dry_bean.
    Sounds like a good idea Moon, certainly not a bank breaker for sponsors involved and good advertising to boot.
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  • MoonMoon
    Cheers Db It's not only about attracting new members but also getting existing ones more involved. I read that someone here was thinking about contacting the old members to try to get them back. I can't see how simply emailing and asking is enough. You need to waive a carrot to inspire people to want to participate .. and the chance of free quality beans on a coffee forum is irresistible .. I would imagine. Heck .. who on a coffee forum wouldn't be interested in that? Besides .. how can you go wrong by instilling a little 'fun factor' into a forum you frequent? It's a no brainer imho
    Blimey .. forgot to save my edit .. and it was lost due to the log-in window popping up telling me I can't modify any post .. drats :( Gotta love that :D
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  • adminadmin
    good idea mate, i've actually got one of the sponsors in mind - will give them a call early next week. cheers A
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  • LacehimLacehim
    I've already discussed this with cosmic_couple.  Definitely going to happen along these lines Moon, but with a bulk email to all our existing members to coax members back. We just have some rebranding/site tweaks to get the site running 100% and we will be good to go with this. :) Also it's great to see members like you thinking along these lines! :)
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  • Brett HBrett H
    This is a great idea Moony!
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  • MoonMoon
    on 1420838830:
    This is a great idea Moony!
    There's really *nothing to lose by giving it a try .. and see what affect it has on membership uptake. *That is .. unless it is complicated and costly to set it up .. ? There would need to be a list of competition rules.. for example.. * Should the comp only be open to those living in Australia? (postage cost, reliable delivery, Sponsor customers) * Should entries be limited to one per home address? (to prevent multiple entries from the one source) * Should members be required to have a minimum number of posts to enter? If so .. how many? * Prizes to be offered by forum sponsors only? If other businesses want to participate .. they should become forum sponsors * Sponsors would need to state the range of beans available for the winner to choose from. (option to exclude premium limited release lines) If successful .. other items could be added to the prize pool. If it is offered by another forum Sponsor .. it would need to be of similar value - or go 50/50 to be fair on the other sponsor who has put up the major prize .. and then has to share the advertising space on the home page. Food for thought .. over a coffee .. of course. Running a forum competition was discussed a while ago in another thread. Iirc .. it was finding a category that fitted in with the legal requirements of running a comp. No money changing hands would make it less complicated. Next
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  • Jade @ Creative Cafe AppsJade @ Creative Cafe Apps
    I think this is a great idea. Competitions can be a really good way to increase interaction. With the legal comment. Keep in mind competition / lottery laws and regulations slightly vary from state to state. And with the minimum number of posts required. This may reduce the number of new members signing up. They might register to the forum just to enter then find they like it and contribute. But if they cant enter due to post limits they might not join. I know of a great system to do this. It collects email registration, you can get additional entries for social sharing and it automatically draws a winner which is a part legal requirements. Unfortunately it is a Wordpress plugin tho so it wont work on this site, unless they maybe created a sub-domain with Wordpress or something. If anyones interested in the plugin just ask and ill find which one it was. Regards Jade
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  • LacehimLacehim
    Thanks Jade. I've had a little look into the competition side.  Our forum runs off SMF and I don't think there is a competition mod for it, but there are plenty of options. :) Once the forum relaunches on our new host soon we will be ready and set for a competition.
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