WE'VE MOVED!
We are proud to announce our NEW community destination. Engage with resident experts and fellow entrepreneurs, and learn everything you need to start your business. Check out the new home of StartupNation Community at startupnation.mn.co
We are proud to announce our NEW community destination. Engage with resident experts and fellow entrepreneurs, and learn everything you need to start your business. Check out the new home of StartupNation Community at startupnation.mn.co
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Attention lurkers... Come on in, and grow your business!
90% of people who join business forums are lurkers. It`s a problem forum owners have been trying to overcome for years - how to get more members to stop lurking and start participating. Lurkers, I have a message for you. If you`re looking to grow your business, there is great value to be derived from forum participation. I have personally generated tens of thousands of dollars from forum participation, and I`ve only been online for 18 months.
Look, you`ve already taken that first big step by joining. Take that next important step and start participating in the discussions.
If you want to grow your business, participating in forums is a great place to start!
Dale King
DKing2/27/2008 8:22 AM
Look, you`ve already taken that first big step by joining. Take that next important step and start participating in the discussions.
If you want to grow your business, participating in forums is a great place to start!
Dale King
DKing2/27/2008 8:22 AM
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Comments
It is about coming together to collaborate and create and when it comes to business. Being connected here is a plus for anyone in business!
Erin
should we organize a "lurkers on the loose" event at our forums dedicated to getting lurkers to do a first poste during the event hours? and see how many new faces we can get into the discussions here in the forums? it would be fun to publish in our newsletters and see what we could generate. we could call on experts, committed fellow entrepreneurs, and crank up the excitement for/break down the barriers to making that first public statement.
???
Dale King
dale, should we organize a "lurkers on the loose" event at our forums dedicated to getting lurkers to do a first poste during the event hours? and see how many new faces we can get into the discussions here in the forums? it would be fun to publish in our newsletters and see what we could generate. we could call on experts, committed fellow entrepreneurs, and crank up the excitement for/break down the barriers to making that first public statement. ???
Rich, I`ve given this a lot of thought and here`s my take on lurkers. It`s the nature of the beast. When people start a business and join forums, they start out with loads of adrenaline and good intentions. But then reality sets in and they come down off that natural high that they were on. Their true character kicks in. They`re not passionate, disciplined or motivated enough to do the things necessary to succeeed in business. But if you analyze the situation carefully (which I have), it`s really not all that surprising, because lurker statistics (approximately 90%) closely mirror the statistics of people who start a business and fail (approximately 93%). Why do most people fail in business? Because they lack passion, discipline and motivation. My point is this: You can organize a "lurkers on the loose event" and do all of the other things you mentioned, but I honestly don`t think it`s going to make a significant ddifference. Why? Because you can`t change the nature of the beast. You just can`t give people passion, discipline and motivation. You just can`t do it. That being said, if my post encourages just "one" lurker to get involved and start participating, then it will have done it`s job. Dale King DKing2/27/2008 9:15 AM
at very least, your post above will provide some nice reverse psychology ... tempting lurkers to post to prove they have, as you said, "passion, discipline and motivation"!
Ahhhhh....you caught that reverse pyscholgy ploy, huh?
Dale King
Interestingly, I have had an accountant from Washington join my Mentor Program after lurking in StartupNation and reading the posts.
I do hope your effort pays off, because there is wonderful value both in the advice, and the discussions (even those in disagreement) for business people.
Keep up the good work.
Rgds,
Ric
I would just add -
I think the whole social media marketing aspect on many levels could really knock people out.
How is that?
Well, when someone is marketing his business via many channels[social networks, article directories, PR sites, forums...] Then for most people its hard to keep up with everything.
I also think that most people are in the position of `seeking advice` then `sharing advice`.
Dale King
we`ll noodle this. it`s not a bad challenge, necessarily. maybe there`s a feature, approach, or something that could foster question asking and answer giving in a more prolific way...
Signed a part time lurker,
Jack
Thanks, Jack. I really enjoy starting topics that make people "think." Sometimes my topics are controversial, and people often get upset with me, but my heart is always in the right place. I guess the reason I try to create thought-provoking topics is because when I was growing up, I always had teachers that challenged me to think. I`ve never forgetten that, and those lessons have served me well - both in business and in life.
Dale King
rich
I guess it would be: How do I market a retail/ecommerce website? How do I generate traffic? : )
Just jump right in! Simply start a new topic in the marketing forum asking those questions. Here`s the link to help you get started:http://startupnation.com/NET_ROOT/commu ... aspx?FID=3 Dale KingDKing3/5/2008 2:00 PM