How to accellerate organic growth.

Forum Moderators: phranque

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How to accellerate organic growth.

growing a site that depends on supporting/ contributing members

zorde

6:27 am on Nov 6, 2006 (gmt 0)

Hi, I have an online "exchange" type service where members benefit from the activities of each other. Kind of like a link exchange, auction or dating service where the more active members there are the better the benefits for all members. But if people sign up and don't contribute then there is no benefit for anyone.You know: "buyers attract sellers and sellers attract buyers".

My visitor to signup conversion rate is great, so I am getting plenty of leads.

The problem is, lots of people sign up (free) but once they signup they simply forget to use the system.

I do not want to send members any more email than I already do.

I have recently modified the membership to deliver benefits only to subscription members thinking that if people pay they will use the system to try to get the monies worth.

Has anyone had experience running a similar service model?

Any tip or things to avoid?

zorde

5:22 am on Nov 7, 2006 (gmt 0)

Moderator.. do you think this "Webmaster General" is the right category for this post? I'm not seeing any responses

etechsupport

11:58 am on Nov 8, 2006 (gmt 0)

If you use permission based email system or blog, I think you can drive back your members. Also Try to gain confidence from your members.

Harry

3:45 pm on Nov 8, 2006 (gmt 0)

Hum, you use water and lots of sunshine?

jtara

8:01 pm on Nov 8, 2006 (gmt 0)

Sounds like you have a similar problem to that of new discussion boards or similar community sites.

New communities always suffer from a "critical mass" problem. Keep in mind that only a small percentage of users (even if they register) typically actively participate. The vast majority on most sites are passive observers. But lack of active participation leads to disinterest on the part of everyone.

I wouldn't concentrate on trying to prod the non-participants. Give it time, continue to build sign-ups, and find ways to encourage and reward participants. You've probably underestimated the level of participation that can be reasonably expected.