Managing Online Forums
Every day, millions of users log on to their favorite online forums and communities and interact with others to get advice and discuss everything from the latest news and trends to their hobbies and professions to whatever else strikes their fancy. Community managers have to lead these communities, deal with difficult users, manage staff members and make tough decisions.
“O’Keefe provides an impressively insightful, comprehensive, and cogent blueprint for building a loyal and responsive community online.” – Ryan Leslie, recording artist and music producer
Legal constraints, spammers and technical issues can turn the excitement of running an online community into chaos. With the right guidance, however, running forums can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. I’ve been developing and managing online communities since 2000. In “Managing Online Forums,” I share my experiences in a straight forward, honest fashion with the goal of helping you to make the right decisions about every aspect of your forums.
This is a book for both new managers and experienced ones. If you are new, it will give you a major boost as you grow your knowledge and build your community. If you are already an administrator that’s leading a successful community, the book can enhance your knowledge and give you more to think about and, with that, even more experience for you to pull from.
“The level of detail in this book is startling, with a glossary, and an entire section of templates that you can use to craft content posting policies, and communicate with members and staff in a variety of situations (some uncomfortable). If you or your company run an online forum this is an invaluable reference, and you’ll come back to it with great regularity as situations arise that require its counsel.” – Jay Baer, Convince & Convert
“Managing Online Forums” is a practical guide to managing online forums and communities, dealing with the people aspects of online community, from moderation and managing staff to creating a good environment and stimulating activity.
It is available in print (Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, IndieBound and, if you’re outside of the U.S., The Book Depository) and ebook formats (Kindle, Nook and Google Play).
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Monetizing Online Forums
Behind the scenes at virtually every successful forum is an administrator who works tirelessly to ensure that it runs smoothly and continues to grow and improve. Sometimes, these forums can grow so large that they require a team of people to be hired on a part time or full time basis.
As a forum grows, so do the technical resources that it requires. From virtual hosting plans, all the way up to dedicated servers and server management, the bigger a forum is, the more it costs to keep it online and functioning at an optimal level.
“If you know Patrick at all, you know you’ll want to read this. He’s beyond reproach when it comes to ethics and standards on the social web, so you know this won’t be a get rich quick, how-to book. He’s gone deep on all the various ways you can make money while managing a forum and respecting personal and professional ethics for you and your community at the same time.” – Jason Falls, Social Media Explorer
To support the existence of a forum and the people who manage them full time, it is necessary to generate revenue. But, it’s not easy because forums can be more sensitive to monetization than other spaces. You have to balance the need for revenue with the member experience.
“Monetizing Online Forums” is not about squeezing every last dime out of your forums. Instead, it is a detailed guide to making money the right way with the right methods. Over monetization can kill a forum – with this guide, we aim to help people monetize appropriately, ensuring the long term stability of their forums.
“[This book] is a definitive guide to the ins and outs of how to monetize your forum without alienating your audience and community members. It not only defines the different advertising options available, but also explains how best to use them and in what context. The information contained in the book is useful not only for forum owners, but anyone that is looking for tips on how best to monetize their site.” – Sue John, Founder and Community Manager, BritishExpats.com
It is available for free in PDF, MOBI and ePub formats. No strings attached, no email address required. This is a real book that was in development for 9 months and is available for free thanks to sponsorship.
