Hundreds of blogs, membership sites, and forums are launched every day. My inbox is full of invites to join discussions. How do you choose?
Really, I’m asking your opinion, because as a web developer, blogger, mother, and wife, I’m left with very little time to engage. Many of my friends have fabulous communities they’d like me to join, but I can’t say yes to them all. I need for the places I frequent to be worth my time, and money if I’m paying.
Currently I’m a on-again-off-again member of the ProBlogger.com forum. I love it there. I learn things, I help people out. I’ve made some great connections, and when I’m active in the forums I see a huge increase in traffic to my site. I’m only paying $1.95 a month for this, and to me, it’s totally worth it.
I’m also a part of a private community run by Collective Bias. It’s pretty much a study/testing grounds for their marketing agency that pairs companies with bloggers, does market research, etc. I enjoy their ning site because a lot of my friends are there, I get to provide input on brands I enjoy, and hear about cool new things that are coming out. This community takes up very little of my time, is free, and has landed me some fun opportunities.
So, I’m pretty sure I want to stick with both of those. I also pop in at Blog Engage every so often. And, other random sites…
My questions are:
- What makes a community worth your time?
- Are there some that are worth paying for?
- What communities have you tried and liked or disliked?
[...] twitter today and I seen @robertbravery post a message re tweeting @EricaMueller post regarding marketing her blog and how to determine where to spend the majority of your [...]
I'm really struggling with this. I was in Third Tribe, I am in Problogger forum, and then there's the free forums like Authority blogger and several others, as well as three I own and run!
Forums were just taking up too much time, so I've cut them right down. I'll stay with PB, but reduce the amount of time I spend there, but apart from my own, I don't think I'll be around the others much more.
I think the key points for me are to visit communities and forums where:
1: I can add value – helping others is great
2: I can learn – you can teach an old dog new tricks
3: I can build contacts – communities need to grow and evolve
4: I can keep track of what is going on – how many posts since my last visit!
That last one is one of my favorite features of ProBlogger. I hit the
'new posts' link every time I login and it saves me searching through
every thread for new stuff!!
Determining where to market your blog takes a lot of consideration. Personally I sign up at all the sites I possibly can and start posting. I have little minimum requirements to meet but they are detailed enough making sure I'm not wasting my time.
I make sure they website has members like me with similar interested.
I make sure the website is do follow allowing me to increase back links to my blog.
I make sure the website has a community feeling.
I'm here to build relationships not forums posts.
I'm part of the pro blogger forum but lately my posts have been going unanswered so I haven't went back in weeks. Perhaps I'll go and see it today.
Thanks for mentioning blog engage. I'm happy you are one our members.
I am currently undergoing a realignment, too many places to cover and too little time. I have some projects upcoming and I need to reclaim some of that time for higher priority projects, it's as plain and simple as that.
I have not spent nearly as much time at Problogger as I would like to, so I'm going to do that more. I regularly use Blogengage, met many nice folks there and it sends me decent traffic. There are others that really boil down to drive-bys, which is not what I should be doing in any forum. Forums are like comments, you need to be a contributor, add something to it and get something out of it.
This post is timely really, because I have been thinking about this quite a bit for the last couple weeks and decided late last week that a new itinerary was needed. So I'm coming up with a new road map, narrowing down my social footprint a tad in exchange for more time.
Plus, I have to reserve some time for the Erica Says Forum when that launches. LOL
LOL @ EricaSays Forums. I really doubt you'll be seeing anything like
that from me in the near future… I simply don't have time. I have
thought about maybe turning on the discussion forums on the facebook
page and using that, but once again, it would take time to promote and
manage.
I feel ya on that.
Thank you so much for being part of Collective Bias, we love having you in our community! Looking forward growing your brand together with us!
I've checked through many forums / communities, and I haven't found one single one that's worth sticking to. I have yet to find a forum that is so exciting and alive that I will say “Yes, I want IN !”
For now I'll keep the old style – good old blog comments like this one.
But the hope never ceases. I'll find the right for me.
And beside that, I'm going to start my community in the near future. And I'm going to find a way to make it a grreat, interactive community.
Is there a way to become a part of the private community run by Collective Bias?
I tried signing up with ProBlogger last night but I'am having issues, now if I have to struggle to get a paid subscription like ProBlogger up and running I don't think its even worth having the service for free.
Gerhard,
How odd that you had problems signing up for ProBlogger! Granted I
signed up when he first launched the community, so things could have
changed, but I seem to remember it being pretty simple. Have you asked
their support team for help?
Would love to see you there!
Wendy,
They are a little more 'open' now than when I first joined and there's
actually a form to fill out if you're interested! It would be great to
see you there!
http://www.collectivebias.com/blog/?page_id=92
Let me know if you don't get any response. I had a glitch or two when I
signed up, (ie. the submit button was missing from the form) but I know
some people inside who can help if you need it!
Just checked out your blog. You have some nice colors going on there. Me
likes.
You also seem to be a very motivated, free thinker, which is probably
why most of the forums don't appeal to you all that much. You do things
differently. And, that can be a very good thing as you'll stand out from
the crowd.
It's always great to get others people's views of forums and
communities, and is precisely why I started this discussion. Thanks so
much for your input!
Looking forward to seeing your community launch!
Brian,
An interesting take I hadn't really considered. When I think
community/forum, I think conversation, learning, and sharing, and less
about the fact that while I'm there I'm also marketing myself. I mean, I
know I am, but I rarely take that into consideration when I am looking
to join a community. Thanks for the tips!
I do enjoy Blog Engage! Don't seem to get there as often as I'd like,
but I'm trying. haha
Yes Erica, I have sent them a mail but still awaiting response.
There are so many forums that one cannot possible be a benifit to them all without loosing out on something else.
The key is to pick one or two based on two points
1 You have enough knowledge on a particular subject that you can contribute
2 You want to learn more on a particular subject.
I think the key is consistency.
I frequent a few forums as well as news groups, asking questions and answering questions. But I'd love to join more, but can't spare the time.
Another great way to look at it, and one I shouldn't be surprised came
from you…
“…one cannot possible be a benefit to them all…”
It's all about giving!
I wouldnt really say problogger.com is good. The reasons is
1. It is not at all active
2. It's paid
3. No experts hang out there often.
4. Nothing much to differentiate it from other forums other than the brand name problogger
5. Problogger.net certainly covers everything you need to know