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Help getting Staff and Members


demonickitten
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 I currently have 5 sites that I'm trying to get active.

 

The Problem: Nobody is willing to join any of my sites as Staff and I can't get members to join either.

 

The Situation: There are rumors floating around the RP community about me that are absolutely untrue. The people that started these rumors seem to be making sure no one will join my sites.

 

Even though I keep posting staff searches and advertising for my sites, the result is the same: No one will join.

 

The only attention I do get is in my cbox by the people who hate me. They criticize my site and harass/bully me. I've tried reporting them but got nowhere.

 

My question is: What can I do to get people to join my sites?

Edited by demonickitten
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I'm gonna be honest here, 5 sites seems like a lot for one person It's not really conducive to the health of any one site if you have to split your attention too much

 

for getting members, you need both dedicated advertising and a strong first impression. you can share your sites everywhere you can as often as you can. make sure to bump your ads on places like here, and talk about the sites to people you know when appropriate. you might get someone asking for a link that way. yet first impression really matters. if the skin is hard to look at, if the rp posts are hidden or months old, if the tone of the rules is passive aggressive,  folks are likely to turn away even if they are interested in the premise. Even if you have only 2 or 3 active members, if you look like you're having fun with them, you'll show that the site is alive.

As for finding staff, its best to seek out staff from either inside each site's preexisting community or from your trusted friends. Those in the site's existing community may include a few talented dedicated members who want to see it thrive and may be wiling to help out if asked. they already share a passion for what you might want to build. Your friends know you, and you them. if you ask something of them, they'll likely hear you out and at least give your idea some consideration. Strangers aren't going to be as interested in what you are building than the people you already know.

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After a year, I'm seeing life in my forum. It's taken a while to get there but I dedicated myself to it. Some things that worked for me, advertising. That's a big thing. Anywhere and everywhere that you can. Especially directories and Top Sites. Five sites seems too much to me. I have one and that's been a labor of love. Try also getting some reviews of your site. Sometimes having an outside set of eyes can help you see things you wouldn't normally. Look for those that are looking for sites, look for ones that would be a good fit and advertise/introduce your site to them. Keep posting. Don't give that up. I know it can be hard to post just to yourself, but keep at it. 

 

As for staffing, that's a hard call. I had friends as staff that left me high and dry. My current staffers is one I hired from outside advertising and another that has been with me almost from the beginning. It will take time to find a good fit for staff, but like anything else you have to keep going. When I didn't have staff I was doing things myself. It was tiring, but it was because I love my site and want to see it do well. 

 

Since the last staff shake up, I learned to code a little better (with some help from other owners/coders) which gave me the ability to freshen up the look. I took the suggestions from forum reviews and now I have a great core group and staff. It's okay to have other sites for fun, but I would stick to just one first. In the end, you have to do what makes you happy. Have patience, keep at it, and keep going. 

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In my honest opinion and at the risk of repeating what has been said above: if you have this problem on all sites and are struggling, it’s time to cut down and isolate your focus for maximum results. If you are actively looking for staff because you need help and are having trouble managing on your own, then perhaps that is a sign - you can’t do this alone and you cannot bank on finding dependable staff to pick up the slack. It sounds like a recipe for disaster especially when you are standing against malicious trolls (because that’s what anyone who takes time out of their day to harass someone is).

 

My first advise before I even get into getting members and staff: pick one rp you can’t live without and close the rest. You will be doing yourself a favor.

 

In regards to getting staff I always only advise promoting from within. Your members will always be more personally invested and interested in the health of the site. They will also be more familiar with you and the site so they will likely possess the same values and know what works for the site. They will also be familiar with what needs work on your site.

 

But of course to do that you need members. Start by blocking who you can and not feeding the trolls because they live off of your distress. Get a site review if you can and focus on making great first impressions to hook new members. And they don’t need to know what’s going on when there is nothing happening at that time so don’t go, “Hey if someone shows up talking trash, don’t believe them they hate me.” Or anything like that, just handle the trolls as they appear without the sketchy precursor warnings. Then advertise and plug your link everywhere you can. Everyone has their preferred methods so find what you like best. For me personally I don’t have an advertising forum and only plug ads on tumblr directories that don’t have restrictions against forums without guest friendly places to plug. I’ve also run an instagram before and posted content there and to our tumblr because they were linked. Most of our members come from directories at the moment, I try to be active in the community as well as respond to appropriate to requests. 

 

It is a lot of work for just one site so I cannot fathom you managing this sort of formula for success on five sites.

Edited by Tartle
Phones and typos are my personal hell
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Ignore and block all trouble makers. They'll move on eventually.

My suggestion is...advertise! Advertising and affiliating will get your name out there. Post the link to your site in your signature on RP discussion forums. Be active and friendly and you will gain a nice reputation for yourself. People will get curious and click.

But the most important thing that I personally believe...don't obsess over getting new members so much that you leave your existing ones (however few) in the dust. Even if you only have one or two loyal players, be sure to engage them as best you can. Play with them. Talk to them. Be their friends. Make them want to stay! They might even invite their friends, and new people are bound to see how much fun you guys are having and want to join themselves.
 

Good luck!

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