Your First 5-10 Members...

I was thinking today... The hardest part (for me) about starting a new site is getting your core members on board--the first 5-10. Once you have 5-10, you can thread pretty regularly while you're building your memberbase, keep active, keep each other interested, etc... But those first 5 are hard, because you're asking them to buy into this idea of yours with basically no proof that you're gonna stick around and do what you say you're gonna do.

What are some of your strategies for getting those first couple of members. Do you just advertise like mad and hope for the best? Do you start off with a handful of people who are buying into the site idea to begin with? How have you been successful in the past?

 

People won;t join an inactive site. So at the official opening, we need to be at least 3-4, invited before the official opening. There need to be a few accepted characters, a few open threads and a few ongoing ones. Then, the official opening is marked by inscribing the site in all topsites. resource directories, plugboards, tumblr, twitter, facebook, and by a massive advertising spree. While keeping actively writting, of course~!

 

I agree with Elena. I have tried a handful of times to open a site on my own and failed. If, however, I open with even one friend to help me, there's a higher chance that people will join when they see the two of us posting together. On Somnia, I actually invited several old roleplay friends of mine to join so the core group is really just me and three of the people I invited when the site started.

 

I am on a DA account, I found it real easy to get 15 persons, it's to get them to be active that is hard, because my group took time to be ready to run. I think you got a nice place.

I started off with peoples I knew: friends that rp-ed with me and we all worked together, then their friends followed and it's all that easy. I got 1 advertising, but I am not sure how to do it so that I can be seen. I hope to get more members, I hope to see new faces!

When I was younger and making groups... it's like impossible, I am sure joining a place like this is the best way to. I had peoples advertising on youtube been useful.

 

I have a few of strategies to cope with the first 5 member blues:

• I often make full and shameless use of all my NPCs.
• I minimize the amount of forums on my site, so there aren't hundreds of categories left untouched.
• I try to push an opening plot event. Or quite simply anything that new members can jump straight into. If you have factions, like my place does, this takes the form of an open plot, or thread for each, sometimes multiples if I fancy it.
• I open discussion thread periodically. This is easier when you have more members, but 1 or 2 and you can start creating that sense of community as soon as possible. Hell, the sooner the better.

I'm not there yet, especially with the advertising spree bit, but those are techniques I'm using and have seen used to great effect at the start of a RPGs life.

 

If you are a fandom advertise the crap out of tumblr and other fandom places (like wikis) and don't rely on one source for your members.

 

Yep. I found like half my members for Tellius from Fanfiction.net, if you can believe it. It's a great place to look for people who might want to roleplay in a specific fandom!

 

Opened my site after inviting about four people I typically role play with already in game. Have been slowly getting the name out there to bring in new players and members eventually. It's just that initial hill I believe that is the hardest one to get over.

 

I've run a few sites in the past, and just opened my biggest project; I've learned that it is really just a time thing with RP sites. Especially if you happen to open during busy IRL times (end of college semesters, beginning of school years, high traffic time in certain career fields) can usually cripple you. A good rule of thumb I heard from someone awhile back is to gauge your success in a six month period, rather than a few weeks. If in six months, you have active members roleplaying, then you've succeeded and you'll probably stay afloat, I've gathered that the initial six months is the "make-or-break" time.

Just my insight anyway. Previous posts have given me some awesome ideas to help drive and sell my site ;) ... Inviting your old writing partners and connections is huge, that's what I did for a beta launch, and it's what I'm doing now to secure some solid activity, quality activity at that.

 

I could rant all day about advertising. I think I'm a bit crazy about it, but besides the advertising (which you need to do ALOT OF!!) It comes down to investing in your players.

When you have a board that's already moving you can let your players roleplay with eachother, creating threads and activity. When it's you then you wait for the first guest and you invest. Invest in every single member. Give them roleplay, attention, and friendship. Be willing to work with them and take advantage of having a small community to let everyone invest as well. Listen to ideas, ask for feedback. Communities are just that: communities. Grow one. Those first few ARE hard and it requires alot of work, but if you are willing to put in the hours then you could create something. I don't think it's impossible to start with nothing. It's just hard if you aren't willing to put in a great amount of effort to make it happen.

 

Many times I've found it helpful to have at least two other people who have at least posted something in the boards, whether it is character bios, OOC chat threads, or, wonders of wonders, an actual IC post. Advertising is also VERY helpful, as I ask my new members where they've found us. Many times it's through our ads, affiliates, topsites, or even Google! Yes, advertising counts. Drastically.

It's not impossible to start from scratch, though there's no denying that it will be difficult. However, with lots of advertising and hard work on the site's overall layout and plot and plan, it can be done. In fact, one of my most successful small roleplay sites launched off in such a state, and is now in its second version with at least 7 members logging on every single day. For a small rp site, it's a pretty good number. :D

Also, try not to open your site just before school starts. Your Absent board will soon be full of apologetic posts, and your IC threads dead. The best time is usually just before school ends, or something of that sort. People will be bored during their summer break, with nothing to do. That's the best time to lure them into your fun (and hopefully safe) community.

So that's just a taste of my experiences on how to start a successful roleplay site. ^^

 

Are there any other websites like this you would recommend?

 

What I've actually done (and do for my site currently) is starting out? I ask my friends to come test things out. I don't ask them to join and stick around; I ask them to join and see if things work. I ask them to test out posts and features and help me make the site better by giving feedback and suggestions. There's always something I've missed when working on a site by myself for a few weeks/months before opening it to the public. So getting some trusted people I know to be honest getting in there and poking at everything is a great start.

Because eventually, some of those tester friends will see something they like--or the board will jive with them. And then while they're testing, they might talk about it with their friends and invite them along.

While this is happening, I usually begin the social media campaigns. I link to it on my facebook or google plus asking if anyone's interested and help testing further.

Eventually, when I had a solid core of 10-15, it's when I split my attentions between being as super active as I can be on forum and working on affiliations, advertisements and link listings. During this time I like to try and involve the core group in sharping the future board as much as possible. I make a lot of polls for members to vote on what they like, what they don't, features they might like to see in the future. I start working on making sure I reply to any new members and get to work posting fun threads in the out of character sections to keep them replying.

During the slowest times in start up was the most difficult. I kept trying to at least post once a day but there were times when I thought the fact that I seemed to be the only one posting would scare people away. It does the opposite, I think. Having a forum admin willing to keep trudging on even through the slowest, most cricket filled days, weeks, or months sort of shows your members that you're here for the long run and you won't go down with the ship just 'cause everyone else jumped. I believe it shows dedication too, which is something a lot of members want in RP.

In short: I think the best strategy is be active. Be constantly engaging your first few members. Let them feel like their membership is worth something and their opinion counts. Ask them to help in any way, shape or form. Engage them some how to keep them coming back and their word of mouth will really help you attract an important core of active members your site can grow from.

 

I was able to get about 10 going with just me and another staff member, but that was in part due to playing in a somewhat popular fandom (Avatar). It is still hard and took almost a full day of advertising, and I had so many frustrating guests who would pop into my chat box and say how awesome my site looked, but they wouldn't join because I needed members. Its similar to the problem with needing work experience to get a job, and just like that the only way to get what you want is to stay dedicated and keep trying.

 

I was able to get about 6 within three days of launch going at it alone with very little advertising (and no fake alt accounts either). I put a lot of work in up front on the layout, and it payed dividends when I was ready to open. I would also recommend that you find a few similar sites to yours and monitor them. Try to find them when their C-Box is going crazy but no one has posted in a few hours. That way you know they have some members on that are probably waiting for others to post and they might just be bored enough to give your little site a chance!

 

Pretty much need to pull in your own resources and ask your other members to do the same. We started with 2 staff members and 2 other members that were eager to join. We pooled our resources together and now have 27 members in week 3 since we officially launched. If you have other hobbies, or any followers on other sites, it's great to start there. Also, if any of your RL friends might be interested, throw the idea at them.

 

My first week has been abysmal. I considered giving up multiple times, and nearly did. Then, I got a break and got my first member. Now things are easier, and I feel more inspired to keep going.

 

Getting those first few members can be difficult! I've been lucky this time with one of mine. Myself, a mod and a code monkey. The mod brought in the code monkey and another of their friends. I brought in a AIM rp friend of mine since it is a no word count site. But none of us know who our latest member is, but we're happy to have them =3. Doing well and its quite relaxed, especially for a canine rp set in 10,000 BC AU.

 

My first week has been very successful with about 16 characters made and about 12 players. I am offering a fandom that isn't really available to RP at these days outside of panfandoms though, so it was relatively easy. I've also been trying to make sure every player has someone to thread with and advertising like a mad man. I even skipped class and spent an entire day hunting for people.

 

Many people subscribe to the notion that they need people to get people, and I'm not saying that isn't true but what I am saying is that you don't need to OPEN a site with people. I open a site with my co-administrator and I and we don't have anyone else to fall back on, getting those first 5 or 10 people to join is always hard, and our game currently is still trying to get that stable backing because we're in our infancy. We just roleplay amongst ourselves, show people we're interested in the game, and eventually people want to join in on the plots that we've created.

Advertising doesn't hurt either, but it's not the one ring of ways to get members.