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Get $50 of Free Facebook Ads from Lunarpages

Mitch — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:09:41 +0000

Both new and existing Lunarpages customers are getting a fantastic free offer from Facebook. As part of a promotion launched back in July, as a new (or existing) customer with Lunarpages, you are eligible to receive free Facebook Ads credits up to $50!

If you have wanted to experiment with new ways to bring in new visitors to your web site, Facebook is where the action is at. There are over 200 million people there, and this is the perfect way to reach them, with no cost to you. If you find yourself a Facebook advertising success, then we’ve just help you find one more way to advertise yourself to the masses, and I am sure you will continue on your own with the Facebook advertising system.

So how do you take part? If your not a current Lunarpages hosting client, you can take part in this limited-time offer by signing up for any annual or greater Basic hosting plan, Business hosting plan, VPS hosting plan or Dedicated hosting server. Then, once your account has been setup, you will be able to login to your Lunarpages account page, and take advantage of this offer immediately.

Current customers can grab their credit by logging in to the customer account page, and clicking on the Facebook graphic labeled, “Click Here Now for Your Free Facebook Ads Credit!”.

Need help getting that first advertisement via Facebook Ads ready for the masses? Check out this guide from our hosting newsletter:

How to Create an Effective Campaign through Facebook Ads

So there you have it, your early weekend project. I want everybody to give this a shot, and let us know how well it has worked for you. Here you have just one more great perk and reason why at Lunarpages, solutions reside here.

Related Tips and Tricks:

Come Join the Lunar Community

Mitch — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:26:16 +0000

So your stuck with your web site, you’ve run out of webmasters to ask about your project and you need somewhere to go? One of the often forgotten about jewels of the web hosting web can be found at one easy to remember domain name, lunarforums.com.

The Lunarforums are home to many of the web hosting clients of Lunarpages – so in turn makes a perfect place to ask for help. We work hard at keeping it a family friendly place, so no worries about anybody getting rude, or calling you names. We are all there to learn from each other and to help each other out.

Here are a few of the most popular boards on the Lunarforums that I would suggest you check out first:

Showcase Your Web Site
Show off the web site you have created or get others to review your layout.
Web Hosting Help and Troubleshooting
Get help with your web site problems from your fellow Lunarpages customers. Remember if you are having a server side support issue contact the support team directly.
Lunarpages Beginner Assistance
Sometimes web hosting and design can be a daunting experience for those who are new to the internet. This forum is our way of assuring you a smooth transition.
Web Designer’s Help and Resources
Get some feedback from your peers on web site design, HTML, CSS and all things related!
Lunar Chit Chat
Join us in the "town square" of the Lunarforums to discuss anything and everything!

Come be apart of our web hosting forums today. Once you sign up, be sure to visit the Introduce Yourself board so that we can be formerly introduced too. I’ll see you there!

Related Tips and Tricks:

Go Get Web Dev Help on the Lunarforums!

Mitch — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Many of our customers may know about our help forums, but others may not, so I wanted to bring to your attention this great resource for information and help. Created back in the year 2000, the Lunarforums are the oldest branch in the Lunarpages community tree.

With well over 150,000 customers making up the base for the community as well, offering their assistance where they can, it is a place worth visiting often. If you need help with web design and development, third-party software or services, or just want to chat and have a bit of fun, Lunarforums is the perfect web hosting community!

Another thing that I know I take great pride in, is we work hard to keep these forums “family friendly” so that Lunarpages customers of all ages, shapes and sizes can benefit from being a member. There is no stupid question, and all of our forum members are the cream of the crop as far as I am concerned when it comes to help out their fellow Lunarpages customers.

Go sign up at Lunarforums.com, and then go introduce yourself to the forum community. I will see you there!

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April’s Hosting Newsletter!

Mitch — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:32:31 +0000

The April 2009 Lunarpages customer newsletter is out, and ready for you to enjoy. Got tons of goodies for you all this month, so wanted to make sure we share the goods with our Lunartics readers too.

What is going on this month?

Be sure to check it out, and leave us your comments. We always like to hear your thoughts on how we can make all of our services even better for all of you.

Related Tips and Tricks:

Do You Have an About Us Page?

Mitch — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:48:48 +0000

Mitch “Boot Camp” Keeler

One page that has become a common thing to see, no matter what type of web site it is, is an “about us” type page. However, some web site are still missing this very important page. This page is important to have because it lets your visitors know a little more background information about what it is you do, and what your web site is about.

There are several ideas or questions you should be able to answer, once the about us page is complete. One of these would be, who are you? Make sure you let people know who you are and your background information on what it is you do. Another question you should answer is how can I contact you? Listing your contact information here and elsewhere on your web site will give your visitors direct access to get to you if they need to. You also want to make sure you tell people about the web site. Give me a short summary and description on what your web site is about.

Breaking things down to the very basic level, your web page is about giving information in one way, shape or form to the general public. You need to make you you get that information to them as clearly as possible, and never leave a question un-answered about you.

Related Tips and Tricks:

Make Your Web Site More Scannable

Mitch — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:58:05 +0000

By Mitch “Highlight the Positives” Keeler

When developing content online, you have to keep this question in mind. Is your web page scannable? Can I quickly scroll over it, speed read and easily pick out the basics I need to know?

In my Google Reader account, I might subscribe to 150 to 200 RSS feeds from different web sites. Now some people might say I’m crazy. How could a person find time to read all that content? The real secret is, I don’t. Most of the time, I am quickly scanning over the text for things that jump out at me.

Nobody spends much time on web sites these days. So, instead of looking at that as a bad thing, think of it instead as a good thing. What you need to do now is to help them get the content they need quicker.

What helps to break up the monotonous long page with just text? Try tossing in some headings and sub headings. Use pictures, blockquotes, shorter paragraphs and formatting. Just make sure you do it all in moderation. Go check out the New York Times web site. Now I can scroll down that just glancing over the headlines in a few seconds. If something pops out at me, I might read a little more.

It might take a while to find the right balance. Check out some other web sites Online and see how they are breaking their web sites up to be more scanable.

Related Tips and Tricks:

Losing Stress by Bringing in a Web Site Sidekick

Mitch — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:09:32 +0000

By Mitch “Has No Robin” Keeler

You don’t have to be a solo publisher when it comes to creating content Online. I know too many people who seem to think that, “going it alone” is the best tactic when it comes to getting a web site out there, ready for the masses.

Where would Batman be without the trusty boy wonder? Bringing in a sidekick to help ~~fight crime~~ lessen the workload might be a good idea.

Spread the Work Around

A web site, both big ones and small ones, can be a lot of work. You have to get content out there, make sure your getting in the search engines, manage the back-end of things and more. Distributing the work around to several people will lighten the stress and will also get the work done faster.

Easier Way to Get Feedback in a Hurry

Let’s say you have an idea about a new feature of your web site you want to add, but your not sure if it is the right step to take. If you had somebody working with you, you could bounce the ideas off of them. In life, we like to surround ourselves with people on our same wavelength. If you do this with your Online business, you are bound to be able to convey your ideas easier and see if anybody else thinks they are any good.

Delivering a Wider Range of View Points

This last ‘bit of advice would work best for bloggers out there. Reading the same views from the same person might not be the best way to keep your readers happy. You run the risk that people grow tired of that one person, and they want to hear views from others. If they don’t work for you 24/7 – maybe you can work out an arrangement where you both guest blog for each other? The possibilities are endless.

Now working as a team rather than as a single person might not work for every web project out there, but it is worth a shot. If you find your becoming un-inspired and over-worked, getting a buddy in on your web empire might be the best way to lessen the stress on you alone.

Related Tips and Tricks:

March Madness (the web hosting way)

Mitch — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:08:47 +0000

By Mitch “B-Ball” Keeler

The latest and greatest release of the hosting industry’s greatest newsletter is out and ready for reading. Lunarpages Newsletter, Issue 8 is ready for the masses.

In this month’s edition web have just for you packed in some of the best of the best:

LunarNews March 2008

Creating your First Website with LP Quicksite

Lunar Legal – Should I register My Mark?

A Little More About Windows Hosting

The Pros and Cons of PayPal

Write Better Web Site Content

Lunarpages Interviews TheRatingBlog.com

Top 10 Reasons to Burn Your Feed

Lunarpages Staff Interview: The Infamous Steven Priest

Difference in Hits vs Visits in Webalizer

Help Us with your Hosting How-Tos

Won’t cost you a cent to read, and you can keep coming back for more. Please feel free to leave us any and all feedback on it, and also we want to hear your suggestions for Issue 9 coming to an inbox near you, this April!

Related Tips and Tricks:

How to use Gmail Instead of MS Outlook

Amy — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:57:14 +0000

By Dinsan Francis

Ever wondered if you could take your Outlook with you ? Wanted to use something better than Horde and Squirrel Mail on your Webmail interface ?

Gmail has an alternative for you !!

Here is a detailed description of what you need to do ( believe me, its quite simple )

Once you set this up, you can add labels to all emails to this account, and filter them accordingly, set a default reply address, leave or delete the downloaded email from your POP server.

Few things to Remember :

1) For the POP domain name field, if mail.domain.com is not working, try replacing it with domain.com, leaving the .mail part.

2) If you are using Outlook and along with this new set up, select option to “leave messages on the server on the server after download” ( You can set this up for one week or so, or if you have enough time and space, delete accordingly from your control panel, whenever you wish to do so )

3) Remember, its always good to leave the copy on the server, or use outlook as backup since Gmail will not give you support as your webhost does. ( If something goes wrong, you are in trouble ). However Google has another option where you can get support too.

Get ready to take your Webmail to Gmail and Enjoy !! Oh… Questions before you do this ? Sure, drop me a comment, I will be glad to find answer for you.

Related Tips and Tricks:

Web design, flash, animation and custom web development at its best.

Amy Armitage — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 02:46:43 +0000

Author: Samuel Feuer

We have just launched a new site that I wanted to showcase on this here blog. The site is dedicated to exclusive members only and was 100% custom built from the ground up by the MindSmack.com crew. Check it out!

http://www.privatepass.citi.com

Yahoo!

You can also check out some of our latest creations @ http://www.MindSmack.com

For those of you who are into the whole affiliate marketing thing or just love the web and feel you have some interest in meeting other web gurus who are into marketing and the like check out the eComXpo @ http://www.ecomxpo.com/home.htm

Now back to your regularly scheduled website programming…

Random Posts

Lunarpages in Literature?

Amy Armitage — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 15:40:29 +0000

Author: Ben Welch-Bolen

I was playing around with Amazon’s text search tool today and decided to look up Lunarpages and found mentions of Lunarpages in six published books! Pretty impressive! All the mentions were recommendations and it was interesting to find a guide to an acting career in LA mentioning Lunarpages and that it is a great place with multiple domain hosting and a toll free number :).

On page 2751 of Beginning PHP5, Apache, and MySQL Web Development (Programmer to Programmer) by Elizabeth Naramore, Jason Gerner, Yann Le Scouarnec, and Jeremy Stolz.

On page 335 of Acting Is Everything: An Actor’s Guidebook for a Successful Career in Los Angeles, Expanded Gold by Judy Kerr.

On page 43 of Streetwise Small Business Book of Lists: Hundreds of Lists to Help You Reduce Costs, Increase Revenues, and Boost Your Profits (Adams Streetwise Series) by Gene Marks.

On page 212 of The Complete E-Commerce Book, Second Edition: Design, Build & Maintain a Successful Web-based Business by Janice Reynolds.

On page 33 of How to Become Wealthy Selling Informational Products on the Internet by Stacey Chillemi.

And on page 189 of Collaborative Electronic Resource Management: From Acquisitions to Assessment by Joan E. Conger.

Random Posts

New Social Networking Community – MySiteProfile.com

Amy — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 03:42:08 +0000

Author: Amy Armitage

Social marketing is all the rage right now and after joining MyBlogLog I met a guy named Aaron Ponce who is creating a new community and it’s really cool. I asked him some questions about the project and figured I’d give it a mention on the blog..

About MSP..

MySiteProfile.com is a search engine friendly, online community and social network for bloggers, web designers, developers and various types of artists. It gives its members the opportunity to brand themselves through a personalized profile page in which they can promote their businesses or services, as well as their talents and interests, while gaining recognition amongst other like minds. Although MySiteProfile.com was intended to be used by web marketing professionals, we welcome all persons interested in the offerings of this site.

MySiteProfile allows members to actively participate in the networking and self- promotion process through various features.

Some of the features of MSP?

* Personal Profile Pages with member’s descriptions, live links, logos or images, various design choices and a personalized messaging system
* Galleries to upload web snapshots, photos, images, artwork, etc.
* Biweekly Design Contests with unique categories
* Blogs that are continuously updated on the community home page
* Specific Groups that can be originally created or subscribed to
* Community Forums for ongoing support, current announcements and postings

Upcoming Features:

* Flash Animation section where members can submit flash movies
* Video and Music Upload tool
* Built in RSS Aggregator where members can sink their favorite feeds to their profile section

MySiteProfile.com Inspiration?

After numerous attempts of finding a free directory to promote my websites, I just kept coming up with spam in my email and no traffic results. Even with legitimate directories, there was no opportunity to visually present the site I was submitting, resulting in a needle in a haystack effect.

What makes MySiteProfile.com different than other online communities?

Unlike myspace, the community’s focus is networking on a professional level while targeting web geeks (and I mean that with the utmost respect). Its features give its members the chance to support each other and give valuable feedback on things such as site design, SEO, and marketing techniques. I also notice that my pioneer members are enjoying the commonalities that they share while becoming friends in a niche web society.

What’s your background?

I have a degree in Multimedia Arts with a focus in Web design. Over the last few years, I have become increasingly interested in PHP Programming and SEO/Search Engine Marketing. I am currently employed by Lawinfo.com in the Web Design and Programming/ SEO departments.

What’s up with the CRACK?

I make a reference to crack in my slogan because my wife constantly tells me that I’m addicted to my work. I tell her, “At least its not crack.” Plus I’m usually up until 3am like a crack head hacking away at my websites.

Is Tom from MySpace really your friend?

I guess you could call him my friend since he’s on my personal myspace friend’s list. Although, I wonder sometimes if he’s even a real person.

Who is the best web host?

Hmmm, I would have to say Lunarpages Hosting. The representatives from Lunar have been very active on MySiteProfile.com and I highly recommend their services.

WOW.. GOOOOOOOD answer ;)

Thanks Aaron!!

Check out mysiteprofile.com and look for Aaron and Todd, Tiara, Joe, Mike and me!!!

Random Posts

Overwhelmed with Christmas Wishes!!

Amy — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:35:05 +0000

Author: Amy Armitage

I love this time of year. It’s when the good stuff in comes out, feelings of appreciation are shared and a warm flow of love is upon us. The reason I’m bloggin this today, is because we have been literally overwhelmed with greeting and e-cards, phone calls and gifts from our customers this last week or so, and because we are unable to respond to all of your cards and emails personally, we hope this message serves as another way of saying thank you to you all.

I walked out today on the support floor and saw the phones were really jumping and asked our Customer Service Manager if something was up. His response was:

“Yes, people are lovin on us!”

“Lovin? Whatchu mean lovin?” – [Said like Arnold from Different Strokes - i.e. Whatchu talken bout?]

“They are calling in to say Merry Christmas and thanks for the awesome hosting, for listening to their feedback and making changes they asked for, stuff like that”

No Way!

Waaaaaaaay!

Nuh uhhhhhh..

Yah huhhh!!

“Wow.. that’s cool”

“Uh huh.. you’re cool amy!”

“OMG I Know!”

–

OK that last part didn’t really happen.. lol

Thank you, for choosing and trusting us to host your websites and for reaching out at this time of year. It really means the world to us.

Merry Christmas LunarLand ;)

More New Photos Updated!

xxxx

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Web design evolution. Flashy, functional coolness. Flawless integration. MindSmack, soon.

Amy Armitage — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 03:47:33 +0000

Author: Samuel Feuer

Web design has now truly evolved into an awesome “tool” on the Internet. We can create any type of visual experience for any type of genre. Using flash and sometimes incorporating video with cutting-edge software packages, we can make the highest level of interactive web experiences imaginable. Stuff ya dream about :).

The coolest part about it is that we are still very much in the infancy of the Internet. We continuously work to harness its fascinating power and reach for a connection with everyone in the world . Our newest site, which we hope to launch by Jan 1, 2007, will demonstrate the use of flash, video, Maya and After Effects (and some other cool programs) to create a sick cool, surreal visual and interactive experience that flows with heart pounding sound. Stunning visual effects are quickly followed by cool and even funny movements to make you laugh, and voice overs that we had done by the brilliant Jack Dennis (who many will recognize from hollywood trailers and a ton of commercials – yeah, he’s THAT guy).

Once we launch I will advise on this blog and of course we will give the user the option of entering the new site OR our current site and we will be offering a toned down, basic html site so any user can see what we do, even via cell phone.

All this and a bag of doritos (and a coke or pepsi) are in the works and on the way soon to a computer screen near you. SO GET TICKETS! Front row seats still available…

Random Posts

Giving Social Bookmarks A Second Shot

Mitch — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:55:17 +0000

Author: Mitch Keeler

Now I can not tell you when, all I know is that it was a long time ago, I tried using del.icio.us and I was not really all that impressed. I did not see what all the fuss was about, and personally I thought it looked like it was more work than it was worth. Well, I have recently given it a second shot and I am happy to say that they might have me won over this time around.

The Firefox extension has gotten a lot nicer. That is probably the first thing that won me over. When I had first tried it out, the extension for Firefox was fairly new. Now it seems like they know what they are doing. I also like the fact that it is just two buttons and not a totally new toolbar. I don’t want more of my toolbar space to be taken up, I just want some extra functions here and there.

Another reason I like using del.icio.us is because it helps me find things that I have maybe saw, but did not want to bookmark. All I have to do is add it to my list, and I can visit it again in the past without having to go through the trouble of bookmarking it. It almost becomes a second tier bookmarking system for me.

The last thing I really have been enjoying is finding things I might have not of seen before. When you do as much technology article writing as I do, it is sometimes hard to find the next big thing to write about. The more you write, the harder it is to find something to inspire you. Searching the tags via del.icio.us is a cure for writer’s block – I can tell you that from experience.

So I guess the moral of the story is to not give up on new technology the first time around. Give it some time, and then visit it again. When you do, you might find out why everybody else around you fell in love with it in the first place.

Random Posts

Low Budget Podcasting Guide

Mitch — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:12:47 +0000

Author: Mitch Keeler

Now as you can tell from the About Our BlogSTARS! Web page, I am no stranger to the art of podcasting. In fact, in February I will be celebrating my two year anniversary of creating them for the public. Now one question that I get sent my way a lot is how do I do it?

Well I am far from being a man with a lot of cash, so I have a few shortcuts and tips to share with you. I guess you could call this low budget podcasting 101.

Now the first thing you need is a microphone. This might be where you actually spend the most cash, so I will cover it first. When it comes to recording yourself, there are many ways you can do it. Some computers come with mics built into the system.

You could even pick up a cheap mic from your local computer store. I would suggest though going with a headset microphone. This way you cut out a lot of the background noise when you are recording – and you also have a way to listen closely (through the headphones) to your podcast to make sure there are no audio errors.

Next you need the software to record your podcast on. Now there are a lot of ways you can record yourself, you might even have a programs on your computer right now that would allow that. I would suggest picking up a freeware program called Audacity to do your recording on. It allows you to record, edit and mix audio tracks and then export them all into a .wav file.

Now what do you do with that .wav file after you are done recording? Well the way I have been turning my .wav files into .mp3 since day one is to plug it into iTunes and let that program do all the work. Just drag and drop it into your library inside of iTunes, right-click the file and select “Convert Selection to MP3″.

Now how should it be compressed? Well go to Edit, Preferences, and then click on the tab for Advanced. From there, click on the Import tab and make sure you are using the “MP3 Encoder”. Now for my podcast, I use 128 kbps because it gives the best mix of talk and music. If you wanted to cut down on the file size try using 64 kbps.

Now that you have your podcast in hand, you need a place to upload it – right? Well the final part of the picture is getting yourself a hosting account at Lunarpages and then putting some sort of content management system in place so you can automate your podcast publishing. WordPress does the job for me, but there are others out there to choose from.

Random Posts

CyberSpondence?

Amy — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 22:36:50 +0000

Author: Amy Armitage

This article was written for OISV.com and PingZine

Online life is a whole other culture. My first taste was around 8 years ago when I connected to the net and discovered chat rooms. I had no idea how addicted I would become, or the lifelong friendships that would be created.

The things to be learned:

Oh the stress of trying work out terms such as lol, lmao, lmfao, brb, bbl, asl, wtf and ttyl. I felt like a spy in an espionage thriller trying to decode this complex language and obscure symbols without blowing my newbie cover:

;) :D :~~> :p :( *:( :0 (.)(.):-), ;o), ^_^ :-(

The pressure to learn netiquette, to keep up with the latest scripts, styles and colors, to even remember my aliases when attempting to deflect the enemy. I identified the enemy as desperate married men private messaging me with steamy one liners and descriptions of their man parts. Combined with the control alt delete trick I’d fallen for one too many times I aborted my mission.

Mindless chat and watching people hook up and outdo each other with clones, bots, trojans, port sniffing (I thought this related to wine tasting.. seriously), big bold letters and ascii text just didn’t hit the spot. I’d suffered enough netsplits where my friends were plummeted to a whole other server.. the separation anxiety was too much from residing on an unstable network. I took my bisexual 67 year old Norwegian male cover and moved on to forums.

Forums:

Any discussion group accessible through a dial-in {BBS} (e.g. {GEnie}, {CI$}), a {mailing list}, or a {Usenet} {newsgroup} (see {network, the}). A forum functions much like a {bulletin board}; users submit {postings} for all to read and discussion ensues. Contrast real-time {chat} or point-to-point personal {e-mail}. [{Jargon File}]

Forums were less pressure. I started out with the light stuff, the chatter and socialization and then I moved on to the heavier discussion as my appetite increased and my hunger for technical knowledge grew. I didn’t have to respond instantly and I could think about my replies and spell check them. I could pretend to be smart and use search engines to make sure my replies were accurate. My goal was to become a tech girl… a geeky chick… a wonder web woman. Sightings of these creatures were rare and I knew if I studied and networked correctly I could create an entirely new alias.

Once I had the whole concept and look down (even the funky glasses), I landed on lunarforums.com; a space for people who needed help with building websites, problem was, I didn’t have an online space and I had no clue about the basic principles of hosting. I became a lurker (A visitor to an online discussion who reads other people’s postings but does not contribute. Lurking is a good way for a beginner to get familiar with a newsgroup or forum).

Lurking was awesome because I spent about 6 weeks simply observing and applying the knowledge to my new site. I tracked down my very first post.

“what’s the hostname for a MySQL database?

is it localhost? lunarpages.com?”

To my amazement and delight they didn’t sigh at me or call me stupid. In fact it wasn’t even my error. Turned out the issue was server side and I had the correct settings! Woot! That was enough for me. The fear was gone and I became a postaholic. Within 4 weeks the owners of Lunarpages had approached me to run their forums.

WTF? It’s amazing what some bravado and bullshite can do.

Optimizing Forums:

I have chick genes. We all know that women need to nurture and then conquer. I befriended the customers, observed then identified the ones who were genuine geeks… but I had to be sure they had some zing, knew how to ping and were well versed in conversation and communication before I asked for their help. There are 2 kinds of geeks.

Geek # 1: The kind of person who is overjoyed at the idea of writing 5,000 lines of code in notepad and can simultaneously play Halo.

Geek # 2: The kind of person who is overjoyed at the idea of writing 5,000 lines of code in notepad and can simultaneously play Halo but… he/she looks really cool doing it and their language is actually understood by newbies.

Newbie: Someone who is new to the Web

So I rounded up a staff of about 6 moderators, all men (women were still at home knitting and making babies back then) and we changed the face of lunarforums and our customer culture.

Organization:

I drive the people around me crazy with my heightened level of organization and my love of procedures. I know it… Those of you who have worked closely with me know it (be kind if you want to continue our business relationship) and my parents still bear the scars of my mission to optimize their lives.

However; It’s gotta be done. Communication is so incredibly powerful and laying out options and guidelines for your users, providing a structured and user friendly environment is a major influence in the success of your forum and your online business.

Necessary Basics:

• Guidelines for forum members
• Moderators
• A forum for the various aspects of your business
• Feedback Forum
• Moderator Forum (behind the scenes damage control, alerts, staff & moderator chatter)
• Announcements/Status etc
• Chat – Social forums to establish a community feel
• Limit admin panel access to a handful of trusted staff.
• Simple and functional design
• Search feature
• News section – This is separate to the forums and is a header on the top of every page on your forum. Great for indexing so update often.
• Promote your forums on your main page, support ticket signatures, main site etc.

Benefits to Forums:

Social Marketing – It’s the buzz word right now. Get a profile happening, communicate with your customers. Create fans.

SEO: Years of unique content, thousands of posts and a signature space to add all those links you want to promote and get indexed and listed. The more active you are… The greater your success

Alternate Support: Forums can be a community of staff and customers who can unofficially support each other. This gives you a direct line to your users. They appreciate it and you can focus on the quality and response times of your official support services.

Staff Finder: I found 80% of my staff on our forums or my personal boards. They are experienced users, very familiar with our product and I can view their language, spelling, communication skills and accuracy prior to a job offer. They also already have an established profile with your customers. Customer -> Moderator -> Staff.

Communication: We have a staff of approximately 100. This is a wonderful resource from them to socialize, bond and create a team spirit (Goooooo Team!)

Identifying Changes Needed: Customers give you direct feedback on how to improve your business.

Identifying Issues/Errors: Site down, server issues, software corruptions etc. They will tell you and you don’t need to troll through hundreds of support tickets. They will test for you in a live environment.

Mailing List: Every forum member who joins up (past, current and potential customers) provide their contact details. A wonderful resource for promotions and new business. Don’t abuse it. Don’t spam them. I think I’ve sent maybe 2 newsletters via the forums in 5 years.

Risks:

Negative feedback: Very public negative feedback. Don’t delete it. Keep it real.

Spammers: You know who they are. Monitor your forums 24/7. Get moderators and customers involved and provide them free services to reward their commitment and time.

Stalkers: Create a high online profile… Attract freaks. They are like band groupies but on forums. I’ve been dealing with this for years. Don’t get too familiar or friendly and don’t divulge too much of yourself.

Time sucker: Major distraction for staff and to maintain and moderate a successful forum you must check on it constantly and respond to your customers.

Politics: Dramas… oy… fights, disputes. Similar to high school. Zero tolerance and you’ll be sweet. I created a fight forum one time on another popular forum I was running called “The Pit”. I had about 50k members. There were no rules. It was like Fightclub. Awesomely entertaining, but not appropriate for a business.

I could go into greater detail, but these are the basic principles. Please comment if you have specific questions and I’ll do my best to get back with you.