Perhaps the most efficient, easiest way to overcome the feeling of anonymity your new members may feel once they join your site is to provide a platform for them to share ideas and thoughts and be interactive. This is the age of web 2.0 and people are no longer satisfied to just sit and read. They want to interact with a community and a forum is the perfect platform to provide this opportunity. By opening up and having frank and honest discussions with your members, you allow them into your personal web space. This makes them feel special and makes your membership site more real than ever. Additionally, a membership site forum is a fantastic place to learn about the people that you're bringing into the fold. Open, honest discussions with your members via a forum will allow you a view into their world and motivations. Through conversations on your forum, you can discover a lot about your members needs, wants and desires. The advantages of this are obvious...you get clues as to what kind of content your members are looking for. Another reason why an active forum should be an integral part of your membership site is that a strong community helps build continuity. Your forum may be the single most important element to retaining your members. Gaining a new member is always tougher than retaining your existing members. Forums are dynamic things and can often provide new insights and information from other members. Indeed, even those who never post still gain from reading the lively discussions. This influx of information and opinions is often one of the easiest ways to prevent someone from hitting the unsubscribe button on your membership site. In a related sense, one of the strongest benefits of a dynamic forum for your membership site is how they can help build relationships. Not only will your members get to know you on a more personal basis and you them, but your members will form relationships with each other...this forms bonds of friendship that can last well into the future. Equally important is how a forum can bring people with different ideas and skills together for a common purpose. Since everyone involved is a member of your site, everyone is striving for a common goal and can bring unique perspectives and expertise to the table. Members will often check forums on a daily basis and as in the real world, the more people talk, the stronger their relationships become. By adding a forum, you're adding a dynamic social aspect to your membership site. The most important thing to remember is this...you are the most important aspect of that forum. If you participate on a regular basis, your members will also. If you don't take the time to be an active participant, why would you expect your members to? Providing tools that your members can use to keep them curious and coming back is imperative to your sites success. A forum is the perfect platform to provide these things.
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