Your group wants more privacy, no ads and better support….but how do you justify paying for a Listserve? Here are the top 3 reasons why “free” is bad for business and for your group!
3 Reasons to Charge Fees for Your Listserv
Last week, I talked about whether you can get away with charging money for your listserv. And how to figure out how much to charge. But why should you make that jump from free to paid? Are there really any benefits? Today I’m going to give you some good reasons to charge fees for your […]
In Defense of Local Online Communities
I think everyone would agree that a local community is a good thing. Being part of a local community means helpful neighbors, farmers’ markets, events for the kids, and people that have your back when things are bad. Local communities are as old as history. Nowadays, though, local communities have a new opportunity–they can easily […]
Making Community Kind – A How-to of Kindness
Antman234 is exchanging heated words with KickThem45 on your community. They’re arguing over who is better, Batman or Superman. Or maybe it’s Wonderwoman or the Green Lantern. It’s hard to tell now. It’s not a civil argument. Certain words are being used. Things are being implied about each others’ respective mothers. Assumptions are being made. The […]
Can You Make Money Running a Listserv Community?
Being a good, honest, hardworking person who runs a listserv community but only has so many hours in a day, you may have thought to yourself: Can I make money running a listserv community? Well, that’s an interesting question. People do charge fees for access to their listserv. Obviously, most associations that include a listserv charge […]
How to Deal With Trolls in Your Listserv
There’s a troll in my listserv! A troll, in my listserv! What do I do? Well, don’t panic. Trolls are annoying, but you can learn how to deal with trolls in your listserv. First, what’s a troll? Well, that’s often hotly debated. The word has evolved within the last decade. But, generally, trolls are people online […]
3 Problems with Turning Your Community into a Game
A year or two ago gamification was the fun, exciting new thing. Games are fun. Working and participation are boring. So let’s turn the boring stuff into a game. Gamification can be a powerful tool for an online community. (It can increase participation as in this Kaplan study of gamification in online learning.) But while […]
How Your Community May Be Discouraging Participation
Sometimes you may wonder where all the people who are supposedly members of your community are. What are they doing? Why aren’t they participating? Some of them are probably just natural lurkers, but surely some of them want to join in the discussion. If your community is a bit dead, it’s possible that it’s social […]
Discussion Groups and Usenet: What’s the Difference?
Listserves (IE email discussion groups) are a way to privately communicate with a group via secure email. Usenet is an old-fashioned form of social media. If you didn’t live in the age of the Usenet, you might be confused on what the difference is between discussion groups and Usenet. We’re going to address that. But […]
Some Thoughts on The Online Community-A New Paradigm and Listservs
The other day, I watched this great TedTalk video called The Online Community-A New Paradigm by Mark Willis (who runs Expert’s Exchange), and I have some thoughts on it. You should definitely watch the video. But in case you don’t have the fifteen minutes to watch it, I’ve put a quick summary underneath it. Summary of The Online Community-A New […]