Using Word of Mouth Marketing to get new members to your Groups?
How many of you find that positive word of mouth directly results in new members to your group?
Are you doing anything specific to generate that word of mouth beyond running a fabulous group? Are there specific tactics that you use with the intent to get new members to your group?
I had the privilege
I’d like to challenge all of you to share with us what Word of Mouth (WOM) tactics you’ve used to successfully recruit new members to your group. To entice you to share, I have five copies of Andy’s book Word of Mouth Marketing that I will give to 5 randomly selected contributers who share their WOM tactics by commenting below (to be announced next Wednesday).
I look forward to learning hearing your ideas!
Best,
Jami
Groups Community Manager
Bhaskar Jyotish said,
July 30, 2008 @ 11:47 pm
Everybody is interested to know when he would become a big man, get a new job, get a promotion, when he or she would marrry, when he would get good money in Life, when he would go to a foreign country, when he would pass in a examination, etc. I provide these answers on my group. yes i am talking of astrology, which is what I do. and I offer Free readings to 2 specific queries to those who
come to my Group as new members. this is how I get the members on My Group. because i know many members whio have told their family members about this free offer, and on coming to know this, they have joined. this is a sales technique used by the big corporates in the Consumer world, when they offer free samples of Shampoo satchets in the morning newspapers , so that the reader would enjioy the sample, and look for more – to Buy. Due to the space provided by Yahoo Groups, i am thus managing to get 1) Members by word of mouth on its own 2) Help people and gain their blessings 3) Also few of these who get free help , emerge as Paid Clients once in a while. 40 able to increase my circle of contacts, and well wishers. This is how Yahoo has helped me with its group services . Recently I was chosen as the only astrology Group Moderator to represent my Group in the Moderators Union, Bombay 2008. This knowledge given to people also helps in making new members. Yes i am proud and confident to say that I consider my Group as a fabolous one
which yields blessings to me, money as well as a sense of achievement and creativity. Thank You yahoo. Thank you dear members of My Group and thank you God for providing me this opportunity on the internet.
warm wishes,
Bhaskar jyotish.
Raj said,
July 30, 2008 @ 11:49 pm
I encourage commercial establishments connected with my groups hobby to offer discounts to group members.
I present a local gift voucher to the best April fool article every year.
Good word of mouth spreads in local meetings and other forums and everyone wins!
group moderator said,
July 30, 2008 @ 11:55 pm
I haven’t felt any need to do anything to get more members, since the group has grown sixfold since OneList/egroups days. Despite high numbers of unsubscribers due to members’ not needing the group’s help any more, more new members join than old ones leave. I can tell when a member must have mentioned the group elsewhere, because suddenly there will more than the usual number of new members. Although lots of people join and leave every day, having a strictly moderated group has made it possible for old members to stay around to help new people, which also accounts for the growth of the group. As a member of other Yahoogroups, I will participate only in moderated groups – I believe that is the secret of success for any group.
Vyasamoorthy said,
July 31, 2008 @ 12:50 am
When any member joins my group (meant for senior citizens above 55) his brief bio data is circulated which includes contact details, Date of birth, hobbies, interests, expertise besides anything else he may like to say in the first post. As a moderator, I try to mention about a few existing members who are likely to relate to the new member linking profession, interests etc. This induces participatory welcome messages from other members. The new member feels wanted & welcome therafter he spreads news about the group by word of mouth. Despite drop outs, we are steadily growing. “sss-global” is ranked ninth among some 1300 groups in Yahoo looking into Senior citizens interests! Daily Exchange of messages is around 30 now!!
Roderick Ramos said,
July 31, 2008 @ 12:56 am
I give souvenirs to first 30 who register in every seminar we hold. These are simple souvenirs and are excess materials of the previous assembly. I get surprised that few days after, new comers register and make mention of a souvenir box before officially signing on for membership to the Association !
manageroflist said,
July 31, 2008 @ 1:24 am
Running a great group with information that people will share with their off list friends is the number one suggestion. Secondly, do suggest every now and then that people invite their friends to the list. I have not done a contest in a while, great reminder.
Also, when doing real world events (speaking, trade shows), have people sign up for the yahoogroups and then add them. Link your yahoogroups to your website or blog and vice versa. I also highlight a list of the month on the state website to help fellow city list owners with their great list.
Put your yahoogroup on related *business cards*, on websites, on brochures, everything. Every now and then, sending an article to related media, on and off the web, will help people know about your resource and your yahoogroup. I did an article for a handbook that is distributed to new people, with the yahoogroup listed at the end of the article. We get new members from that handbook 5 years after the article was written.
Basic guerrilla marketing tactics do work, just pick a day each week to work on promoting your yahoogroup. Steady promotion will help build the membership.
Shariq Munir said,
July 31, 2008 @ 1:26 am
Well I am the moderator of an alumni network (AKHSS Alumni) and what I really believe in is rephrasing things so that it turns out to be more attractive than it really is!
For instance.. what i usually mention is that AKHSSAlumni is the largest online alumni portal on planet earth! Which actually is the truth! Although there are other groups of AKHSS on various social networks and have slightly more members than my group.. what makes AKHSSAlumni unique is the fact that it is a moderated group that accepts only alumni members of AKHSS!
The next bit of thing is to randomly add alumni members into the group (thanks to the linkage between the campus and our group!) and ask them their views on the group.. This eventually increases participation.. people use the group more and spread out the word more efficiently!
I also make sure that every graduating batch knows of this group. So I usually post a little advert in various online alumni forums. The response is immense! We already have a member base of nearly 1100!
Tammy said,
July 31, 2008 @ 2:26 am
My group is a fitness/nutrition group and it is for Women Only.
On a volunteer basis, members sign up to be the groups monthly featured member. They send me a picture of their choice accompanied by a short paragraph telling of their fitness journey/success. Their picture stays on the group homepage for a month and then is exchanged by another members picture/write up.
We also do activities within the group that keeps current members active to the board. I offer on a sign up basis using the groups database for ones wanting to sign up for a GetFit GirlFriend. I then pair them up and they e-mail one another during the month for extra individual support. A new database is created each month and this has been an ongoing activity for a couple years. It has been very successful.
I offer challenges for ones wanting to participate. It could be nothing more than weekly fitness challenges along with nutrition challenges. They donate $5 each and the end of the challenge the winner of the challenge receives the pot of money collected.
We have done a traveling t-shirt. That was fun! Ones who participate, I designed a map in which the t-shirt would travel. Everyone signed it and would send it to the next person in line. Once it got back to me, the t-shirt was the gift for the member who won the challenge we were doing at the time.
I find that current members who are happy in the group e-mail their online friends telling them about the group.
Keeping a group ‘active’ with fresh activities is the key to a successful group.
~Tammy
GetFit with Body-for-Life Yahoo Group
Jacobus Swart said,
July 31, 2008 @ 2:40 am
In the case of the Concepts of Kabbalah egroup, it appears that positive word of mouth is the major factor in getting new members. I have to acknowledge that the topic we are addressing is currently very popular, which would have played a major role in the increase of membership. As I personally do not appreciate any form of “down-my-neck-hard-selling”, so to speak, I do not use any techniques of this nature to promote my egroup. However, I am convinced that sharing meaningful material – always in harmony with the fundamental reason for the existence of the group; applying strict moderation to keep the group on topic; precluding all spamming – even of the indirect kind; keeping an up-to-date index of the list archives, mailed once a month to the group; keeping the archives clean, e.g. regularly clearing the archives of “ditto” messages, specifically those comprising single phrases like “I agree” or “You’re so nice”, etc.; running life online seminars and workshops on the subject matter shared; and having developed a reputation that our group is serious, formal, and of the “no nonsense” kind, have definitely contributed to its incredible growth.
Jackson crompel said,
July 31, 2008 @ 3:09 am
The mouth is a major factor in getting new member, new business,new partner and everything in life.Their picture stays on the group homepage for a month and then is exchanged by another members picture/write up.
Although lots of people join and leave every day, having a strictly moderated group has made it possible for old members to stay around to help new people, which also accounts for the growth of the group. As a member of other Yahoogroups, I will participate only in moderated groups – I believe that is the secret of success for any group.
This eventually increases participation.. people use the group more and spread out the word more efficiently!
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Sharon said,
July 31, 2008 @ 3:59 am
My group at Yahoo!Groups (NHPleinAir) is the communications base for a group of plein air artists in our area. We quickly ran out of room for photos and other info and I created a public website to showcase the group and our activities, along with a bookmark sized business card. Images & “reports” for all group activities are posted on the public website, which has a link to join the group via Yahoo!Groups on every page. We all give out the business cards when we meet other artists, and my group has grown to 275 members as a result. Many of the new members have found us via the public website.
Paula said,
July 31, 2008 @ 4:28 am
I’m owner/moderator of a thimble collecting group and alot of us buy and sell thimbles on ebay. While we aren’t allowed to advertise directly in the ebay auction, when someone buys a thimble from one of our members, we add a BTW note into our reply and tell the buyer all about our group. We’ve gotten several members that way!
Dorothy said,
July 31, 2008 @ 4:41 am
I may be unique, but to me a huge membership is not the be-all and end-all of having a group. I’d rather have a small, active, focused group, than a huge roster of inactive members. So none of my groups actively solicits membership. Word of mouth keeps each of my groups at roughly the same, manageable size month over month.
frank said,
July 31, 2008 @ 4:45 am
i give out business cards with the groups website and also put posters up
Bunny said,
July 31, 2008 @ 5:07 am
We go the distance in our group. We have done radio, newspapers, magazine and been on such tv shows as Good Morning America, Geraldo Live, Dr. Phil. and Oprah. When we did Oprah, we had 200 new members a minute joining. It was a frantic night.
We teach our members what it is all about then tell them to learn all they can learn and teach others because education is our only weapon in the fight against the internet scams. We have had over 32 thousand members in the 3 years we have been in operation and presently have over 13 thousand active members. We work hard at getting that word of mouth out there. We aim to reach the world.
Beckie said,
July 31, 2008 @ 5:38 am
I am an owner/moderator of an art group. It helps that our members are warm and welcoming and active in other artistic endeavors. Many of our members have Flickr accounts and using photo captions that mention their art is part of a group project has often inspired interest. The majority of our new members are like-minded artists who read about our group on our members’ private blogs. Each Sunday, we put out a weekly summary and include the html code for our members to use to add a “join” button to their personal blogs. We update our front page art weekly and have a great mission statement on our welcome/description page. It’s definitely important that you have the kind of group that people want to talk about – keep things active, meet your members needs, have lots of chatter, etc.
Cheri said,
July 31, 2008 @ 6:07 am
I am moderator of a large forum. Each Tuesday evening, we have a chat using PalTalk to which I send out an announcement with instructions how to find us to all my Yahoo groups not using a bcc field. After meeting in the chat room, a number of people have joined the Yahoo group.
Cheri
Amber said,
July 31, 2008 @ 6:26 am
Since we’re primarily a knowledge group on how to care for guinea pigs (as well as sharing stories, etc), I go to Yahoo Answers a few times a month and answer basic (or even not so basic) care questions and always leave my group name as the source. That way people can join the group to get correct information if they like. We also have breeders and show people in the group, and whenever they go to a cavy show, they give out the group name/address to anyone that is looking for basic care or more information. It also helps that when you search for guinea pig, we’re the first group that pops up.
Shirley Stubrich said,
July 31, 2008 @ 6:38 am
I believe word of mouth has a significant impact on people joining. People tend to lean towards that, in all aspects of life.
I also realize you have to be as fair in some issues, as you possibly can, to ALL concerned.
In one group that I WAS simply a member in, the group owner allowed flaming to go on with one member, who I will list as “A”, simply because she personaly had an issue with the other person off list *B*, but on list. *B*was not nasty. *A* called *B* a moron, stupid and many other things, and the owner of the group allowed this to take place.
The result was alot of people leaving the group. Myself included. On top of that the owner herself did not like yet another persons way of typing, as she was using alot of exclamation points at the end of her sentences.
Instead of telling this person, the owner blocked her from posting, THEN sat back and typed to the entire group of what she had done, allowing the blocked member to be able to read everything but could not respond.
This type of behavior will result in many spreading the word to others of what went on, therefore, people do not want to join that group; for fear of becoming the next possible victim.
The same applies when there are good things that happen. People talk and say how much they enjoy being in certain groups and why. The topics are good and if they feel relaxed and part of a family while being in the group.
A good group shares information related to the topic, welcomes new members with open arms, and makes one feel as if they are part of a new acquired family member.
Photos shared is another great thing. Even of the group member themselves, as you then can put a name with the face, making it all the more, a relaxed and more personal atmosphere.
Making a person feel this way has a direct impact on them sharing their thoughts and feelings by word of mouth with others, therefore, resulting in a larger increase of new members.
Summing it all up into 5 words,
Play fair and have fun !
Shirl
Sharon Walker said,
July 31, 2008 @ 7:13 am
I moderate a group related to saving the environment through recycling efforts. My most recent tactic to get new members is to involve my son with the group. I started this back when he was in high school and will continue it now that he is starting college. Basically, I ask him to give flyers to his friends and ask them to join up with the group.
I target young people because most have excellent knowledge of the computer and because they will become the next generation recyclers. They will be buying homes and starting familes very soon and in such will be impacting the environment. It is my way of passing the torch of responcibility to the next generation. They get exited about doing their part and spread the word to their friends. Hopefully, these young people will be lifelong members and participants with not only my recycling group… but also the new groups that they create for their own purposes.
When I first introduced my son to the Yahoo Groups he thought it was just a place where ‘mom goes to chat’. Then I went into the group sites that I was apart of and showed him what they were all about … and also showed him how to form his own group. Then he got really interested. He is a smart kid and could easily see the potential uses this medium represents to stay connected with his friends and build common interests with others in the Yahoo community.
We are currently building a site for his graduating class…like a class reunion everyday instead of once per year. It is a great way for that group of kids to stay in touch with one another as life gets hectic and they all go in different directions.
Dean F. said,
July 31, 2008 @ 7:52 am
“Tactics” are wrong! Being genuine about what you are doing is what empowers a group to grow. People will flock to it from your SINCERE enthusiasm.
Dean
Ex-owner/Moderator (I just sold that group with over 500 members)
Administrator said,
July 31, 2008 @ 7:59 am
Wow! I am so pleased to see so many responses,this is great!
Keep it coming…
Also, Dean – thank you for your comment. To clarify, when I use the word tactic, I use it in the sense of strategy, not in any kind of negative sense.
Thanks,
Jami
Groups Community Manager
Larry said,
July 31, 2008 @ 8:00 am
I find that posting in related Yahoo Groups has brought the most members by far. Those who know other people of similar interests tend to forward on to them and that gets the membership going.
Denise said,
July 31, 2008 @ 8:03 am
I have told friends and families about my Freecycle Group, and they tell someone and so on.
Cyn Hatmaker said,
July 31, 2008 @ 8:17 am
I put my groups on a TinyURL in my Yahoo Sig tag and my own personal sig tag.
I also post in 2 of my friend’s groups if there’s something big coming up and I invite about every month or so through friend’s groups.
I have even posted in our local newspaper *Jericho* when needed! *hehe*
I love Yahoo Groups; if you’re homebound it’s such a great way to have convos and make friendships with folks about shows, life, etc. that affect you.
Thanks Y!
Shirl said,
July 31, 2008 @ 8:26 am
Because we send a lot of snail mail with art within the goup we have voted to limit the size of our group. We have not been advertising our group to others because we have a family feel and want to keep that. One member became so excited about our group and was enjoying it so much that she posted to one of her other groups. We got over a dozen members from that one posting! Our group generates thousands of email a month from a group that only has 38 member! Some times the new members don’t stay long because of how chatty our members can be. but our member do have so much fun that a lot of the members have stated that they are addicted to our group and can’t wait to turn on the computer to see what is goin on.
But to the point one happy member can generate a lot of new members with just one email in another group! We have proof of that in our recient growth!
Kelly said,
July 31, 2008 @ 9:03 am
Okay… we’ll try this again.
I use word-of-mouth, as well as making sure something is in my signature lines both in other groups as well as YIM specific rooms and other on-line forums.
When attending writers conferences, I place brochures in goodie bags and on give-away tables. I also take advantage of “brag” sessions at these conferences to tell what my groups have been up to and how productive the writers feel, due partly to their participation in the group.
And whatever I promise, I follow through with. Nothing will kill membership faster than members feeling like they aren’t getting what they joined for.
Lastly, when I get a notification that someone has left the group – if they’ve been active, I email them and ask if there is something I can help with. Just that quick note has saved many members from leaving and let me know where there might have been a problem I wasn’t aware of.
Thanksf or being here for us!
Kelly
owner/moderator – multiple groups
GOZE said,
July 31, 2008 @ 10:08 am
My way to act to have new members through words of mouth is to answer immediately to questions posted on my forum,
by always beeing there and providing them the most adequate answer, with references for the publication or article…
this is what is attracting more and more members in my group….
thank you to all for the great job you are doing…
Claudine
Tarloveurope and others
Robin said,
July 31, 2008 @ 10:22 am
Hi,
on my 1st group Honda SS125A group, because im dealing with a small part of the Honda production range ( three models)- word of mouth isnt quite enough.
A few members have joined because of a recomendation of a freind but i feel alot of members have joined via search engine results.
When i started the group i put up alot of information i wished to share with members and then went around and ‘ advertised’ my group.
I realise that when a member posts an e-mail to the group that contains key-owrds like SS125a, Cl125A or CD125A – this will help to bring the group higher up under Yahoo results.
But i also was aware that other web search engines do not bring up such results, so i knew i needed to post links to my group on websites.
Firstly i went to other Yahoo groups that were more established than mine – and had a larger membership count, and put a link to my groop in thier linkes, and also placed thier group link in my group links.
Then i went to web sites like Honda Owners club and other websites aimed at classic and vintage japanese bikes. I would either ask if they would be kind enough to put a link to my group on thier site- and invited them to review my group or if they have a place to provide them with links- post mine up.
I would also search the net for any posts from people who say wrote into another forum asking about a problem they have with thier HOnda SS125A- i would place a reply inviting them to join my group but providing information too.
Finally i would watch auctions on Ebay for these models of Honda’s, and then e-mail the winning bidder to invite them to join.
I feel that my efforts have given my group a little bit my presence on the web. To the point where i have two offers to put my group on a web forum- which niether my members or i are interested in doing.
My group currently has 170+ members- which i know isnt alot compaired to some groups, but my group is created to help owners of three models of Honda.
Sunil Sood said,
July 31, 2008 @ 11:13 am
Hi !
Since our group is dedicated to issues related to energy efficiency and renewable energy,I have requested all active members that whenever they attend any seminar /workshop just request the organisers to announce about our group and seek the e-mail ids of those who would like to join.We also show the copy of the ‘Mint’ coverage we got.Thanks to Shefali.
This way,we collect the ids of those who are interested .Then,i just add their names.This idea I got recently and it has helped in increasing our strength from 150 to 350 in 1 month flat!
(Sunil Sood)
Karen said,
July 31, 2008 @ 11:50 am
My WOM is a little old-fashioned! I moderate a group of Chicagoland psychotherapists. We currently have over 400 members. One thing I have consistently done throughout the growth of our group over the past 5 years is to personally thank each member that referred someone to our group via email. I will continue to let each person that promotes us know how much they are appreciated. That “warm fuzzy” approach seems to motivate people to tell more people. Who doesn’t love getting a thank you note?!
julie said,
July 31, 2008 @ 12:31 pm
I moderate three neighborhood groups in San Jose CA. I find WOM really helps to quickly expand our membership. Other things we do is create flyers announcing events or meetings and deliver to every residence within our boundaries. I always include links to the yahoo groups for more info on these flyers. We also make annoucements at our meetings about the yahoo groups. Because of the popularoty of our yahoo groups, other nearby associations have followed suit with their own yahoo groups.
The hope is to avoid the time and expense of “flyering” these homes but for now until our membership is much larger we will continue to use these methods.
Regards, julie in San Jose CA
Carrie said,
July 31, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
First of all, our group is very specific dealing with homeschoolers that are stationed at Nellis AFB. We are always running across people that are new to Nellis and may not know we are here. So, I made up some eye catching business cards describing our group along with the link. We’ve recruited many new members. Pretty simple but has been very effective!
libbie vecht said,
July 31, 2008 @ 3:02 pm
my group “homeloanspecialists” takes pride in providing the best financing for home purchase or refinancing. Our group has an overall knowledge and experience of about a hundred years. We are involved in coaching little league at the local elementary schools, raising money to support our high school athletes, supporting our chamber of commerce and the expansion of local businesses.
In our spare time, we finance homes for people. With the new Bill signed by the President this past week, there will be another lull in the housing market until people realize it’s a positive move. Can you imagine getting a mortgage what will “PAY YOU” to live in your house? That’s called a reverse mortgage and it’s a wonderful loan for those retired folks living on a fixed income with some equity in their houses. The Congress put in a special section into the Bill just for those loans. They also raised loan limits for FHA, made condo loans easier to finance and about a dozen other new guidelines to help the American people get back on their mortgage fee.
Please email us or call and let us determine what part of the new Bill will benefit you and your family. We’re here to help, our advice is FREE and we work in about 30-states. Give us a call 503-880-3897 or email us at one of the following: lvecht@eaglehomemortgage.com OR libbievecht@yahoo.com
We are waiting to work for you………….Libbie
Ben said,
July 31, 2008 @ 3:12 pm
I have to agree with Dorothy. It’s not the number of members you have but the willingness to participate that counts. In one of my groups I have 32 members but 310 new messages. In another of my groups I have 151 members but only 175 new messages. I much prefer to have active members than a larger count of inactive members. So maybe the subject should be how do we get our members to participate more in the group rather than word of mouth to get more numbers?
Winthrop Yu said,
July 31, 2008 @ 3:35 pm
Open Archives —
For the longest time (8 years), we’ve used the “open archives” feature as a promo tool. If anyone asks about the subject of our group, they often get a URL that points to our Ygroup. The open archives are also indexed by search engines and provide an RSS feed.
But with the rise in popularity of Blogging, some have started complaining that the search results (for them) that point to the Ygroup are over-riding those for their personal blogs. We’ve processed 2 requests to have messages containing their names removed from archives, a bit tedious but doable.
Others are reluctant to post to a list that is searchable. (Though, OTOH, it’s a great deterrent to flame wars.
Is there a way to have open archives with an option that prevents search engines from indexing them?
WYn
Tess said,
July 31, 2008 @ 3:56 pm
I advertise my group on my website and often include a link in the email signature. Encourage members to do the same if they like the group.
I find running a “clean” group–no spam, no flaming, just good conversation makes for a good reputation, and a good reputation often results in positive word-of-mouth.
If your group is educational and you can find a related topic on wikipedia, sometimes it helps to link there.
Peace,
tess
Mary said,
July 31, 2008 @ 6:09 pm
I own/moderate two groups, crafters.
WOM works the best, and I too like my groups fairly small. Both are about 125 members.
A word of praise of their work, an interest in their “OT” conversations, and hearty welcomes to all newcomers are the best things we have and do.
David McCulloch said,
July 31, 2008 @ 6:56 pm
I Own and moderate at least three groups that, are associated with our Wold Wide Fandom Group, It is a Sci Fi fandom of Star Trek. The main club is KAG (The Klingon Assault Group) the yahoo groups that I run are the Quartermaster groups. they have been popular and gain in members becuse of “word of mouth” through out fandom on the web and in our Club events. The groups provide a way for other fans to share information and to find it in our pictures sections, files, and Links, etc the information ranges from when you can find conventions, to how to information. All of this is in one way or another important to other fans. One thing that seems to keep members comming back and wanting their frieds to join is how friendly most or our members are.From these groups have started webpages and other resources of info. Plus were not afraid to advertise ourselfs anywhere and everywhere we can or get the opportunity.
The main Quartermaster site for our Club is http://www.kagqm.org the main club site is http://www.kag.org
Fred Chang said,
July 31, 2008 @ 10:45 pm
I have limited access to my groups as I want to know who is in them. That being said, I have one group for nearly 50 members of my family. Only seven have responded to invitations to join this group. The co-moderator and I have used it to beta new things (websites, videos) before I announce it to a regular email list (created in my personal yahoo account) as a way of getting the early joiners to help spread the word to rest of the target list.
I had already called some non-members and asked them to join. I plan on calling to see if they have problems. Not everyone understand what a yahoogroup is (it’s a generational thing).
Thanks for sharing ideas!
Fred
Sonika said,
August 1, 2008 @ 4:29 am
I have joined so many yahoo groups as per my choice ..and i think yahoo groups need more promotion ..becoz i think till date 50-60 % only people know about yahoo groups.. so promotion in network would help us to get more traffic to groups.
Thanks,
Sonika
Subhuti said,
August 1, 2008 @ 9:39 am
I’m happy to say that my Yahoo! mysticism group, RiverIIOsho, has grown to 110 members worldwide since Valentines Day. I have been giving out promotional pens from the National Pen Corporation to invite the people I meet to the group. I hand out the pens whenever I talk to anyone about my group. I also post in other related Yahoo! groups and invite people who send email that they like what my work. I want to help the people of this world love life so much that they won’t allow the planet to be destroyed.
mollyann365 said,
August 1, 2008 @ 2:14 pm
Word of Mouth Certainly Helps Our (Positive) Affirmations to De-stress Yahoogroup!! That and having our group being moderated keeps most of the spammers out, everything stays current, and helpful posted messages get to WHO they are supposed to get to! We also have a survey that is sent out to all our new members which lets us know where they heard of our group, plus other helpful info designed to help us serve our members on a more reliable basis! Being an active group that has been around for almost six years has also helped our longevity and staying power. We have regular posted messages sent out on a daily basis (when at all possible) so that members have something to look forward to each day. We are open for comments and suggestions which has improved our group as well. We are willing to listen to our members and what they want within our group. Being available on a regular basis with approximately 10 moderators to satisfy our members needs also helps spread the word, as members will tell their friends about us too. We do a limited bit of advertising that I pay for out of my pocket, but mostly our group has expanded due to our members staying current members for many years at a time, and recommending us to others! We appreciate and love our members which also helps things continually move forward! Thank you! mollyann365
Don said,
August 1, 2008 @ 3:00 pm
I belong to several groups relating to a similar subject. When I cross post to the groups, in my email signature, there is a link to my group. That way more pepole can see it.
A. Jarrell Hayes said,
August 1, 2008 @ 4:25 pm
I’ve recently added contests to win free books to get people to join my group.
Kathleen Richardson said,
August 1, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
I do think word of mouth has brought people to our group, also folks sharing the way to find the group on Yahoo’s site.
But the best advertising is running an open, accepting, non advertising list.
jackie said,
August 1, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
I sat her last night and took A LOT of time in writing my message for this discussion. I was polite and well mannered in my message. This is not the first time this happened. Why don’t my messages ever get posted on ygroupsblog?
Bill Murdoch said,
August 2, 2008 @ 10:03 am
What I do to generate membership is, when I run an auction on ebay I put a link to the group in the description.
botresearch said,
August 2, 2008 @ 2:11 pm
As owner/moderator of Mint Chronicles, I have done several things to excite the existing members and to stimulate growth with new members. I have challenged the existing members to join in a conservation project realted to plant species in the Lamiaceae or Mint Family. Each member is challenged to
form individual groups in their state, have all of their group members join our Yahoo group and to help grow, collect seed and scatter seed of endangered species back in nature. The second thing I have done is to let other groups be aware of our project and challenge them to join our group and not only talk about things, but actively do something that will make a big difference.
group moderator said,
August 3, 2008 @ 2:15 am
I am not thrilled to see something I wrote quoted – without even any quotation marks – in another person’s comment. I don’t even see how my remarks are pertinent to the comment.
===
To the person who commented about not necessarily wanting more members, that is true for most of my groups, actually. The group moderator group for my big group obviously does not grow – it’s just for the moderators! I have some committee groups that do not grow – they are just for committee members. When Jami asked us how we use word of mouth or other means to grow, it might have been good if she specified that this was just for groups where more members are desirable.
AZ said,
August 3, 2008 @ 6:18 am
Love your suggestions and comments. I am looking for ways to promote my group (TheFamilyBookshelf). I just started it last Saturday and it is a group to buy and sell adult and children’s books. We currently have 20 members and I am looking for new ways to promote it. I have emailed my friends, posted in other groups I belong to without much success so far.
Jayni Mosher said,
August 3, 2008 @ 11:44 am
I am not currently a moderator of any group, but I am active in several groups, and have been for many years.
I try to promote new members to my various groups because of the valuable contributions they can make to the various subjects discussed there.
Yesterday, I was at a yard sale, and there were a number of pieces of antique glass on display. I asked the woman having the sale if she knew the pattern name of a particular piece, and she said, “No, I don’t know the names of any of them. If I did, I’d probably be selling them on eBay instead of here, and for more money.” I told her about two different glass collectors groups to which I belong, and told her that if she joined, she could send in photos, and the members would be delighted to help her put names to her glassware patterns. She was excited, and the groups will be, too–it’s always fun to consider a new challenge in identification, AND to get a chance to look at more pretty glass.
When I am talking with other medical transcriptionists, I mention the Yahoo group of MTs in which I am active, because “many hands {actually, brains here] make light work” of the problems that newbies to the field present in order to receive help, and medical transcription is a field in which one never fails to learn something new every day. By helping those new to this calling, we more experienced MTs learn new terms, medications, etc., ourselves.
As you can tell, I am sold on Yahoo groups, and try to promote them by word of mouth (and “word of e-mail”) everywhere I go.
One way in which I promote my groups–and especially those that deal with collectible items–is to mention them in my eBay listings! I don’t know if anyone else does this, but I have, on a number of occasions, said something to the effect of: “I wasn’t sure how old this pitcher was, but the XXX Yahoo Group helped me determine not only that it is from approximately 1905, but that it was manufactured in the YYY plant just shortly before fire destroyed that facility. YYY, of course, went ahead to build another plant, and another, and another, and remains well known in the industry today.”
Thanks for an opportunity to participate in this forum. It’s a fascinating subject, and one I would like to know lots more about.
Jayni Mosher
Gloria said,
August 3, 2008 @ 8:47 pm
Aside from having my groups listed publicly in the Yahoo group directory, I have added links to my groups in my signature line. If allowed, I will post my groups in the links section of any groups I am a member of. I have them listed on my yahoo profile. I have created business cards for my special needs group and hand out to businesses, to local agencies that cater to special needs populations, post on cork boards at local libraries, leave in bathrooms, tables at conferences I attend. I have posted my group links on Craigslist. Also, I have left business cards on tables of doctors’ offices that my son is a patient. When talking to other parents at the doctors office, store, whenever I have a chance to talk to other parents of children with special needs.
Holly Etzweiler said,
August 4, 2008 @ 12:32 pm
Myself I found that good deeds really do help with spreading the word. This past year my step father past away and my mother gave me 2 storage units of new and used toys she no longer wanted to hold onto to collect. I used the freecycle group to find needy children in need of christmas gift baskets. The gift baskets were the size of a 30 dozen egg box. We gave away 192 gift baskets from 8 pickup truck loads of toys. For my good deeds and a few helpers we were nominated and won the angels among us award from cbs 21 news. On live tv I talked about using the freecycle group to find the children that were in need. I had also had 2 interviews prior to that with the local newspaper about the freecycle group. All 3 media events caused a big increase of membership requests directly afterwards. Also 2 of the 4 moderators go to people homes and do free yardwork or any type of work thats needed. The work in not requested very often and the generousity of the volunteers has not been taken advantage of. The good deeds are the reward itself but it has benefited the group very much.
dani said,
August 8, 2008 @ 8:32 am
one of the way to introduce and promote your group would be registration in very specific directories, not just ”all you could grab” ventures. for example some folks i know from new start-up, recently did a interesting work – they located thousands of internet groups and organized them by main topics (which they called “ardors” – interests or passions) and publish in theirs semantic directory – ardorado.com. the point here is that each group get not only deep link to their pages, not “just“ a description under one category , but a semantic profile, with detailed ( as much as possible) fields and listing under unlimited number of categories – ardors . I believe the semantic web, or web 3.0 is the next big thing as we all are going to there, the sooner the better. The question is who will start this semantic transformation job, who is going to be the first?
CYRUS MALAOWALA said,
August 10, 2008 @ 2:51 am
THERE ARE THREE WAYS WE CAN MAKE NEW MEMBERS INTERESTED IN JOINING THE GROUP:–
WORD-TO-WORD
WORD-TO-MOUTH
MOUTH-TO-MOUTH
MY HAVE-A-HEART GROUP BEING A CREATIVE , INFORMATIVE AND ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, ALL I NEED TO DO AS AN OWNER/MODERATOR IS TO FILTER-IN THE BEST MAILS (WORD-TO-WORD), TELL OLD MEMBERS TO TELL TO A NEW FRIEND ( WORD-TO-MOUTH ) AND THEN THESE NEW MEMBERS TELL OTHER NEW FRIENDS ( MOUTH-TO-MOUTH ).
THIS IS MOST APEALING FOR A NEW MMBER TO JOIN THE GROUP.
—CYRUS—
( OWNER/MODERATOR )
HAVE-A-HEART
Virginia said,
August 10, 2008 @ 4:43 am
I would like to know where to find the seniors group listed in these blogs i am a senior and like the sound of how that moderator handles the group.. please notify me by email ..
thanks
virginia
Sally Bernardo said,
August 13, 2008 @ 8:25 pm
1st be visible & make available all the information they need about your group, then present one common interesting topic as a come in tactic, tickle their imagination, and finally involve them -exactly like what you did in this word of mouth thing.
Congratulations! You are a true blooded marketing person!
Raj said,
August 16, 2008 @ 11:31 pm
I find that posting in related Yahoo Groups has brought the most members by far.
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Kim★KwanYong said,
August 20, 2008 @ 10:20 pm
Thank you
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legally and tax free income by tension free work. .? (If u follow the system)
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just mail me at sunitajee777@gmail.com
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Dominic said,
August 27, 2008 @ 7:07 pm
Hi Jami,
Can you please post a warning in this site about joining the grouply.com. I am concerned about groups and members who are joining grouply without being warned about the risk of their posts, email addresses being stored at grouply.
Thanks,
Dominic
shareefa said,
August 29, 2008 @ 11:47 pm
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Dave Lee said,
August 30, 2008 @ 10:27 am
I want to start a new group for consumer electronics and these tips will be helpful.
http://www.buyrefurbtoday.com
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September 1, 2008 @ 10:18 pm
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September 2, 2008 @ 10:07 am
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senthil nathan said,
September 11, 2008 @ 8:51 am
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