1) Associate with Popular Games
If your union is called The Halo Union or The Super Smash Bros. Union then you'll have no problem getting profile views and new members. But if your union is something like The First Person Shooters Union, then associate your union with popular games rather than the games you like favor most. Upcoming FPS's like Halo 3, Crysis, Haze, and Bioshock (all popular FPS's) will give your union more views and possibly new members. Also, be more specific with your union. It may seem like a good idea to name your union The Halo and Super Smash Bros Union but discussion/members will be divided and it won't get as much posts.
2) Advertise Smart
Don't make advertising your union tedious. Use what your good at or what your hobby (computer wise)is. If you draw well, then draw an advertisement for your union and upload the picture to DeviantART. If you like to create videos,
then create a Video Advert (Example: GTA Legends Recruitment Video GameSpot / YouTube). If Sentinels vision comes true and unions will be as big as GameSpy's Planet sites, then this is our chance to start early by exposing our union to other sites that share an common interest in our hobbies and/or what we're good at. And this may be boring but sending Union Telegrams will help out with your union activity.
3) Create a Union Chain
In other words, affiliate with other unions. The more we affiliate, the more we expand the community. Not posting in one of your newly affiliated unions will prove your just affiliating for new members. That doesn't always work. Let's say The Mario Union affiliates with The Nintendo Union. If the Mario Union expects to get members of the Nintendo Union to join their union by not contributing to The Nintendo Union, then they're wrong. Members of the Mario Union must post at the Nintendo Union. That's why they'recalled affiliates. Care about your affiliated unions. Afterwards, check out the Nintendo Union's affiliates andpost there. Chances are, members with a similar liking of Mario will click the link in your sig and join your union. It's a never ending Union Chain. Use it wisely.
4) Don't Just Be Another Union Board
Don't just create a union, create a few topics, and hope people will start posting. Be creative. Try thinking of features that will make members come back for more.Game guides, in-game challenges, trivia games, and character battles might help.
5) News and Media
Check game sites for news other than GameSpot. GameSpot is usually late on news. Try going to websites like Kotaku, IGN, or various fan sites that associate with the video-game series your union is associated with. Create media archives like Music Archives (don't use copyrighted material), Video Archives, and Picture Archives.
6) Faster Links
Defeat the Admin Page's Long Load Time! Create bookmarks for the following links: General Administration, Permissions, and Telegram. If you have a thread that needs constant updating, bookmark that under edit message.
7) Cleaner Boards
Before we get multiplae boards (here's hoping we do) take advantage of that one small union board. Sticky important threads like general discussions of a particular game,your union Introduction Thread (if it's not linked anywhere else), and popular topics that get new posts frequently (or hot topics). Try to prevent floods of multiple topics. If your union gets bombarded with What's Your favorite...and What's the best... topics, then create an Official Favorites Topic and lock all other threads with favorite or best in the title.
8) Don't Nag
Don't force members to post. If no one is posting, try doing what I mentioned above. But above all, just have fun. This is just a website so sit back, clear your mind, and relaaaaaaaaaax.
If a moderator sees any grammatical/spelling errors, feel free to edit.
Log in to comment