Featured Posts - Blogs - Ning Creators Social Network2024-03-28T10:46:28Zhttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/feed/featuredMigration to Ning 3.0 - Demo and Q&A Recordinghttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/migration-to-ning-3-0-demo-and-q-a-recording2014-05-07T19:36:02.000Z2014-05-07T19:36:02.000ZCrystalhttps://creators.ning.com/members/CrystalC<div><p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6JmFm-gtWnU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/94229337">Ning 2.0 to 3.0 Migration Webinar</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/ning">Ning</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
<p>Last week, we hosted our first Migration Demo and Q&A Webinar. Thanks to Juliet for her awesome Demo and to everyone who attended. There were a few technical glitches, but we worked some of those out for the recording and we'll definitely be taking your feedback on things we can improve on for the next webinar. </p>
<p>We'll also be following this up with a post late this week answering the questions we didn't get around to during the hour, so stay tuned for that. </p>
<p><strong>Resources</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://hc.ning.com/contact/upgrade/index.php" target="_blank">Migration Request Form</a> - When you're ready to migrate, request it <a href="http://hc.ning.com/contact/upgrade/index.php" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ning.com/ning3help/what-to-expect-when-youre-migrating/" target="_blank">What to Expect When You're Migrating</a> - a high level look at migration.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ning.com/ning3help/setting-up-your-ning-3-0-network-post-migration/" target="_blank">Setting Up Your Ning 3.0 Network Post-Migration</a> - Tips for how to review and set up your new Ning 3.0 Network.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ning.com/ning3help/content-that-can-be-migrated-to-ning-3-0/" target="_blank">Content That Can Be Migrated to Ning 3.0</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.ning.com/ning3help/content-that-cannot-be-migrated-to-ning-3-0/" target="_blank">Content That Cannot Be Migrated to Ning 3.0</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.ning.com/pricing/" target="_blank">Ning 3.0 Pricing</a> - Information about pricing plans for Ning 3.0. You can also find more information in this <a href="http://www.ning.com/ning3help/create-a-ning-network/" target="_blank">Help Center Article</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://creators.ning.com/page/ning-3-0-the-re-imagining-of-our-product" target="_blank">Ning 3.0 Hub on Creators</a></p>
<p><a href="http://creators.ning.com/page/ning-3-0-faqs" target="_blank">Ning 3.0 FAQs</a></p>
<p><a href="http://creators.ning.com/faq/upgrading-to-ning-3" target="_blank">Upgrading to Ning 3.0 FAQs</a></p>
<p><a href="http://creators.ning.com/page/product-roadmap" target="_blank">Product Roadmap</a></p>
<p><a href="http://creators.ning.com/page/ning-3-0-feature-improvements" target="_blank">Requested Feature Improvements</a></p>
<p><strong>Bonus Resources</strong></p>
<p>I mentioned <a href="http://www.pixelmator.com/" target="_blank">Pixelmator</a> (paid app download) and <a href="https://www.canva.com/" target="_blank">Canva</a> (free web app) as good programs for making a default cover photo for your network.</p>
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</div>Business Fights Poverty: A Community With a Causehttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/business-fights-poverty-a-community-with-a-cause2014-04-30T17:40:25.000Z2014-04-30T17:40:25.000ZCrystalhttps://creators.ning.com/members/CrystalC<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2233575?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p><em><span class="font-size-3">This post originally appeared on the <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/business-fights-poverty-a-community-with-a-cause" target="_blank">Ning Blog.</a></span></em></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Business Fights Poverty was established in March of 2008 to pioneer new ways of fighting poverty utilizing economic and business opportunities by groups and individuals. Founder and Director, Zahid Torres-Rahman discovered and implemented the perfect platform for his idea through a chance conversation and a day’s worth of work. “A technology guru friend of mine first told me about Ning over breakfast, and by dinner I had set up the community." Since its creation, the community has continued to evolve and expand its public profile. Business Fights Poverty has bloomed from 1,000 members after one year to more than 10,000 members today.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Openness, community, professionalism, respect, and integrity are the five core values that drive this vibrant network of business professionals, academics, philanthropists, and non-government organizations – all of whom share a passion for fighting poverty through business. Business Fights Poverty utilizes inspiring blogs from members, face-to-face events, and a powerful resource hub to captivate potential members and engage current ones. Their community also serves as the central station for public outreach via social outlets like Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin. All these components have come together to make it the largest organization of its kind and a vital resource in the fight against poverty.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">We reached out to Zahid Torres-Rahman to get the inside scoop on how his community has grown and helped created a brand with public impact:</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><a href="http://blog-o.ning.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013-02-07_1100.png?width=176" target="_blank"><img src="http://blog-o.ning.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013-02-07_1100.png?width=400" width="400" class="align-right" /></a></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>What made you start your Ning community?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">All around the world exceptional people are finding new ways to fight poverty – by creating new jobs and economic opportunities in low-income communities.   The challenge we set ourselves back in 2008 was to help turn these individual acts of inspiration into a broader movement for change.   We wanted to build a sense of community by connecting these intense, but often dispersed pockets of energy.  We wanted people to be able to find, engage with, learn from and be inspired by like-minded peers.  Ning made this all possible for us – by offering an affordable and easy way to build an online community.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Have you achieved this original objective?  How else has your community helped you and your business, brand or mission?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">I think we have come a long way. We’re now the largest community of our kind, with a brand that is steadily growing in profile.  We publish a great story every day, and pretty much all of these come from community members.  We are increasingly active in the real world too, with face-to-face events and publications.  At the same time, I feel that we are only at the beginning of an exciting journey.   We are constantly trying to learn and improve.  We recently hired <a href="http://www.feverbee.com/">FeverBee</a>, following a Ning webinar (<a href="http://www.ning.com/blog/2012/12/how-to-grow-an-online-community-%E2%80%94-recorded-for-those-who-missed-it.html">which you can watch again here</a>), and they have been giving us some great advice on enhancing our member engagement.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>If you had to pick one measure of the success or impact of your community, what would it </b><b style="line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;">be?</b></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">We track all the usual metrics about visits and member engagement, but for me nothing beats the personal stories that I hear from members about howthe community has helped them – whether to find a new job; connect with potential project partners; or just to be inspired by what others are doing.  I enjoy reading what our <a href="http://www.businessfightspoverty.org/profiles/blog/list?user=3u7jk8jijwj2g">Members of the Week</a> say they hope to get out of being part of the community.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>How long did it take your community to reach critical mass?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">It took us a year to reach 1,000 and four more to reach 10,000.  But one thing we have come to appreciate is that it’s the number of actively engaged members that matters, and that’s where our energy is now focused.  The great thing about Ning is that by massively bringing down the costs of organizing online, it has made it possible to create successful, small, specialist communities.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>What tactics drove the most growth and activity in your community?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><img src="http://blog-o.ning.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013-02-07_1131.png?width=213" width="213" class="align-right" /></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">We have focused our energy on three areas. The first has been on building the community brand.  We worked with professional graphic designers to develop a strong look and feel for the site, and we invest in great photography to illustrate stories on the site. The second area is around content.  We have put a lot of energy into our editorial calendar – to build up a strong flow of timely, high quality and interesting content, primarily from our own members.  We drive traffic to this content through our weekly broadcast messages, and we are also very active on Twitter (@FightPoverty) and other social media sites. The third area is around member engagement. Every year, we have an active programme of face-to-face and online events, such as webinars.  Through our “Member of Week” and “Star Member” initiatives, we profile our most active members.  We have high hopes for our new member’s Forum, and have other ideas in the pipeline to encourage member interaction.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>What feature(s) are most important to your members?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Right now, our blog is the most popular feature on our site, followed by our events.  Over the next few months, we are looking to grow our forum as a way to generate more member-to-member engagement. We’ll also be more closely integrating our offline and online activities – so for example, we’ll be running online discussions linked to our face-to-face events. Following member feedback, we’ll also be launching a jobs board.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Do you have any advice for other people building online communities?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">We recognized early on that community management is a full-time and professional activity!  Continuous investment of time and effort is needed to encourage member activity and network growth. On top of that, listening and responding to what your members want is critical.   Recognizing when things are not working is important too! For us, we have been on a continuous learning journey, and are constantly looking to improve the site. I am a fan of the <a href="http://creators.ning.com/">Ning Creators Network</a> – and have picked up many great tips there.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>What’s the craziest story you have about your community?</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The craziest story is from our first day. A technology guru friend of mine first told me about Ning over breakfast, and by dinner I had set up the community. I was the first member and my wife was the second. I remember telling the third member – a colleague of mine who was working for a charity at the time, “I know you are only member number 3, but I promise that one day there will be many more of us!”</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">There is an African proverb that has been an inspiration to me: <i>if you want to travel fast, travel alone. If you want to travel far, travel together</i>.  For me that is at the heart of what the global Business Fights Poverty community is about, and I am excited about what the future holds.  I believe that for all the amazing things we are doing individually, if we can do more together – as part of a movement for change, the possibilities are limitless.</span></p>
</div>How To Help Members Overcome Their Fear of Participationhttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/how-to-help-members-overcome-their-fear-of-participation2014-04-30T17:54:07.000Z2014-04-30T17:54:07.000ZCrystalhttps://creators.ning.com/members/CrystalC<div><p><em><span class="font-size-3">By Richard Millington</span></em></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">If you could increase the number of members initiating discussions, the level of activity and engagement would rise sharply. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The percentage of members who initiate discussions is usually small. This limits activity and the level of engagement members have in the community.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Members need both the motivation to initiate and to overcome their fear of starting a discussion. Their motivation to initiate will be to either learn something (e.g. <i>"Does anyone know how to....?"</i>), to impress others (e.g. "<i>does anyone else think business class travel isn't as great as it used to be?</i>") or to bond with others (e.g. "<i>I'm upset Kelly got fired from the Apprentice</i>").</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Motivation comes relatively easy in active communities. It's social anxiety which prevents most members from initiating discussions. This social anxiety comes in three forms:</span></p>
<ol>
<li><span class="font-size-3">I might ask a dumb question or make a dumb statement.</span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3">My comment won’t receive any reply and I will appear unpopular.</span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3">I might be criticised by members of the community.</span></li>
</ol>
<p><span class="font-size-3">A community can overcome much of this anxiety in a few simple steps...</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><em>(Read More at the <a href="http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/how-to-help-members-overcome-their-fear-of-participation" target="_blank">Ning Blog</a>)</em></span></p>
</div>Ning Networks 101: A Guide to Creating a Thriving Online Social Networkhttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/ning-networks-101-a-guide-to2010-02-25T20:11:23.000Z2010-02-25T20:11:23.000ZPeter Moormanhttps://creators.ning.com/members/PeterMoorman<div><p>Ning Networks are "mini" Facebooks for different topics. They are social networks created around a central hobby, interest, lifestyle, etc... It's best to keep a "Facebook" attitude in mind when creating your network. In this post I'll show you the key steps to setting up and maintaining a thriving Ning network.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>The Setup</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Domain Name: The best domain name for your network is keyword1forum.com or keyword1keyword2forum.com Remember to also buy keyword1<strong>form</strong>.com and have it automatically redirected to your domain name since this is a common misspelling. You must choose the option to use your own domain name or you lose all of your SEO efforts.</li>
<li>Theme: When you start out your ning site, pick a theme from the options Ning gives you and don't waste too much time customizing it. Pick something simple, that will not turn away visitors.</li>
<li>Colors: Feel free to change the colors of the site to match the branding of the site, but you most stick to these principles: Keep the background color white and the text color black on text heavy sections of the site (message board, forum, blog postings). Keep background colors light. For the tabs, make sure you have a good hover color so users know what they are scrolling over.</li>
<li>Tabs: This is one of the most important areas of setup. Limit the main level tabs to only 11 or less. Make efficient use of the sub tabs. Your most important tabs should be located on the far left of the top bar since that's where readers eyes naturally start first. Under the home tab, place the two subtabs titled subscribe in a reader, and sign up for daily email. It's important for members to keep connected with the site.</li>
<li>Keep the site open to the public. There's no faster way to stunt growth than to have a closed network.</li>
<li>Make the sign up process as easy as possible. Do not require a picture and do not require new members to answer 50 questions.</li>
<li>Nobody likes going to an empty party. Ask at least 10 friends to join your network in the beginning. Create a few fake profiles and get the activity going. But, as soon as you reach 60-70 members delete all the fake profile accounts.</li>
<li>Only have the forum function. Do not have both forums, blogs, and groups in the beginning of your site. This will confuse visitors and spread the user generated content too thinly around your site.</li>
<li>Find relevant videos on YouTube and place them on your site. Make sure the titles of the video are optimized for search engines. This is a great way to bring in long tail traffic with little effort.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Making Your Network Go Viral</h3>
<ul>
<li>The best way to spread your network is through efficient use of the <strong>Invite Tab</strong> within Ning. This tab allows users to invite their contacts through Gmail, Hotmail, and Outlook. This tab should be displayed prominently. You will see the best conversion rates on visitors invited by members of the forum. People hate receiving spam, so when members use the invite tab to invite friends and family, they will most likely only invite those they know would have an interest in the site.</li>
<li>You must incentivize users to use the invite tab. Throw a contest. Your first contest should be for a prize between $20 and $30. Make sure you get a photo of the person who won the contest to display next time you run another contest as proof that you actually give out a prize. Once members see that there is cash to be made by inviting friends they will participate.</li>
<li>Your second contest should include three prizes. This will encourage the fence sitters who think they have nothing to win. Once this contest is over, post how many invites each winner sent so that your community knows what it takes to win.</li>
<li>Enable both the share and twitter tabs on your ning site. You must give people an easy way to spread the content around your network.</li>
<li>Link Building: find sites of similar interests and contact them about your new social network. Ask them to mention your network on their next email campaign and to give you a link from their site.</li>
<li>If you have an existing email lists, mention the network on your lists. Better yet, find other email lists that can mention your site. Email lists are one of the <em>best</em> ways to grow your site. The key here is to find a list that is relevant to your topic.</li>
<li>Google AdWords is another strategy to implement. You can have ads show up whenever someone Google's keywords related to your ning site.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Care and Feeding of Members</h3>
<ul>
<li>Initially you want to welcome each member with a comment on their profile. You can easily make a template to use over and over again. Make sure to add a personal note to the comment. You should include links to change their profile, invite new friends, new member guide, and other useful pages on your site.</li>
<li>If members post in the wrong place in the forum send them a private message showing them the correct place to post things.</li>
<li>Feature members who have a profile photo.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Social Media Integration</h3>
<ul>
<li>Include Facebook and Twitter buttons on the sidebars so that members can interact with your network on those sites.</li>
<li>Creation of a Facebook fan page is a must for your network. This will help spread the word about your network faster than any other social media tool.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Broadcast Message Basics</h3>
<ul>
<li>The broadcast message serves two functions: Update members about your site, and bring them back to your site.</li>
<li>Send no more than 2 broadcast messages a month.</li>
<li>The top section of your broadcast message should highlight the most popular discussion in your forum.</li>
<li>Feature an interesting blog post.</li>
<li>Make the message short and to the point.</li>
<li>Include pictures if possible (show a photo of the latest contest winner)</li>
<li>At the end of each message always remind members to add a profile photo and to invite other members so the site.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Home Page Layout</h3>
<ul>
<li>Home page layout can make or break your Ning site.</li>
<li>Create a home page layout that is very simple and easy to understand.</li>
<li>Have a sidebar on the left, main content in the middle and a sidebar on the right.</li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Left Sidebar Setup</strong></span></li>
<li>Show 3 rows of members in the top left most sidebars. This is one of the first places people will look when they come to your ning site. Make sure the profiles featured here have good pictures.</li>
<li>Below members, have the latest activity showing the last 12 items. Select the following items under display preferences: <strong>new items, new comments on items, status updates, ning apps activity</strong>. Select profile photos under "Profile Photo Latest Activity Displays"</li>
<li>Place a medium sized badge underneath the latest activity feed. This will allow those with blogs to showcase their membership.</li>
<li><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Main Content Setup</span></strong></li>
<li>Have a short text box welcome message with a link to your new member's guide.</li>
<li>Underneath this box place the forum. The forum should be visible "above the fold". On the main page edit the forum to display <strong>"Discussions", "Titles Only", "Newest Discussions", "10 Items"</strong>. Under the manage tab be sure to select <strong>"Latest Discussions by Category"</strong> under the "Main Forum Page Style" This setup is key to encouraging members to participate in the forum.</li>
<li>Place blog posts underneath the forum. On the main page select <strong>"Detailed View" "Featured" "4 posts"</strong>. Your blog posts will be filtered more than your forum, this is why you want the detailed view. Give your visitors a paragraph or two of what the blog posts is about. That way they're more likely to click on it.</li>
<li><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Right Sidebar Setup</span></strong></li>
<li>Place a text box titled Subscribe and put links to the invite friends feature, facebook fan page, RSS subscription, and email subscription</li>
<li>Place 3 featured videos below this box. This gives the site some nice graphics on the side and encourages visitors to stay and watch some videos.</li>
<li>Place an RSS feed with news items from your industry or hobby.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Forum Layout</h3>
<ul>
<li>A good forum layout is key to engaging your visitors and members.</li>
<li>In the beginning of your site, you should have no more than four categories</li>
<li>Under discussion style select <strong>"Flat: replies are shown in Chronological order"</strong></li>
<li>The most popular categories should be placed at the top of the forum page.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Blogging Setup</h3>
<ul>
<li>The blogging should be reserved for premium content.</li>
<li>Under feature controls, select <strong>"Approve blog posts before they appear"</strong></li>
<li>Only use the blog to display content that is well written and approved by you. The forum is the playground of the novice. The blog is for the expert.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Tabs Best Practices</h3>
<ul>
<li>Tab setup is key for a successful ning site.</li>
<li>Limit the amount of tabs to <strong>11 or less</strong>, and limit the amount of subtabs on a single main tab to <strong>6 or less.</strong></li>
<li>The most important tabs are on the far left, these are the tabs that visitors will see first.</li>
<li>Under the home tab, add the following sub tabs: Subscribe in a Reader, Sign up for Daily Email</li>
<li>My Page: Inbox, Edit Profile Settings, Change Profile Picture</li>
<li>Forum: List all forum categories then popular contributors, add a discussion</li>
<li>Videos: Top Rates, Most Popular, Add a Video (this should link to the add a video from Youtube page)</li>
<li>Members: Members near me, search for members, member map</li>
<li>About Us: New Member Guide, Privacy Policy, Facebook Fan Page</li>
<li>Blog: Names of Featured Bloggers, Submit a Blog Post</li>
</ul>
<h3>Insider Tips</h3>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Sending the broadcast message <strong>at least twice a month</strong> (and no more) is imperative to encourage participation in the community.</li>
<li>Keep the entire site open. This will increase visits from search engines.</li>
</ul>
</div>Santa Gift Exchange idea for Support Groupshttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/santa-gift-exchange-idea-for-support-groups2011-08-23T02:30:59.000Z2011-08-23T02:30:59.000ZShannon Klipsteinhttps://creators.ning.com/members/ShannonKlipstein<div><p>Hi everyone! </p>
<p>I have a support group for a rare medical syndrome.  </p>
<p>Well I posted an event today... for a "Not a Secret, Santa Gift Exchange" </p>
<p>I wanted to share my idea! </p>
<p>Basically everyone emails me a set of information (I have it all explained on my site) , everyone who enters the exchange will be put into a hat </p>
<p>Then I will reveal the matches via video Nov 1st.  </p>
<p>I posted deadlines to ship their packages to each other </p>
<p>The rule also is they have to open their gift ON xmas day ONLY! And they have to make a blog post with a photo attached of their gift. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>What is great about this is that... a lot of parents on my site are baby loss moms so... they go to everyone's house for Christmas and most people will not give a gift to a baby who is no longer alive but that is all us baby loss moms want (A memorial gift, with their name or a necklace etc)... is for someone to acknowledge their existance.  So my network is a support group and we've all created some great bonds.  So holding a gift exchange where a fellow baby loss mom recognizes your lost child... makes the Holidays much easier knowing you have that ONE special gift waiting for you, that will make your day! </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This could work with several types of support groups, if that is what you're running on your network.  SO I thought I would share!  So far... my idea is a big hit! </p>
</div>Communicating the value of your network with pageshttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/communicating-the-value-of-your-network-with-pages2011-08-24T05:00:00.000Z2011-08-24T05:00:00.000ZJohnhttps://creators.ning.com/members/John64<div><p>Root-level custom URLs make it easy to share memorable links with people.<br />
Here are some ways I've found to use this powerful new capability.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://motorhomes.com/topics" target="_blank">Organizing blog posts by topic</a>: /topics</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://motorhomes.com/texas" target="_blank">Organizing information by region</a>: /texas</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://motorhomes.com/contact" target="_blank">Offering help and contact information</a>: /contact</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://motorhomes.com/links" target="_blank">Linking out to resources</a>: /links</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We have up to 50 root-level URLs at our disposal.<br />
<a href="http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/you-can-have-up-to-50-pages-with-root-level-custom-urls-example">http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/you-can-have-up-to-50-pages-with-root-level-custom-urls-example</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>How are you using your allotment of root-level URLs?</p>
</div>Move follow linkshttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/move-follow-links2011-07-10T22:30:00.000Z2011-07-10T22:30:00.000ZChrishttps://creators.ning.com/members/Chris619<div><p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 16px;">This script moves the "follow" links to the top of the page and make them more noticeable. Try them. Post screenshots of them in use. Give me feedback and tell me about bugs, and follow this blog for updates. The latest version will always be in this description.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Set your options in the script where indicated.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Add this script code to your "custom code" as the LAST thing.</strong></p>
<p></p>
<div style="max-width: 650px; padding: 10px 0 10px 20px; border: 1px solid #ccc; white-space: nowrap; overflow: auto; font-size: 0.8em; margin: auto;">
<p> </p>
<p><script type="text/javascript"><br />
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<p> </p>
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</div>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444;" class="font-size-1">If you use this script, do the right thing...</span> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=14872"><img border="0" alt="Donate towards my web hosting bill!" src="https://secure.newdream.net/donate2.gif" class="align-center" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This will not create "follow" links where there aren't any (blogs, notes etc.). All options *should* now work in Firefox, Safari, Chrome and IE8, but I haven't tested thoroughly - that's your job!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Known issues:</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="font-size-1">When there's no "follow" link on the page to start with, this script will not create one. It's not possible. I've noticed that sometimes pages that should have them load without them. Nothing I can do about that, except file a ticket with Ning. If you think you should see a link at the top but don't, check to see if there's one at the bottom. If there is, then this script has failed to move it. If there are no follow links anywhere on the page then it's nothing to do with this script. It moves follow links. It doesn't create or delete them.</span><br /></li>
<li><span class="font-size-1">There are <strong>no</strong> "follow" links to be moved on <b>Notes</b>, <b>Blog lists</b> pages, The <b>All Blogs</b> page, or on <strong>Group Discussion</strong> pages if you're <strong>not a member</strong> of that group. This script will not create them. Try removing this code. Do you see a follow link? If not, then this script won't do anything on that page. There has to already be a "follow" link there to be moved.</span><br /></li>
<li><span class="font-size-1">Firefox doesn't support the css ellipsis ("...") as in "email me whe..." so the text runs right to the edge of the button if you're using "shrink". This does work in safari, chrome and also in IE8, oddly.</span><br /></li>
<li><span class="font-size-1">If a button is clicked and it grows, it may move on the page. Being worked on.</span></li>
</ul>
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<p><em><span class="font-size-1" style="color: #333333;">Changelog:</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-1" style="color: #333333;">16 jul 11: v0.9.2 fixed for firefox.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-1" style="color: #333333;">15 Jul 11: v:0.9 multiple options in one script. added align left option. fixed group bug.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-1" style="color: #333333;">10 jul 11: v0.7 "Title" now updates. In navigationeasyclear by default now. Created two versions.</span></em></p>
</div>Getting free press for your networkhttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/getting-free-press-for-your2011-07-01T10:56:38.000Z2011-07-01T10:56:38.000ZAlex Olejnikhttps://creators.ning.com/members/AlexOlejnik<div><p>One way of getting traffic to your network is by using the press, and I do mean <strong>USING</strong>, not paying.</p>
<p>Free press is great if you can get it, and I'm gonna tell you exactly how to do it.<br> So far I've been featured in local press as well as a couple of glossy monthly mags, 5 publications in all, and it did not cost me a penny!<br> <br> <strong>Check out the coverage so far</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868364?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868364?profile=original" width="429"></a></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868405?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868405?profile=original" width="300"></a><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868427?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868427?profile=original" width="231"></a><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868448?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868448?profile=original" width="424"></a><br> One thing you have to remember is that newspapers and magazines are on the lookout for stories, simple as that, they have pages to fill, and finding good content is a challenge for newspapers and magazines these days.<br> So all you have to do is come up with an interesting story that links to your network somehow, and you're halfway there.<br> <br> For <a rel="nofollow" href="http://k9united.com" target="_blank">my network</a> (dog lovers), I simply came up with a story about meeting so many people when I walk my dogs...</p>
<p>Expressing that my local park was a network of dog owners, which of course gave me the idea for <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.k9united.com" target="_blank">k9united</a> ;)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is not the most interesting of stories granted, and some publications would not print it, but this is of course a rather 'mild' story, and some newspapers still printed the story, giving my network loads of exposure.<br> <br> -----------------------------------------------</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>So lets say you now have a story that links to your network, obviously the more interesting your story, the more chance you have of getting it published, so be creative...</p>
<p>Now it's time to email that story to as many newspapers and magazines as you can.... easy peasy</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now bear in mind that journalists and PR people get hundreds of emails with press releases, and it's fair to say that yours could quite easily get ignored.... this is why it is essential that you follow it up with a phone call.</p>
<p>Had I not done this my press release would have been ignored.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Obviously when you do your follow up calls, be professional, and talk about how your press release would be of interest to THEIR readers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A few phone calls later and I was in the paper!</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p></div>Members not uplaoding profile pictures? Use this trick..https://creators.ning.com/blogs/members-not-uplaoding-profile2011-06-27T12:53:17.000Z2011-06-27T12:53:17.000ZAlex Olejnikhttps://creators.ning.com/members/AlexOlejnik<div><p>I don't know about you, but it does annoy me when members join <a href="http://www.k9united.com" target="_blank">my network</a> and don't bother to upload a profile picture.<br> I've come up with a cunning plan to get members to upload profile pictures..<br> <br> <br> I simply changed the default profile picture (which you can find in: MEMBERS - CONTROLS)<br> <br> <strong><span class="font-size-4">From this</span></strong>:<br> <img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868417?profile=original" width="175"><br> As you can see my default profile pic was a silhouette of a person holding a dog (as my network is a dog lovers network)</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-4">To This</span></strong></p>
<p><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868444?profile=original" width="175"></p>
<p>Who wants this as their profile picture?!<br> <br> <br> <strong><span class="font-size-3">I then sent a message broadcast to all members saying something like..</span></strong><br> <br></p>
<p><em>"Helloooo</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>In an effort to encourage members to add a profile picture, I have now changed the default profile picture..</em><br> <br> <strong>From this</strong></p>
<p><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868467?profile=original" width="175"></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>To this!</strong></p>
<p><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868479?profile=original" width="175"></p>
<p><br> <em>It would be so much better if we could all see your lovely faces, so unless you want the whole world to think that <strong>YOU SMELL</strong>, head over to <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.k9united.com/">www.k9united.com</a> and upload a profile picture now! (a picture of you and your dog is ideal)</em><br> <br> <em>(This can be done in settings)</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Mwaaah haaaa haaaaaa, I am an evil genius!</em><br> <br> <br> <em>Have a lovely day</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><a href="http://k9united.ning.com/profile/alex_olejnik" target="_blank">Alex</a></em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Obviously this may not work for all networks but it's certainly working for mine!<br> <br> :)</p></div>Thank you NING & Creators!... (member engagement)https://creators.ning.com/blogs/thank-you-ning-amp-creators2011-06-19T07:34:51.000Z2011-06-19T07:34:51.000ZTherese Legerhttps://creators.ning.com/members/ThereseLeger<div><p>I just wanted to thank everyone who helped me with advice on how to get members more engaged with my network...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>AND</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I am just a baby network right now, but in less than 24 hours I had 4 new sign ups and they weren't people that I asked to join. It was word of mouth. Not only that but most of the members that joined immediately were engaged with the network, and I am so much more confident in the potential growth of this site.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One of the main problems I had in the beginning was the fact I didn't want to go overboard with adding too many graphics or colors. So instead, I went to the other extreme and made it look more bland than facebook in some ways. I had the content, but I was missing the pizazz needed for my kind of network.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Since my network is for artists, I realized that artists aren't attracted to bland looking things. Even I hated the look of my own network but thought it would be better to go with simple. My look and feel is still pretty simple but I added a new logo that pretty much defines everything I was hoping the network to be. I then changed up my colors to compliment the logo, and presto! I think my site looks a lot more appealing to artists and even I feel like I want to log in everyday. Pretty much as soon as I changed up my look, and posted the new logo I had 3 new sign ups without even asking anyone to join.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here are my before and after photos for my logos: can you guess which one is which?</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868404?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868404?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="100"></a><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868526?profile=original"></a></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868526?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868526?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="100"></a></p>
<p>Ok, so another thing I did was well I have many artists friends on facebook, and I of course read my friends updates often, and when I see someone post something that is relevant to a discussion happening on my network I message them about it. For example: One of my friends posted an update on facebook asking if anyone new of any art shows around down. So I messaged him and copied and pasted a discussion about planning an art show at a local venue that was happening within my network, and in turn he messaged me back and told me he would check it out. A few days later he joined, bringing with him a couple of other friends. Cool, yeah?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something else I've been doing is when someone signs up I read their "about me" information in their profile. After I welcome them to the site I mention something going on, discussion, blog, conversation or a piece of art they might be interested in relevant to what I read about them. Or perhaps if I know they have a group in facebook, I invite them to create a group in my network as well and to invite new people to get involved in what they're already doing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Also, if I read something in their profile that seems intriguing or interesting/unique and they haven't posted anything about it really, I ask them about it and ask if they can upload a photo/video and share it with everyone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>These are just a few tidbits that I've been doing and it seems to be helping a lot- some of them were ideas from the Creators Network and some of them I thought of myself.. but the ones i thought of myself I think were born out of what others told me.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, Thank you all!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-Therese</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p></div>Check Facebook Before Approving a New Memberhttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/check-facebook-before2011-05-24T02:49:53.000Z2011-05-24T02:49:53.000ZShelli Poolehttps://creators.ning.com/members/ShelliPoole<div><p>I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but for the last few months, when I have a new member request and I can't quite decide if they're a spammer or just lousy at filling out their profile... <strong>I take their email and plug it into the search blank on Facebook.</strong> It's not a perfect system, but it is one more step to test a new member's authenticity before you hand them the power to blast nasty on all your members! </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Examples of info I have found by checking Facebook first: </span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Guy filled out the <em>minimum</em> on his profile.<br />
I found him on FB and he had a profile pic and local friends.<br />
<strong>APPROVED<br />
 </strong></span></li>
<li>Lady filled out profile but withdrew membership.<br />
I found her on FB with no pic and no friends.<br />
<strong>APPROVAL N/A</strong> and I reported and blocked her (?) on FB for not being a real person.</li>
<li>Lady filled out profile, said she had friends here (where my network is themed)  but doesn't name any. Does a pretty good BS job, but puts a major city for her hometown (NYC).<br />
I go to FB and there's no account for that email. This doesn't deny their existence, but what are the chances of someone contacting their "friend" that they don't name through a local social network instead of through email? Additionally the chance of them NOT being on FB? Slim. So I use the email to ask who their friend is and wait. No answer in a day?<br />
<strong>REJECTED</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Some other red flags for spam:</span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Email address</strong> is a name or word followed by numbers & the provider is Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail. Ex: jennifer2345@hotmail.com. If their email address is the name of their internet service, it's probably not spam. Ex: jennifersmith@att.net or jennifersmith@suddenlink.com.</li>
<li><strong>Profile is barely filled out</strong>. Someone might do the work to figure out the answer to my test question (What's the local newspaper, What's the governor's wife's name) because it's required. But then they slack on other questions. Don't be afraid to email them and ask something extra. Explain that protecting your members from spam is important so you have to go the extra mile before approving someone. No answer? Reject them.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>I'd like to find out other ways you've learned to avoid spammers. Do tell!</p>
</div>A new way to increase member activity on Ning networkshttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/a-new-way-to-increase-member2011-05-28T22:00:00.000Z2011-05-28T22:00:00.000ZVincent Granvillehttps://creators.ning.com/members/VincentGranville<div><ul>
<li>Have questions that members have to answer on sign up (e.g. country of origin)</li>
<li>Download your Ning member list, extract email addresses, and group them into segments based on sign-up answers (e.g. segment = country of origin - India, Australia, Canada, US, Europe, etc.)</li>
<li>Create groups on your network, representing these segments (e.g. Indian Chapter, American Chapter, etc.)</li>
<li>Invite all members from Canada to join the Canadian Chapter, etc.</li>
<li>Entice these groups to compete against each other (e.g. India vs. US) by sending requests to all members of all these newly created groups to invite fellow citizens to join - and outdo other countries </li>
</ul>
</div>A Thank You to Jen and Ning Creators, from The 100.https://creators.ning.com/blogs/a-thank-you-to-jen-and-ning2011-05-21T01:37:28.000Z2011-05-21T01:37:28.000ZTom Calloshttps://creators.ning.com/members/TomCallos<div><p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868428?profile=original"><img class="align-full" style="padding: 2px;" width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868428?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"></a></p>
<p>The screen shot, above, is of my private website for the members of The 100. ---martial arts school owners, teachers, and their staff members. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The green tabs on the left are expandable --and I found the idea here on Ning Creators. It's made organizing my information so much easier --and it's so much better looking than what I had before. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wanted to pass along a thanks. I really enjoy Ning. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tom Callos</p>
<p> </p></div>Fuel your members activity and keep them coming!https://creators.ning.com/blogs/fuel-your-members-activity-and-12011-05-14T01:51:22.000Z2011-05-14T01:51:22.000ZIdáliz Escalantehttps://creators.ning.com/members/IdalizEscalante<div><p>Hey everyone! First time writing here, I hope it's useful.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here's a way I keep my members interested, busy and coming back again and again to our Network. Using the Chat application!</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>1.</strong> I created a whole <u>Online Programming for the Chat</u>. Of course I have moderators; I myself only manage one of the Online Chat Programs while other members who I've chosen carefully moderate the other shows. The Program is posted on a Blog page and can be accessed from the main menu (Live Online Program). So every day we have a "Show" using the simple Chat application from Ning.</p>
<p>We create themes for each program and topics, a whole schedule that is announced to all members.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> But recently we took it to the next level. We invite <strong><i>Special Guests</i></strong> to our Chats to "talk" about a specific topic or to answer questions from members who connect that day. It's been awesome! Actually it's been so great I'm adding that as a Bonus to a MARKETING plan I sell to customers who want to reach my audience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> When we have a very interesting topic for let's say, the Monday Chat, we add it as an event and invite the whole community.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>4.</strong> On February we actually had an Online Open House. That's where it all started. We programmed 4 Chats that day, with 4 different experts (all members of the community by the way) at different hours. We posted the Open House on Fb and Twitter and a bunch of people joined our community in just a few days to participate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>5<strong>.</strong> Next step will be to sell "adds" for the show. If I'm the moderator of the Monday show, I can ask customers for a fee to mention them on my Program via Chat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I only hope at some point the chat conversations can be recorded by administrators so we can post interviews and important info shared on this simple but wonderful application.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Notes: My Network is a community for business women. Its content is mainly in Spanish. But if anyone's curious you can check it out here: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.mujerempresariadehoy.com/">http://www.mujerempresariadehoy.com/</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thanks for reading, to our success!</p>
<p><em>Idaliz Escalante</em></p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.mujerempresariadehoy.com/" target="_blank">Mujer Empresaria de Hoy</a></p>
</div>Motivationhttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/motivation-12011-05-12T21:00:00.000Z2011-05-12T21:00:00.000ZMark Flockharthttps://creators.ning.com/members/MarkFlockhart<div><p>Motivation!  </p>
<p>I could end the blog post there.  Do it!  Follow it, create it!  Your attitude will control your success.  If you want to be successful then you need to stick it out.  Usually the time things take off are right after you quite.  Don't miss out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Self development is a form of motivation but not the same.  Both will help you reach the goals you should have set.  Do you want to have 5,000 members, or $10,000 a month?  I don't know, what I do know is that if you don't want it bad enough you won't get it.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>GUYS/GIRLS, there is no secret to this thing called web traffic!  It's been around forever and it takes time to master (or money to pay us masters) and if you're going to make it you are going to need to stick around.  Welcome!!! This is why I created <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.learningtocreateawebsite.com" target="_blank">LTCW</a>, we need to stick together and share our successes and failures.  Things change so often and what worked 5 years ago doesn't work like it did then today.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Keep motivated, it is going to work!</p>
</div>Google Adsense for newbies - 3 minute read...https://creators.ning.com/blogs/google-adsense-for-newbies-32011-05-05T03:00:00.000Z2011-05-05T03:00:00.000ZMark Flockharthttps://creators.ning.com/members/MarkFlockhart<div><p><span class="font-size-5">What to expect</span><br />
Google doesn't disclose what niche is better or what click through rate is on average. You need to test your own. There is very little averages with Google Adsense. Typically the average click through rate (CTR) is low. 10% is high. <br />
<br />
<span class="font-size-5">Are you going to make money now!?</span><br />
Probably not. Don't expect to start a website or blog and put a handful of content on it and expect to be able to sit back and start making hundreds of dollars right away. Sure you can get a click here and there but until you start building a site that gets more than 200 visitors a day you will not start earning anywhere near what you would think. <br />
<br />
All good things take time and if you are trying to make hundreds or even thousands of dollars <span class="font-size-5"> </span><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.learningtocreateawebsite.com" target="_blank">We</a> have a few things you need. Are there a few people out there that made it quick? Sure, there's always the exceptions, but plan for the long term and if your site explodes then be grateful. <br />
<br />
<span class="font-size-5">What makes my site get more clicks?</span><br />
Content, content, content!!! We're not talking about you copying other peoples content, we're talking about you creating your own niche, new content. People follow you with your views and not copying others. Writing random events or talking about personal experiences in your life you will find with the average person they don't care. The only people that wants to know about your dog and your vacation or your new socks you got for Christmas are your family and friend. That's what Facebook and Twitter is for. <br />
<br />
<span class="font-size-5">What do I do then?</span><br />
What you need to do is develop a product or a topic that will be interesting. Maybe you're making a blog following a movie star's career. Maybe it's about sports or fashion. things that you can learn with and grow with and add content to your site/blog every day, month, year, and 10 years. It needs to be unique where visitors will search for your site. <br />
<br />
100 pages of basic content will lose to 20 pages of planned and unique content. Massive blogging isn't the answer. If it's not unique then it's not going to pull the traffic you want. If you could forget about the clicks and money you want to make from your ads and focus on your content and web design (flow) then you will do better than 95% of the websites out there.  Ask yourself a couple of questions each time your make a video or write a new article.  Is this quality content?  Would I watch/read this?  Is it better than the others posted online?<br />
<br />
I know, this topic could be an entire book -- Chime in and let us know what you've found to work.</p>
<p>_________________</p>
<p> </p>
<p>By Mark Flockhart:  The best compliment you can give me is visit or join my network for designers <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.learningtocreateawebsite.com" target="_blank">LTCW</a></p>
</div>Stop!! You're stressing me out Add-on + Add-on + Add-onhttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/stop-youre-stressing-me-out2011-05-04T00:30:00.000Z2011-05-04T00:30:00.000ZMark Flockharthttps://creators.ning.com/members/MarkFlockhart<div><p>It's a well known fact that you have approxametly 4 seconds to make someone like your website or they're gone.  I just wanted to let you in on a little secret.  People get overwhelmed with the toys you allow them to play with.  What happens to kids when they're given 30 toys for Christmas?  They get tired angry and end up in their room without dinner (smirk).  Too many toys to play with and the value starts to dissapear the more they open another present just like the first.   </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Why am I jabbering about toys and Christmas?  Simple, when creating your networks and websites there are tons of add ons you can make.  there gets to be a point were something new and cool comes out and you blast it on your site like it's gold.  We need to keep in mind that we have a specific niche and we need to build our website around our content.  Having chat boxes and news feeds and picture shows and donate buttons and this and that and this and that will create anxiety on your site.  KEEP IT SIMPLE.  Check out my site <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.learningtocreateawebsite.com" target="_blank">LTCW</a>, it's simple and only using the basic template and it's calm and clearly displays it's content.  Sure I'll add new features as they appear but only if it fits inside my category.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>You won't see many if any of my sites with a chat box on the page.  I don't need people to talk and I believe it's almost becomes a hinderance.  Maybe when you have enough memebers that want to utilize features like this it would be a great idea.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>So how much is too much?  Well you need to decide that.  Just keep it simple and don't go crazy with add-ons.  Let the content control your site and you will find your visitors to be loyal.  Return visits will burst your site beyond control!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Have fun with it and build!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-------------------------</p>
<p>By Mark Flockhart:  The best compliment you can give me is visit or join my network for designers <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.learningtocreateawebsite.com" target="_blank">LTCW</a></p>
</div>Increased three times the number of weekly new members sign upshttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/increased-three-times-the2011-04-18T20:30:00.000Z2011-04-18T20:30:00.000ZVincent Granvillehttps://creators.ning.com/members/VincentGranville<div><p>I requested all members who want to join my groups on other networks (e.g. LinkedIn) to first sign-up with <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.analyticbridge.com">my Ning network</a>, in order to be accepted. I don't have the time to check if all potential members follow my rule, but it significantly increased the number of sign-ups on my Ning network, and also help reduce the number of people who join for spamming purposes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-Vincent</p>
</div>Design 101, Too Many Fonts - Good Grief!https://creators.ning.com/blogs/design-101-too-many-fonts2011-04-17T06:19:55.000Z2011-04-17T06:19:55.000ZJenhttps://creators.ning.com/members/Jen<div><p>I just added this to JenSocial, and figured it might be a good idea to add here too. When it comes to Graphic and Web Design, there's a <strong>ton of room</strong> for all types of artistic and creative levels, styles, etc... However, there isn't room for a <strong>ton of fonts</strong>. Some of the wonderful aspects of the vastness of the Internet are: so much to discover, so much for the eyes to see - - so many different designs, and so many different Designers. But, way too often, there are <strong>too many fonts starring you in the face.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Whether you have designed your own website, or hired a Designer, here are a couple of Design Tips that you can take to heart - - seriously. There's no written-in-stone rules, just a few good rules-of-thumb. To new or novice Designers these tips may seem simple and unimportant. But, trust me on this. These 2 small bits of advice are critical for the success of your overall Design.</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Don't Use Too Many Font Types.</strong> There is never a need to use more than 2-3 for a logo, header, or special image. And you shouldn't use more than 3-4 for your overall site.</li>
<li><strong>Be Consistent When Using Fonts and Applying Font Attributes</strong>. For example: If you use a different font for every headline, this is confusing, tough on the eyes, and can give your design a busy and unprofessional look. If you apply bold for one type header, apply bold for all headers of the same type. If you use Lucida Grande, and apply bold for a sub-title, do the same for all sub-titles.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Bottom Line:</strong> There will be cases where you really need more fonts. If you need more to communicate better, go for it. But, when possible, try to keep those fonts at a minimum.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Happy Designing!</p>
<p>;-)</p>
<p>Jen</p>
</div>How to Behave in an Internet Forum - fun and educational (really!)https://creators.ning.com/blogs/how-to-behave-in-an-internet2011-02-14T18:30:00.000Z2011-02-14T18:30:00.000ZManny Hernandezhttps://creators.ning.com/members/MannyHernandez<div><p>The Lead Admin of <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tudiabetes.org/forum/topics/how-to-behave-in-an-internet" target="_blank">TuDiabetes</a> posted this BRILLIANT video...</p>
<p><br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" height="382" width="640" src="http://www.videojug.com/player?id=69ab804d-9b3c-714c-30d7-ff0008ca4067" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="false" id="videojugplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></p>
</div>Managing Ads on your Network using DFP Small Business (formerly known as Google Ad Manager)https://creators.ning.com/blogs/managing-ads-on-your-network2011-01-30T19:47:37.000Z2011-01-30T19:47:37.000ZManny Hernandezhttps://creators.ning.com/members/MannyHernandez<div><p>A little over a year ago, we used a service called Open X on TuDiabetes.org and EsTuDiabetes.org, to serve our ads until we found ourselves talking to nobody when faced with a tech issue that resulted in no ads getting served. At that point, I decided to try <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.google.com/admanager/">Google Ad Manager</a>, a free service that does the same thing (help you manage ads) as a hosted service by Google.</p>
<p>More than a year later (now it's called DFP Small Business, but it is essentially the same service), we continue to be very happy with the platform. It lets you manage multiple orders for multiple clients over multiple inventory locations. This is ideal for us, having two networks to manage ads on and typically having multiple campaigns under way.</p>
<p>The ability to manage an order includes start and end times, % of impressions and targeting by geography, language, browser, domains and much more. Also, their reporting capabilities are as solid as the rest of the Google products you may be used to, which is advantageous to you and to your clients.</p>
<p>All in all, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.google.com/dfp" target="_blank">DFP</a> has become a solution that seems to meet all our needs and has been reliable in its delivery of ads since we adopted it.</p>
</div>Encourage members to welcome new membershttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/encourage-members-to-welcome2011-01-24T20:30:00.000Z2011-01-24T20:30:00.000ZPhilhttps://creators.ning.com/members/Phil<div><p>Encourage members to welcome new members, by introducing new members <em>yourself</em> to get the ball rolling. Put a link to each new member's profile in a broadcast message along with a brief description of the new member.</p>
<p>Suggest that members to welcome new members by posting a comment on their profiles or by sending friend requests with a personal message.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here's an email that I recently sent to my group. You can modify it to suit your network.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>- - - - Example Broadcast Message - - - -</p>
<p><strong><span><span class="il">New</span> <span class="il">Members</span></span></strong></p>
<p><span class="il">New</span> <span class="il">Members</span> are constantly joining ProGuildsocial.com -- please <span class="il">welcome</span> them!</p>
<p>You can do that by posting a comment on their profile or by sending a <em>Friend Request.</em></p>
<p>Be sure to add a personal message when sending a Friend Request.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.proguildsocial.com/profile/STEVENHALL">Steve Hall</a> -- Intelligent, funny, busy. Steve enjoys Live Concerts. Travel. Dancing. Motorcycles Runs. Auto Shows.Roller Coaster Rides, Table Dancing, Strawberrys & Whipcream, MotorCycle Ride.Pizza & Beer.- - - -</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.proguildsocial.com/profile/LisaThompson">Lisa Thompson</a>, sweet, nice, friendly Lisa enjoys going to the movies, reading, hanging out w/friends,going out to dinner and a movie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.proguildsocial.com/profile/ChandraFlores">Chandra Flores</a> -- pretty, thick, and brown</p>
<p>Chandra enjoys dancing, tennis, bike riding, laying by the water with a good book to read or good company, walking,and traveling, going to the beach on date with a picnic basket full of tasty treats, toys(for example, Hula Hoop, Frisbee). </p>
<p> </p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.proguildsocial.com/profile/Shontae">Shontae</a> -- Funny, Sweet, and Large & Lovely.<br />
Shontae enjoys live music/concerts, the beach on a sunny day, and day trips to <span class="il">new</span> places and/or festivals.On a date, she likes to relax, be herself, and just have fun.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.proguildsocial.com/profile/mattvegaMat" target="_blank">Matt Vega</a> -- fun exciting witty loves photography and editing as well as taking walks and spending time with people </p>
<p> </p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.proguildsocial.com/profile/LatoyyaBordelon">Latoya</a> -- Fun, Funny, Fantastick</p>
<p>Latoyya enjoys dancing and singing</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.proguildsocial.com/profile/Loyd">Loyd</a> -- adventurous, self-assured, intelligent</p>
<p>She enjoys having some fun times with another adult, making <span class="il">new</span> friends, and exploring <span class="il">new</span> places/interests.<br />
On a date she likes doing something out of the ordinary.- - - -</p>
<p> </p>
<p>- - - End of Example Broadcast Message - - -</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To help you members understand how to send friend requests and post comments, you might want to make a video with voice over.  A free program for making such videos is available from </p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.techsmith.com/jing/">http://www.techsmith.com/jing/</a> -- here's a video that I made for my members.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.proguildsocial.com/video/sending-private-messages-to">http://www.proguildsocial.com/video/sending-private-messages-to</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>To your success.</p>
<p>Phil Seyer</p>
<p>Director of Professionals Guild</p>
<p>925-eight-eight-eight-4392</p>
<p> </p>
</div>The Bivings Group Launches Ning Design Serviceshttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/the-bivings-group-launches2010-12-08T16:30:00.000Z2010-12-08T16:30:00.000ZTodd Zeiglerhttps://creators.ning.com/members/ToddZeigler<div><p><a href="http://www.bivings.com/ning"><img style="background-image: none; margin: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;" title="ning_page" src="http://www.bivingsreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ning_page1.jpg" border="0" alt="ning_page" width="240" height="85" align="right" />Ning</a> is a great platform that allows organizations and individuals to launch their very own niche social network in only a few minutes time. As a <a href="http://about.ning.com/certified/index.php">Ning certified partner</a>, over the last few years <a href="http://www.bivings.com">The Bivings Group</a> has built and designed <a href="http://www.ning.com/?cj=10831683#utm_source=CJ&utm_medium=AFF&utm_campaign=cj&utm_content=10831683">Ning</a>-based sites for clients such as <a rel="nofollow" href="http://push.pickensplan.com/">The Pickens Plan</a>, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://iava.org/">Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans and America</a> and the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://community.peacecorpsconnect.org/">National Peace Corps Association</a>. We think Ning is a great solution for organizations looking to launch their very own social network quickly and cost effectively.<br />
<br />
As a result of our work with Ning, folks frequently get in touch with us asking for help in setting up and designing their network. Most of the time their needs are pretty modest – they just want someone to help them create a custom design for their network or some initial advice as to how to set up and manage their community. Since our focus is on larger development projects, we typically haven’t been able to help.<br />
<br />
As a way of filling this void, today we are pleased to launch a cost-effective <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bivings.com/ning"><strong>new suite of Ning consulting services</strong></a>. For a one-time fee of $2,500, we will create and implement a custom design for your Ning network and provide some initial advice on how to get the most out of your network. If you need help developing your overall strategy, integrating your network with a CRM, managing your network long term or completing custom development work, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bivings.com/ning">we can help with that too</a>.<br />
<br />
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bivings.com/ning"><strong>Learn more about our Ning services here.</strong></a></p>
</div>Free Banner Rotators for Your Networkshttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/free-banner-rotators-for-your2010-11-07T02:03:58.000Z2010-11-07T02:03:58.000Z⚡JFarrow⌁https://creators.ning.com/members/JFarrow<div><p></p>
<dl>
<dt>In the infinite pursuit of making a little money with our networks, the know-how for creating rotating ads and banners is ever-present. I figured I would help you all out a little bit and point you towards some rotating banner scripts and image rotators for you to implement on your networks as I am on my <a rel="nofollow" href="http://landsurveyorsunited.com/index.php">network for land surveyors</a>. I hope you enjoy these. If you use one, please stop back by and drop a screenshot in the comments below and show us how it turned out.</dt>
<dt><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.spyka.net/scripts/javascript/simple-banner-rotator">Simple Banner Rotator</a></dt>
</dl>
<p>[<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.spyka.net/files/simple-banner-rotator-1.4.0/example-basic.html">DEMO HERE</a>] This free JavaScript supports an unlimited number of banners, the ability to refresh (change) the ads every <em>n</em> milliseconds, where <em>n</em> is an interval you set, as well as the facility to specify a banner or set of banners for rotation at a particular location, or have them rotate randomly. You can set an expiry date for a banner as well, where a particular banner is removed from display after a certain date. Different sets of banners can also be assigned to different parts of your web page, and the script is able to avoid displaying the same banner in different spots on the same page. You can set the sizes of the banners (overriding the default size for the banner), cause the links for each banner to open either in the same window/tab or a new browser window/tab, etc. The script is released under the GNU General Public License, which means that it's open source.</p>
<dl>
<dt><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.echochrist.com/magicimage.php">Magic Image Rotation</a></dt>
</dl>
<p>[<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.echochrist.com/magicimage.php">DEMO HERE</a>] This script rotates your pictures, photos or other types of images along with their associated links (that is, each image can have different target links). The first image that is shown is random, and the subsequent images will be shown in sequence (as far as I can tell). The site's demo uses the script as a sort of photo slideshow.</p>
<dl>
<dt><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.le-esp.fr/script/espbanner.html">ESPBanner Script</a></dt>
</dl>
<p>[<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.le-esp.fr/script/espbanner_demo.html">DEMO HERE</a>] This banner rotation script will automatically switch the advertisements displayed on your site while your page is being displayed. It can handle Flash, images and other types of banners, and allows you to display two or more banners on the same page.</p>
<dl>
<dt><a rel="nofollow" href="http://banner-rotator-with-caption.4wsearch.com/">Free Banner Rotator with Caption</a></dt>
</dl>
<p>[<a rel="nofollow" href="http://banner-rotator-with-caption.4wsearch.com/demo-scripts.htm">DEMO HERE</a>]This banner rotator will display your banners, which may be either images or Flash files, together with their captions.</p>
<dl>
<dt><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dscripts.net/scripts/javascript/random-image-ad/">Random Image Ad</a></dt>
</dl>
<p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">With this java script you can put random image ad or rotate banner ads randomly. Just put source and link to your images in array and this script will do the rest.</span></p>
<p></p>
</div>What good is technology without a framework for action?https://creators.ning.com/blogs/what-good-is-technology2010-10-29T18:37:51.000Z2010-10-29T18:37:51.000ZJoseph Porcellihttps://creators.ning.com/members/JosephPorcelli<div><div>Hey NC's</div>
<div>This week I've spent a good deal of time working on developing what I call a "Framework for Action". I want to use this framework as a guideline to enroll people into the process of taking action on a variety of different projects and network I lead.</div>
<div>Creators continues to be an invaluable resources to me (Thanks everyone!) and so I thought I'd give back again by sharing my draft "Framework for Action" with you.</div>
<div>Kindly read through and then share your thoughts and input. Here is what I have so far:</div>
<div><b>Discuss:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>What are the problems and symptoms we are facing?</li>
<li>What are the opportunities and impacts that could be made?</li>
<li>What are our values and what do we want to achieve and for whom?</li>
<li>What data is available to us that shows what is currently going on?</li>
<li>Who or what organizations are currently addressing these problems or opportunities?</li>
<li>What strategies and tactics have been effective at addressing these problems or opportunities?</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div><b>Plan:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>What are are we going to do?</li>
<li>What resources do we need to support our action?</li>
<li>Who is going to support/managing the action we are going to take?</li>
<li>When are we going to take this action?</li>
<li>How are we going to record action we took?</li>
<li>What Key Performance Indicators are we going to track?</li>
<li>How are we going to acknowledge and reward action and results?</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div><b>Act:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Do it.</li>
<li>Record it.</li>
<li>Report it.</li>
<li>Thank.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div><b>Evaluate:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>What did we actually get done?</li>
<li>What did we get done vs. what we planned we do?</li>
<li>How did the getting it done go?</li>
<li>What was the feedback?</li>
<li>What can we learn?</li>
<li>What do we recommend we do differently next time?</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div><b>Kindly reply with your feedback to the following questions:</b></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>If you've done something like this before, is there another existing proven framework we should evaluate? If so which one(s)?</li>
<li>Are we missing anything or should would you remove something? If so which and why?</li>
<li>Any other questions you think I should be asking or something I should know?</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>Thank in advance for your help!</div>
<div>Joseph</div>
</div>How To Prevent Spammers on Ning Networks &"Stop Hacker Commerce" Video Serieshttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/how-to-prevent-spammers-on2010-08-10T19:30:00.000Z2010-08-10T19:30:00.000ZJenhttps://creators.ning.com/members/Jen<div>How much do you really know about Online Hackers and Scams? This is an amazing phenomenon and open door of opportunities for Criminals. Educate yourself. Educate your family, friends, and members of your Social Community.
<br>
<br> As part of a series of educational videos about Hackers and Scams, I will be adding a new Video Episode each week, for the next month+ to the Creators site and JenSocial.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Episode #1 - Stop Hacker Commerce:</span>
<br>
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<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Episode #2 - The Trap Is Set:</span>
<br>
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<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Episode #3 - Caught In The Web:</span>
<br>
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<br> Find out more about the report of all Scams - -
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Offline</span> and
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Online</span>. Find out if they are myth or fact.
<br>
<br>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/daily/daily.asp">snopes.com: Scam Report</a>
<br>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx">The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)</a>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<h1>How To Prevent Spammers on Ning Networks</h1>
<p>There are 5 features offered on a Ning Network that help prevent Sign-Up Spammers. To set your options, access the features via: <span style="font-weight: bold;">My Network/Members/Controls</span><br> <br> You can <span style="font-weight: bold;">approve all new Members</span>. This definitely helps in the prevention of Sign-Up spammers joining your Ning Network. You may not catch all of them, but most will give you good indicators that they are spammers. If you see repeated words like "i tell you later, i tell you later", or "i'm a good girl looking for love", etc... you can bet your bottom dollar, these are spammers. And of course goes without saying, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Do not approve these accounts.</span><br> <br> If you do not want to "Approve Members", there are 4 other features that will help prevent Sign-Up Spammers:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>Require new members to verify their email address</b> - I advise turning on this feature for all Networks.</li>
<li><b>Fill out a captcha</b>
<ul>
<li>An image containing words that users must correctly identify.</li>
<li>I advise turning on this feature, due to most auto-spambots cannot enter a captcha correctly, since it is a never changing "image".</li>
</ul> </li>
<li><b>Answer the sign-up quiz</b>
<ul>
<li>Create a quiz question that new members must answer correctly to join.</li>
<li>You can really get clever on the sign-up quiz question. I saw one where a Network Creator asked "Are you a real person?" and he set the default answer to "No". This will catch a lot of spambots, no doubt.</li>
<li><b>Definition</b>: <i>A spambot is an automated computer program, or, more rarely, a script, designed to assist in the sending of spam - - and joining Networks for the same purpose in mind, including dropping links to illegal sites.</i></li>
<li>Another great way to utilize this feature: add a question that only applies to your type network. Add a question that members of your site should know, if they are interested in joining your Network. A great example: A Ning Network for Golf may ask a question like this, "Would you rather have a Birdie or a Bogey?"</li>
</ul> </li>
<li><b>Spam Prevention - Automatically suspend suspected spammers</b>
<ul>
<li>I'm not sure what algorithm or criteria is in place for suspending suspected spammers.</li>
<li>Please let us know your experience, if you know more about this feature.</li>
</ul> </li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here's a screen shot of your "Prevent Spammer" Controls:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868382?profile=original" alt=""></p>
<p></p>
<hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;">
<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Perfect Example</span> - - Just had this spammer join JenSocial (August 10, 2010), and about the 7th one today. BTW, I have not set a question for the Sign-Up Quiz yet. I will very soon!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1868491?profile=original" alt=""></p>
<p></p></div>3 Tips from CafePress to Help You Meet Your Sales Goalshttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/3-tips-from-cafepress-to-help2010-07-15T18:30:00.000Z2010-07-15T18:30:00.000ZAngelaCPhttps://creators.ning.com/members/AngelaCP<div><p><br />
Greetings, Creators!<br />
<br />
I work at CafePress, and I've been collaborating with Ning to develop a partnership that's designed to help you make more money from your Ning Network. We launched a CafePress App on <a href="http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/start-making-money-with-three">June 16th</a>, which makes it incredibly easy for you to get started with your own storefront. We also worked with Ning on a very unique offer: the ability for you to earn a free year of Mini or Plus. We're very excited about this idea because it’s really a win-win situation for everyone. It’s clearly excited a lot of you as well. As of today, the CafePress App has been installed on over 2,500 Ning Networks.<br />
<br />
If you're not familiar with the offer, <a href="http://help.ning.com/cgi-bin/ning.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3804">check it out</a>. We've already seen a number of Ning Networks meet their goal and earn a free year of Mini or Plus.<br />
<br />
The folks from Ning invited me to stop by Creators and give those of you who haven't yet reached your goal a few tips that might help you get there faster. We’ve obviously had a lot of experience seeing storefronts succeed or fail. Here are three of the best tips I can give you.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Include a custom design.</b><br />
<br />
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://skitch.com/supereric/dcwfi/bayan-ng-candelaria-the-social-network-of-candelarians-from-candelaria-zambales-philippines"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20100715-e3qbrsi8dedxht7884cwpeymb1.png" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;" border="0" /></a> From my experience, the single most important thing you can do to increase revenue in your CafePress store is to offer custom designs. While the standard "I heart" message works great for some people, I've seen a dramatic increase when people go the extra distance and create custom images. It also helps to offer a number of choices.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://bayanngcandelaria.ning.com/">Bayan Ng Candalaria</a> site is a great example of a Ning Network that’s already reached their goal of earning a free year’s subscription to Ning Plus. Their CafePress store offers a dozen graphically rich choices that can be found on over 20 fabulous products, including t-shirts for dogs! Now, that’s clever.<br />
<br />
<b>Not a designer?</b> Create your own design with our "Designer" — simply select the option "Build a design." You’ll find a library of clip art and text tool to help you create a great design.<br />
<br />
<b>2. Don't just think visual — think textual</b><br />
<br />
Even if you aren't a whiz at Photoshop, with a little bit of creativity you can offer compelling text-based designs that include your tagline or fun sayings that your members will connect with. A great example to follow is <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cafepress.com/dukecityfix">Duke City Fix</a>, a Ning Network with a longstanding CafePress store. They offer witty and catchy sayings that read like bumper stickers. Very clever bumper stickers.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Put it above the fold</b><br />
<br />
We do a lot of statistical analysis at CafePress, and one of the things we focus on is how people integrate their CafePress stores into their Web sites. There is a very important detail that we've found makes a big difference: display your merchandise "above the fold" — closer to the top of the page so people who take a cursory glance at your Main Page will clearly notice it. The old sales adage "show the product" applies here. As I'm writing this, I notice that a Ning Network that does a great job of making their CafePress site visible above-the-fold is <a href="http://waldenics.ning.com/">Walden International Corps</a> — and it looks like they just met their goal of a Ning Plus subscription today. Go, Walden!<br />
<br />
<b>It's easy to add new designs to your Ning CafePress store!</b> Here are steps to help you get started:</p>
<ol>
<li>Go to your CafePress store on your Ning site and click on the "Edit Your Shop" button.</li>
<li>If you're not logged in, it will take you to the member sign in page. Enter your account information.</li>
<li>Click on the "edit" link for your Ning store and you will be taken to the edit version of your store.</li>
<li>Under Shop by Design (left side), you can start adding new designs by selecting the "Add a Design" link. You will be given the choice to:</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>Browse our Designs by using our design templates personalized by your site name or text</li>
<li>Upload a logo</li>
<li>Build a design by using our easy "designer tool" to put together clipart and text with your choice of font</li>
</ul>
<p>Once you're done, be sure to save your design!<br />
<br />
We hope that you're already on the road to earning a Ning Mini or Plus year's subscription. You still have until August 20th to take advantage of this offer, so if you haven't started, you can get going right now. Or just add the CafePress App to make money — it's your choice.<br />
<br />
If any other Creators have tips to share based on their own experience of integrating CafePress into their Ning Network, feel free to share them here.<br />
<br /></p>
</div>Running a Webinarhttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/running-a-webinar2010-07-10T15:00:00.000Z2010-07-10T15:00:00.000ZAndrew Spieringhttps://creators.ning.com/members/AndrewSpiering<div><p>Running a webinar is easy and a great way to get member involvement, have fun, and make money thorugh your network. I have attempted several methods of generating revenue through my network and running webinars (Online Seminars) has proven to be one of the most effective. Below are the steps I took to conduct a webinar:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">1. What do your members want?</span><br />
Focusing the webinar on a "hot" topic is key to the success of your webinar. Find out what your members want most by conducting a survey using a service like <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/">Survey Monkey</a> (it is free and easy). You can also get ideas from looking at popular forum discussions, or, a special interest group that generates a lot of activity.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Find the expert on the subject.</span><br />
Finding the expert on the subject you choose will get your members excited about the event and give them confidence that it is worth the money. The expert could be a well-known author, a professor, or blogger. They could even be a member of your network!<br />
<br style="font-weight: bold;" />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Choose a Webinar Service.</span><br />
The webinar service is where you schedule and conduct your webinar. Out of all the options, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.gotomeeting.com/fec/webinar">GoToWebinar</a> is the easiest, most reliable and affordable. Two others are Webex and DimDim. Webex was waaayyy too expensive and DimDim did not offer great tech support.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Eventbrite.</span><br />
Collecting payments via <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.eventbrite.com/r/creators">Eventbrite</a> is easy and free to setup. They take a minimal % of ticket sales, so they only make money when you make money. Eventbrite also allows you to integrate the ticket forms into your website for a seamless, branded experience.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Promote. Promote. Promote.</span><br />
The success of your webinar hangs on the hinges of how well you promote the event. Just creating an event page on your network is not enough. If you build it, they will not come until you invite them. Share your event with your members on a progressive basis. Start promoting the event at least a month in advance and remind your members at two weeks, then one week, then one day... you get the idea. Send out a press release. Create an affiliate program (again via Eventbrite) and ask people to help spread the word via blogging, facebook, and twitter.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Prepare for Game Day.</span><br />
GoToWebinar has a feature that allows you to practice your webinar before the actual day. It is a good idea to go through a practice run before the actual event.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Have Fun!</span><br />
<br />
I hope you find this helpful. Please feel free to share your experiences with conducting webinars in the comments below.<br />
<br />
Thanks!</p>
</div>CafePress for Fun & Profithttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/cafepress-for-fun-amp-profit2010-06-14T15:00:00.000Z2010-06-14T15:00:00.000Zsophiehttps://creators.ning.com/members/sophie<div><div>
<img src="http://api.ning.com/files/c-NmgVyzWZaWpPhagGdtaQGIYozTuUBjvF6sM3Xl-3aGFF84oaZH8w0NUAjMhZhZlKTojyL3wRbnC1jg*5W6cVbFaZ*ibYYa/dcfschwagbanner.jpg?width=721" width="721">
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In April, I set up a CafePress Shop for the</span>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dukecityfix.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Duke City Fix</span></a>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, a Ning-based city blog about Albuquerque, New Mexico. Through</span>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cafepress.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">CafePress</span></a>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">we now sell custom t-shirts, tote bags, coffee mugs, and other blog-branded schwag.</span>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br></span>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br></span>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When I decided to set up the Shop I had two simple goals:</span>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">To build awareness through</span> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_marketing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">guerrilla marketing</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. My hope is that the</span> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promotional_item"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">promotional merchandise</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">we sell will serve as mobile billboards for our site.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">To generate some cash to help underwrite our work on the site. We do also host Google ads, so the Cafe Press shop is a supplement to the Google income.</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br></span>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'd worked with CafePress before, and liked that the company makes it so easy to set up a Shop and start selling. Also -- and I think this is super-important for those of us who are operating on a shoestring -- CafePress requires no (zero, nada, zip) upfront investment from the Shop owner. When you make a sale, CafePress' cut comes from the buyer, not from you. You don't have to create, store, or ship inventory, and you don't need a merchant or PayPal account. You have zero risk.</span>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br></span>
</div>
<div>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cafepress.com/dukecityfix"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">See our blog</span></a>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span>
</div>
<div>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cafepress.com/dukecityfix"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">See our Shop</span></a>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span>
</div>
<div>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/index.aspx?area=learn&page=learn"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Build your own Shop</span></a>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br></span>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Without going into too much detail about how to set up a Cafe Press site (they have great, clear instructions), let me list the tools we use to promote our Shop:</span>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I chose to create a Premium Shop (not required) which costs $4.99/month but allows me to customize the look of the shop. In retrospect I might not have chosen the Premium option, but I can be a control freak so there you have it. A Basic Shop is completely free.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Shop features slogans and in-jokes that had been developed by our community over the life of the site. Using "The Duke Abides", "That's Not Dust, That's Enchantment", and "Oh sí liar!" on our schwag helps to create a sense of ownership among our readers.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We deliberately set our markup at a low amount, in order to keep prices low and encourage sales. If revenue had been our first goal, I might have set the markup higher. Through CafePress you decide how big a cut you receive on each sale.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I created a custom banner to use on The Fix's home page (see the banner image above). It sits in a text box, and is linked directly to the shop.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We announced the shop on our</span> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.facebook.com/dukecityfix?ref=ts"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Facebook page</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and</span> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/dukecityfix"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Twitter feed</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We</span> <a href="http://www.dukecityfix.com/profiles/blogs/schwag-schwag-duke-city-fix"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ran a contest</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, which we promoted through Facebook, Twitter, and the</span> <a href="http://help.ning.com/cgi-bin/ning.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2949&p_created=1215721637&p_sid=gOuc*p2k&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MzI2LDMyNiZwX3Byb2RzPSZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfcGFnZT0zJnBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9ZW1haWwgbWVtYmVycw**&p_li=&search_method="><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Broadcast Message</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">function on Ning. As part of the contest, we asked our readers to come up with a new slogan for the site (we change the slogan periodically). And</span> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cafepress.com/dukecityfix/7138147"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">products with that slogan</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">are now offered in the shop.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br></span>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Finally, the results! We initially ran the shop on our front page for three weeks*. During that time:</span>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br></span>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We sold just over 40 items.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We made just over $40 (remember that we set our markup low!)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We generated great buzz on and off our Ning site.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Through the promotion of the Shop, we drove traffic to our own site.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*The shop came down off the front page for a few weeks to allow us to run a different promotion, but now it's back up there. And while sales have slowed, we're still selling, and still happy with the results.</span></i>
</div></div>Making Money on Our Ning Network by Advertisinghttps://creators.ning.com/blogs/making-money-on-our-ning2010-06-14T20:30:00.000Z2010-06-14T20:30:00.000Zalicehttps://creators.ning.com/members/alice<div><p><i>My Modern Met has been running their own ads since 2008. By achieving high growth and traffic to their network, as well as creating high quality content, they’ve been able to secure deals with top tier ad networks and achieve CPMs in the double digits. Recently, these ad networks have brought to them site-specific buys and unique sponsorship opportunities.<br /></i><br />
Hi, I'm Alice from <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.mymodernmet.com/">My Modern Met</a>. I was asked to share my story on how we've managed to make money on our Ning network. Though our story is unique, there are common experiences we as Ning Creators will all face. Particularly if you're going to try and make money through advertising, I'd love to share with you some things we've learned along the way.<br />
<br />
There are a whole bunch of ways to make money on your Ning network by advertising which include banner advertising with Google Adsense or ad networks, contextual advertising, affiliate sales (cost-per-click, cost-per-action, cost-per-sale), direct advertising and sponsorships. CPM (or cost per thousand) banner advertising is traffic driven, the more people you have looking at your banner ad, the more money you can make. Cost per thousand means that for every 1,000 impressions (or eyeballs), you get a certain amount of money which can range from a few cents to double digit dollars.<br />
<br />
When I first started My Modern Met, we focused our attention on building up the community and providing interesting content. We started as a private, invite-only site and we took off the Google Adsense ads immediately, though looking back we probably could have kept them on. The reason we took them off was because our site was a little too broad, meaning we didn't have such a specific niche that Adsense was working effectively. That being said, even if you're not making a lot of money in the early stages, you want people to get used to seeing advertising on your site and making some money is better than none. We decided that it was better to use up the web real estate with interesting content. We built up our core community through friends and family. After about three months, we opened up My Modern Met to the public. Our content started to spread virally around the web, bringing in tens of thousands of people a day. At that point, we knew we were big enough to approach ad networks.<br />
<br />
Through our own research and by talking to people at conferences, we found a bunch of ad networks that would fit with us and found out their criteria for getting accepted. We knew that we had to reach a critical mass of unique visitors and pageviews before we could even approach them. Once we hit those milestones, we reached out to them and were able to secure deals.<br />
<br />
We manage our ads through Google Ad Manager. (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/how-to-setup-google-ad-manager-on-your-blogwebsite/">Here's</a> a good article from Hongkiat on how to set it up if you're looking into managing your ad networks or even your direct buys.)<br />
<br />
With time and increased traffic, we were able to partner with more premium ad networks. After two years, we're now in the position where we're receiving site specific buys and sponsorship opportunities.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Here are our top ten tips on how to make money through advertising:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. Be patient - Don't expect to partner with ad networks until you reach a minimum threshold (number of unique visitors or pageviews).<br />
2. Research ad networks - Find out which ones best fit with your Ning network. There's a wide range of ad networks for particular niches like luxury and tech.<br />
3. Be persistent - If you get denied from an ad network, don't give up. Approach them again after a certain period of time. Legitimacy comes with increased traffic over time.<br />
4. Have high quality content, find your niche - If possible create original content that others would want to link to and spread.<br />
5. Decide on your business model - Banners advertising works well for sites with high traffic, while smaller, more targeted niche sites work well with Google Adsense or affiliate sales.<br />
6. Grow your community - What sets your site apart from blogs is that you have engaged members. Make that one of your selling points when you approach advertisers or ad networks.<br />
7. Build traffic - Don't overlook the power of Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon.<br />
8. Use social media tools like Facebook and Twitter - These will also help you spread content and build up your community.<br />
9. Get to know other Ning Creators - Find out what works for them and see if you can apply it to your network.<br />
10. Get outside your comfort zone - Attend conferences and network. You may want to just sit at your desk and work on your site but getting out there into the real world will help you see if you're headed in the right direction, find new ideas and identify trends. This is invaluable.<br />
<br />
I hope this information helps. Good luck to all of you Ning Creators out there and if you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me at alice@mymodernmet.com. Thanks!</p>
</div>