Good ways to gain new members.

[Michael Johnston]

I am almost finished developing and tweaking my site and now i'm in search of members. I already have a few (very few) but something I have noticed is that when people check out the network and see so few members they aren't really willing to join. Does anyone have tips to overcome this stigma or any effective ways to promote or advertise your site?  Thank You!

[Michael Johnston]

Thank you. I do need to add content, but wasn't sure how much. I really like the idea of getting friends of same interest to join and add content. Thanks again.

[Thiago Santos de Moraes]

You have to be viral: talking about your network in blog comments, in FB, etc. Of course, before that, you need to add more content.

[Patrick Chappelle]

I would suggest you peruse Ning Help articles, these forums, and join groups where fellow nc's offer services, advice and tips.

Does Ning still send out emails to newcomers on how to build a successful community? 

[Michael Johnston]

Not really, I am new to social networking and I didn't really recieve any emails or tips from ning itself. The only tips I have so far is from this post and other forum discussions. I believe I have a good niche that need filled. I appreciate your input.

[Emmanuel Ace]

This help center link can get you started

http://www.ning.com/help/?page_id=284

[Emmanuel Ace]

Here is a good trick to gain members

Create like 50-100 fake members... when you see you are gaining .. delete those fake accounts later in future.

But keep those fake members active

[Patrick Chappelle]

That's a horrible idea. Michael Baisden did that years ago, and I found out about it and made it known. Nobody likes disingenuous people. It's also a lot of work if you have sign up questions, and you would have to create so many fake email addresses.

The best way to success is innovative thinking and hard work. Cheating will only get you but so far.

[HELP SEEKER]

its not that 'horrible' you can have one google apps email and set it to catch all, so you dont need creating emails, just adding new prefix. (or even set ning , while creating fake members to 'no need of email verification) , fake members for starters always good,

also a tip:

in language editor you find  text from sign up page i.e: 

…and 38 more, so text is '…and %1$s more' and add 0 after 's' so to look like …and %1$s0 more , -- that will add 0 to amount of members :)

horrible/not horrible, - but that is valid topic.

[Thomas Hoey]

I agree. Here's a thought. If your network has the right target group of people. Just get ten friends to sign up and ask them to get 10 each. It is a proven method. But....you have to have the right subject and if the subject is too general...your network will likely fail. Example. Network for Skateboarders in NYC. Great and will do well. But... network for those people who live in NYC. Probably will fail. Bottom line. If you have interesting and well targeted subject matter, you won't have to go after too many people. They will come to you from those first ten members.

There is no rationale that I would buy to set up fake members. Been there, done that and believe me it took a while to recover from that mistake.

[Aanu Bello]

creating fake members dont really work....... how can you control the fake members? replying to post, mails and so on

[HELP SEEKER]

in language editor you find  text from sign up page

i.e: …and 38 more, so text is '…and %1$s more' and add 0 after 's' so to look like …and %1$s0 more , -- that will add 0 to amount of members (in that case will show 380:) or you can add 1, 2 or 3 before %1$s , so will show 138 etc

[Josh Hall]

High PR backlinks. Only way I got thousands