Hi ning friends

[Ryan Mclaughlin]

I have took the plunge and upgraded to pro for a month to see if i can try and save my network -my members love it problem is I don't have an admin team with any experience and i cant drive new membership.

I am trying to engage with poll daddy and the answers apps but im all out of idea's and funds and my members are getting bored with lack of network activity ! 

Could any of the creators please critic my network and offer any advice - I am way past being offended by opinions it's simply now succeed or close.

I didnt start to fail and dont intend to allow it to fail but need a little help 

thanks in advance 

Ryan 

http://shineonms.com 

[lorianne]

Hi Ryan -  I am a newbie, but I think your site looks very professional and slick. I did notice that your blogs seem a bit more active and interesting than your forum, so you might want to pop that module to the top of the center column rather than the forum.

When I look at a site I am looking for things that will interest & engage me, so the forum with its sort of site business & posts geared toward folks that are already members may not be the best thing to put forward for a first impression. The blog posts looked much more engaging to me. I would say the same for the members photos being front & center.

It seems you have a lot of really good information on your site and it would be a shame to have that info not be shared. I have had great luck using Twitter to get new members. My 'niche' is a lot less specific than yours, but I did a search on Twitter to find writers and bloggers and followed a bunch of interesting ones... they in turn followed me back. My twitter is auto-fed using a networked blogger feed to keep my Tweets fresh and active, but I also make efforts to re-tweet my followers interesting posts. These efforts have paid off in others joining my network.

I would imagine that within your niche there are forums and things of that sort all over the internet. Find them & participate in interesting ways if you can and be sure to have your Ning's link in your signature on those forums. I 'stole' several bloggers from Wordpress where I found cool bloggers who weren't getting many commenters or readers by simply commenting on their blogs and having my Ning link in my signature.

Hang in there... I wish you luck with it.

[Alan Mclaughlin]

Hi Lorraine

Ryans dad here I will take your advice and be sure act upon  the tips you have given sadly we just been so busy as my wife was on life support for months and we spent most of out time at her bedside - I will be sure to copy Ryan in on the discussion !

[Jen]

Ryan,

Hey there, Buddy. How's your Mum doing?  I for one wish that Ning would take notice and feature your Network, somewhere, somehow.

Your story, your work, even recognition from the "Pride of Britain", and the love for your Mother (Mum) and others with MS - - is more than amazing, especially at your age. Maybe Ning will read this and consider giving your Ning Community a boost (a feature), in the name of a cure for Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Fellow Network Creators:

If you want to learn more about this amazing young man and his tireless and selfless efforts to make a difference for the cure of MS, just google:

ryan mclaughlin ms

If you have ever considered a small donation for a good cause, please do. Ryan has done all this, helped with his family when Mum is hospitalized, and kept up his school work and even sports. In 2010, he was awarded:

Pride of Britain Award Winners 2010 - TEENAGER OF COURAGE

 

 

Hugs and love to you and your family,

Jen

[SweetPotato]

+1 for Jen 's idea of Ning featuring it, maybe here.

My cousin was recently diagnosed with MS so I will certainly let her know about it.

The suggestion about moving the blog to front and center seems like a good idea as it's a pretty active part of your site. I'd also consider making the site public to get more organic traffic, although I understand that might be a sensitive issue if people are talking candidly about their condition.

Have you approached the big charities with a view to getting some coverage and maybe them recommending your network?
SP

[Jen]

Thanks SP. It would be awesome if Ning featured Ryan's Network.

I hope your cousin does well.

[SweetPotato]

Thanks Jen

Now i've actually watched the video I see my answer was wholly inadequate. Seems the major charities know plenty about Ryan. Hell, even Sir Alan or Lord sugar, or whatever we call him these days, does!

I do think that making the site public might help, though. I don't know if you already have leading doctors, politicians or campaigners on the site, but you could approach them for guest blog spots like Iorianne suggested. Are there authors on the subject who might contribute? (especially ones with books out soon?)
SP

[Alan Mclaughlin]

Many thanks for the pointer on the privacy settings for some reason we only got new members when we hid the content but totally agree and have just made it public on your gr8 advice !

[Jen]

I know. Amazing. I'm not sure what to suggest. There's bound to be some high profile sites that would add a link to http://shineonms.com to help the momentum. I know Ryan and Alan have been so busy helping with Kirsten (Mum), that they haven't had much time for the site.

I agree on the privacy of the site. Except that I have no idea how members would feel about that. I'm sure Alan (Dad) and Ryan must have thought about this. At least the home page is public.

[Alan Mclaughlin]

made public so we fully benefit from the google+ features going to go thru the campaign sites seo settings and see if i can find my yahoo and msn webmaster keys it may be able to get me a bit more exposure !

I also have a linkdex and seomoz account that I can also use however any seo work will come after i resolve a landing page and find the right apps to engage with members

[SweetPotato]

I think with some minor tweaks your homepage as you have it is a great 'landing' page. Focus on google indexing, check out soaring eagle's sitemap advice, and target facebook likes for your fanpage. Shout if you need help. If you are ever in london and need free assistance we can meet for a coffee or pint.
Sp

[Alan Mclaughlin]

thanks for the lovely comments I had prob's with the slider and I had hoped to add new images into new slides rather than having to build a new landing page and confusing people with a disease that effects memory etc

mmm will rethink the landing page and concentrate on the forum fix and related content etc - I will check out soaring eagles sitemap advice TY

[lorianne]

Jen - thanks for sharing this information.

Ryan - I only have about 200 Twitter followers, but the vast majority of them are professional writers. If you wrote me a brief "call for content" (140 characters tweet) asking for stories or articles around your topic I would be more than happy to share it via Twitter and possibly get you some quality content or a guest blogger.

A guest blog or two from someone with an interest in your niche (I'm sure theyre out there) would mean the guest blogger would likely tweet their article and put it in front of even more eyes.

It just seems that more eyes on your page would result in more engagement since it is a great site.

Just let me know if I you want to give it a try.