How do we get more members???

[Serg]

So I was looking around today and I went to look at the Honda S2000 forum www.s2ki.com HOLLY SMOKES!! They have over 43,000 registered members! Honda S2000's have only been around since 2000.. Land Rovers have been around since 1947.. what the heck am I doing wrong here people???? I know that S2000 owner tend to be younger and more tech savvy than Land Rover owners (based on survey info I have read) but still... we should be able to get at least 1/2 that many... I know this site is only 1 1/2 years old..

I am ALWAYS looking for ideas on how we can increase membership here. Any and all suggestions will be taken seriously. If anyone has any contacts in the Automotive Press or other related industry and can give some suggestions, or contacts, that would be great! I want to make this the best and largest Land Rover forum site around.. we are getting there as it is! Thank you all for making this place you Land Rover home!


Serg

[cellulararrest]

At quick glance, it seems the number of members has definitely been increasing steadily. Word is beginning to spread. As you said, LRO is only 1 1/2 years old. Who knows how long that s2000 forums has been around.

[bernardmann]

I think one thing you should do is start getting some banner partnerships with other websites. Get ahold of other webmasters and agree to post a banner for their site on LRO and in exchange, they post an LRO banner on their site. It's a win/win situation, both get free advertising. I think LR Indy shops would be a great start. Another plus is that there is no "sponsorship" type of BS that you have to deal with.

[02disco2]

How many members do we have now?

<edit> nevermind, found it at the bottom.

[FrankyRizzo]

Maybe if we stopped bagging on the inferior 4 bys out there they might be inclined to join us...

I am sorry....that slipped out.
I like our holier than your offroad vehicle approach to life.

In reality the members of the 2000 board just want to be associated with it. I bet 90% of them don't own one. You have to consider the amount of Hondas there are and how big that market is. Their stuff can be cheap as well. Our parts and gear is not the cheapest out so you are catering to a higher group of people. I consider myself lucky to own a Rover. Most of the owners I see at our meetings are older "over the hill" types because that is the time of life most feel they can afford one. I have respect for my elders so don't think I am digging on them. Then we have the other end of the spectrum with every rapper driving a RR Sport who probably doesn't care if our forum exists.

Unless parts and the cost of offroading a Rover come down, I don't think it will happen very soon.

[ish]

Hey Serge....how about a wet land rover contest..........or we could just wet the hotties down and get them to stand next to our LR's...........I'll go back to sleep now..

[errant]

Maybe you men should start showing a little more leg

[Funrover]

Originally Posted by errant

Maybe you men should start showing a little more leg

Are yoou sure you want me to do that? LOL

[bishopsales]

It is hard to get the name out. I have a very good friend that has importclassifieds.com, midnitchallenge.com, topshift.com and groupmediaci.com.

THey specialize on the net and their main task is getting the name out. I will ask him for some advice.

Here are some ideas

1) Make a logo page on this site where members can pull logos, pre-made (like google) banners, and link text to use on personal e-mails and websites.

2) Set up local gtg in your area to promote brand awareness and the forum. We did it for clubfocus.net and focusbc.com (?). Worked great. I still go to the local Foci meets as they are great shows. When ever our shop gets a new focus call, we let the people know about the local focus community and to visit the site. We will do the same and if others in the industry do as well, it just increases the sites awareness.

3) Recipical links - make a link to us page with formatted text so people can take and submit links. If also done right, will increase page rank and get better results in google search.

4) E_mail every shop in every Land Rover mag and ask them to link to the site and offer a link in the recipical links page.

5) contact Land Rover USA or Canada, or where ever you are and tell them about the forum and ask to be on the media list. This forum is a great resource for them and all this forum dose is guarantee customers. With the press releases, this site then becomes a news source.

6) Get more local writters to write tech pieces and stories. Almost have a side off shoot of the site that is a mini-rover mag.

7) Biz sponsorship - I know my biz would do it.

THere are a few....

[bishopsales]

And also, monthly newsletters and offer biz to have links on it. Then if you have no news, you atleast have sponsor links.

There are a ton of members in the member list with little or no posts. We need them back and to get them active.

Also, maybe make some goups where people can help with the site in marketing. Banner designer, storys, tech, installs, recipical links, newsletter departments. Spread out the work for you so it is not to much. Also you will get members that have skills in these areas so you will get the best results.

[DiscoTex]

Originally Posted by bishopsales

It is hard to get the name out. I have a very good friend that has importclassifieds.com, midnitchallenge.com, topshift.com and groupmediaci.com.

THey specialize on the net and their main task is getting the name out. I will ask him for some advice.

Here are some ideas

1) Make a logo page on this site where members can pull logos, pre-made (like google) banners, and link text to use on personal e-mails and websites.

2) Set up local gtg in your area to promote brand awareness and the forum. We did it for clubfocus.net and focusbc.com (?). Worked great. I still go to the local Foci meets as they are great shows. When ever our shop gets a new focus call, we let the people know about the local focus community and to visit the site. We will do the same and if others in the industry do as well, it just increases the sites awareness.

3) Recipical links - make a link to us page with formatted text so people can take and submit links. If also done right, will increase page rank and get better results in google search.

4) E_mail every shop in every Land Rover mag and ask them to link to the site and offer a link in the recipical links page.

5) contact Land Rover USA or Canada, or where ever you are and tell them about the forum and ask to be on the media list. This forum is a great resource for them and all this forum dose is guarantee customers. With the press releases, this site then becomes a news source.

6) Get more local writters to write tech pieces and stories. Almost have a side off shoot of the site that is a mini-rover mag.

7) Biz sponsorship - I know my biz would do it.

THere are a few....

8) (and this works btw) make a flier with info about the site for members to print out. I used to have a Bronco, and at fullsizebronco.com, one of the administrators made a flier with a pic of a bad ass bronco and info about the site. I stuck that flier on some of the Broncos that I've seen around my area, and those people actually signed up. Not only does that get more word of mouth, and more members, but it gets more members local to your area that you can meet up with at a later date.

... and it would be specially helpful for me as there's a hot girl driving a D1 with a roof rack and a "Hummer Recovery Vehicle" tire cover around my school that I can't seem to meet up with, so this would definetly help...

[ish]

Serg - DiscoTex actually has a really good idea regarding the print out pamphlet that members could print out on their own computers and stick on windshields of other LR's.
My local Porsche club has these pamplets printed out for members to use this way........and it works!!!!!

[ish]

Originally Posted by errant

Maybe you men should start showing a little more leg

Hey....I am willing to show a little for a good cause.......or just for the hell of it..lol

[AAXD]

I think Bishopsales has a pretty good idea about making a newsletter. I have enough stories about my rovers to make a good column, plus I love to write, I'm sure many of our members would also be willing to write articles. A mini-mag would probably be a huge boost to membership. Once we can establish a good group of stories on a regular basis, a good reputation will soon follow.

[Serg]

Just so you guys know here is what I have done in the past:

Press releases to media
Links... you have to get links on high ranking pages. Links on pages that have low page rank will lower my rank in the search engines as well. This is a key strategy of search engine optimization.
Magazine... I have some ads I am working on placing in several large LR mags.
LR themselves.. I don't want to be tied to them. I want to stay independent.
I run Google AdWords campaigns etc on a monthly basis.. I spend on average about $500 a month on advertising this place.
Sent flyers and stickers to some major LR events
I would love to go to one of the big LR shows to pass out flyers. I am going to see if I can get some of the show promoters in the UK (mostly the mags) to include a flyer about this site with every reg packet... anyone with any connections to any LR mags in the UK, I would love to hear from you.

All the ideas are good.. if anyone has any connections or expertise in any areas, especially Search Engine Optimization (Search Engine Optimization) I would be very happy to hear from you... I have a pretty low rang on Google.. if I can get that up, we are half way there. I am more than willing to pay for SEO, but I don't know who can do a good job out of all the SEO companies out there...

Anyhow, keep the ideas coming... thanks!