Why is Somersoft Forums so successful?

[Marc]

Hi all,

Looking around somersoft forums it is hard not to be impressed at the amount of content and registered users around !

This leads to a question...

Why is somersoft forums so successful ?

Is it the 80/20 rule - 80% of the content is posted and answered by 20% of the registered users ?

What about the other Aussie forums ? What are they doing that stops them from being as large ?

What would happen to somersoft if a more aggressive advertising strategy was implemented ?

Best regards

Marc

 

[zamaz]

I think that the majority of members of the forum are here through their knowledge of Jan Somers or similar mided investors - maybe advertising may bring in more sharks disguised as helpful people - seems like people here are pretty genuine as they've made the effort to find this forum.

 

[Gill Bates]

Re
What about the other Aussie forums ? What are they doing that stops them from being as large ?

Somersoft forum has been going for a few years more than Say Steve McNights http://www.propertyinvesting.com/forum/
Or
Geoff Doidge's http://www.renos.com.au forum
( Do not know about ninmsn one - have never used it )

observation, somersoft forum was 1st so it gets most momentum - difficult to use a number of forums - ie different sw - different interfaces - so most users just tend to use one.

So i believe it is the size it is , because it was first or close to first.

I think serious investors recognize the internet as a tool for property investment. Advertising would bring, more members , it would mean more management for the moderators,

I actually found this forum a long time ago from a reference on Geoff Doidges site. I would be wary of advertising , because in other situations i have seen it bring in a lot of newbie’s , a high proportion are impatient and tend to clutter up forums by asking same questions.

I agree with zamaz - about that the forum is successful because people have made a definite effort to find it and as a result they recognize the value of it.

 

[geoffw]

The Somers site is probably an attractive one for advertisers, due to the high traffic of specialised interest people.

Jan and Ian run this out of their own pocket- there is a lot of technical support work required from time to time, as well as the hosting costs. But I understand they would prefer to keep it this way rather than cash in on its popularity.

Thank you Jan and Ian!

 

[Gill Bates]

Observation, if advertizing was to be accepted , it could place the owners/moderators in a difficult position - what would happen if a user critized a advertizers product or recommended competitors etc .

I also realize the software setup/ management / bandwidth / message storage of the board , as well as the work of moderaters work is quite generous.

Advertizing can also be discreet, an example is the adds on google. I hate adds that take up a large part of the page or significantly slow down dage downloading.

 

[Sim]

I think we are talking about two different things here - advertising of the forum in other mediums, and advertising of goods and services on the forum.

As far as advertising the forum itself - other than the occasional link on another site or forum, the Somersoft forum is advertised quite heavily - in every book sold by Jan !!

I've lost count of the number of people (myself included) who came across the Somers website and hence the forum through reading Jan's books (the URL was included on some of the more recently published books)... and I know that Jan herself has mentioned it in her seminars she presents - so a lot of "word of mouth" type marketing gets done.

 

[Jas]

Speaking as someone who didn't come across the site from one of Jan's books, I found it via a web search.

I think the forum's so successful partially becuase its non-financial. There's no advertising, which means the community feel is strong.

Becuase there's a strong community, we can take the occassional spammer, and correct the advertisers.

Becuase its been around for a while, we know each other, and are willing to share more. We don't need the fights and one-upmanship that can ruin a forum.

Lastly, a nod to the moderators. The nudge people heading down the wrong path, ban people if they have to, and generally keep the place on an even keel. Good moderation is worth its weight.


Jas

 

[jahn]

Hi
I came across the forum from Jan's last book, and believe their are quite a few reasons for the success and popularity. Most already mentioned, but to add a couple;

Length of time in itself verifies success/worth

Quality is hard to find, but easy to stay with in regard;
Usability
Helpful, no hesitation, advise from people who have obviously 'been there, done that'
It's enjoyable to read, learn and participate in conversations re a subject that so many people are passionate about, and don't mind sharing their secrets (had an Aunt who always used to leave out an ingrediant in a recipe so her original ways always 'better' )
I could go on, but Marc, who cares what the others are doing? but good post.
Thanks Somersoft
Thanks Moderators
Thanks contributors

jahn
(Hard to do the above without sounding like a suckup )

 

[Olly]

I found this site quite by accident. I stumbled upon another property investment site, the Steve Mcnights one, and in one of the posts someone had mentioned that in another forum they belonged to that out of the 3 popular property investment sites (Steve Mcnights, the MSN Groups one and this one) that the Seve Mcnights one was considered the best.

From there I sussed out the other 2 mentioned, the MSN Groups one, then this one and haven't bothered returning to the others!!! Bif mistake posting THAT thread!

Have already got involvement with a totally unrelated MSN group site and they are not easy to navigate and search through so couldn't be bothered with that one and the Steve McNight one is limited to cash flow thinking.

This one is far and away the best as it covers any and every aspect of property investing and some. A well thought out site that's easy to use, great people willing to share thier experiences and advice, and help you with scenarios and crunch numbers, monthly social get togethers to meet the people behind the names and get some face to face conversation - what more could a person ask for?

One of THE most useful sites I've ever come across.

Take a bow folks!

Cheers
Olly

 

[kuso]

Originally posted by Olly
I found this site quite by accident. I stumbled upon another property investment site, the Steve Mcnights one, and in one of the posts someone had mentioned that in another forum they belonged to that out of the 3 popular property investment sites (Steve Mcnights, the MSN Groups one and this one) that the Seve Mcnights one was considered the best.

I believe I was led here by the same post.

The pure amount of knowledge here is what attracted me in the first place ( Threads: 9,016, Posts: 63,430 ), and I did several searches when I first arrived, and found multiple answers to each of them.

The modding here seems to be done very well too, with the mods being wonderful sources of info themselves, rather than just moderating.

And this is stupid, but the place almost has a secretive feel to it

Very well set up, and run.

 

[Sim]

Thanks for the kind words - I know the other moderators appreciate it as much as I do.

We try very hard to maintain the fine line between moderation and overzealousness. I know at some time people tend to feel we over-police the forum, but in general there is a LOT of debate that goes on behind the scenes about how we (the moderators) should act on a particular issue. We have a very active moderator forum where we spend a lot of time considering our positions on posts or threads that have caused concern (frequently raised by forum members themselves).

I know we don't always get it right - and there is almost never a right or wrong approach to these things - and sometimes we need to take a fairly hard line on some issues to maintain the integrity and direction of the forum.

Some people may disagree with some of the action taken, but please trust me that we agonise over the decisions we make. We do have a policy of not actually deleting posts - we move them to a special "trashcan" where we can take our time to decide on an appropriate course of action and if necessary, re-instate the post back to its original location in the forums. Fortunately, we rarely feel the need to "trash" any posts.

Please also note that while you all do indeed have the right to hold and express your own opinions, sometimes these are not appropriate for our forums whether for legal reasons or for subject reasons (there are some subjects which will merely inflame anger and personal attacks and for the sanity of the forum we prefer to avoid such subjects). We tend to take the approach of the wishes of the many over the "rights" of the few. If you don't like this policy, then please feel free to find another forum for you to express your right of opinion - there are plenty out there.

So keep up the great work people - and please believe me when I say, we could set up the best software available with the best facilities and services, and we could employ the best moderators and subject matter experts, but the forum itself would still be of little value if it wasn't for the members who all share their wealth of knowledge and contribute to this being the best property investment forum in Australia. Thanks for your efforts !

 

[watto]

No probs Sim....


cheers
watto

 

[Jimmyjamjars]

So keep up the great work people

You too, Sim.
This is the only site I think I'm now addicted to.
I take my hat off to you and the moderators, and I don't think you over-police the forum. The balance is perfect or close to it, THIS is what makes it stand out from the others. And like Jas said, the absence of one-upmanship or intra-forum squabbles makes it a fun site to be a part of.
Thanks everyone,
JIM

 

[mmerlin]

I think the Somersoft Forums are successful...

- firstly for the wealth of information and opinions that are shared here

- secondly because people like to associate (even virtually) with similarly like minded people

- thirdly the subject matter. We all want to become financially independent, and property investment is one way to get there.

 

[see_change]

Sim

Talking about the trash Can

What about my limerick .....

see change

 

[paul_s]

I would say its a combination of many factors which the forum seems to have got just right

-Appropriate moderation especially having lots of "expert in the field" mods
-Good quality, easy to use software
-Jan Somers owning the site which is likely a huge drawcard for the site and gives instant credibility
-Momentum which isn't really easy for competing sites to develop
-Marketing - I would assume the site gets a reasonable amount of press and probably is mentioned in most of Jan's books? The site also seems to be well ranked in search engines (I found it in google - was looking for a property forum)

 

[sbe]

No No NO.....



It all much more sinister......

You see, this forum is more adictive than alcohol, drugs, smoking and the like.

The Surgeon General's too busy with the other stuff and hasn't found this yet, so can't issue a health warning!!!

Can't you picture it?

WARNING:
Frequenting this forum will lead to more time spent online, not doing the work you are paid to do.

WARNING:
This site may lead to financial independance.

WARNING:
Property is addictive.

WARNING:
Property infects your brain.