LURKERS,and,BABBLERS,the,Make- DIY LURKERS and BABBLERS and the Make-Up of Your Subscriber Base
When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in
I see comments from frustrated list owners all of the time. Theyget frustrated because they have started discussion lists whereno discussions take place... sure, they have subscribers, butdiscussions are scarce. Out of frustration, these list ownersinvariably throw their hands up and walk away from their lists.If you are one of these discussion list owners, then this articleis for you.I have been managing discussion lists on the net for nearly twoyears.Truth is, the average list has 28 MEMBERS. And, chances are 24 of the lists' members are LURKERS. Lurkers are those who are members, but never post a single question or comment to the list. Every list has them. Yet, most list owners are frustrated by the lurkers. They would like to see discussions on their lists, so that they may be educated the same as the lurker.I have one list that is a discussion type technical support list. I have 140 members on that list and 120 of them are only lurkers. This list is set up for the lurkers who have computer problems to ask their questions, and the professionals answer the questions. Many of the lurkers find this an interesting and educational forum in which they only participate when theyhave questions.This list will go often times for up to 8 weeks without a single question being posted, and then pow, ten questions in two days.If you are interested in exploring this list, then pleasevisit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WindStorm to get the details.Most discussion lists top out in membership around 150 members.There are of course exceptions to this rule, but more often than not, a discussion list will hold between 20 and 150 members.Lurkers are actually really good for a list. They lurk behind the scenes learning from those of us who are the BABBLERS. People want to learn, that is why they are lurking on your list in the first place. Lurkers are the learning population on theweb, while the babblers are the teachers on the web.If you are a babbler, then this is your chance to become known.If you are in business on the web, and you are a babbler, yourbusiness will eventually benefit from this fact. By being a teacher, you are lifting yourself up on a pedestal that fewpeople want to be on. You are lifting yourself into a positionof trust and respect. The lurkers on your list will begin to trust and respect yourpoint of view. When they are ready to purchase what it isthat you sell, the lurkers are more likely to buy from you as opposed to buying from a stranger. Even on the web, people tend to buy from only those whom they trust. As a discussion list owner, it is very important to rememberthat there are 3 types of people subscribed to your list.First there are MEMBERS. Out of the list of MEMBERS, you willdiscover the other two types of people subscribed to your list, LURKERS and BABBLERS.The BABBLERS will keep your list active, and the LURKERS willremain to give the BABBLERS a steady audience. If you would like more BABBLERS on your list to keep thingsinteresting for you too, then you need to get your subscriberbase up. No matter which list I own, moderate, or subscribeto, it seems that no more than 17% of the membership baseare BABBLERS. And the remaining 83% are LURKERS.That is the reality of life on the Internet. So, don't despairor disparage your lurkers. They are your lifeblood. Treat themas such, and they will treat you well without typing a singlekeystroke to the list. Article Tags: List Owners, Discussion Lists, Discussion List
LURKERS,and,BABBLERS,the,Make-