What can Mahalo Community do to stop losses of active members and is it feasible or wise to try to keep them?
I thought it was odd that Mahalo didn't send some sort of email indicating anything along the lines of "What's new?", "Mahalo continues to grow, come see" or "Where have you been?".
Game sites, Social sites and various sites I am a member of all hit me with some sort of auto-mailed comment about my inactivity.
As a secondary thought, if we do lose folks due to whatever reason, is it better to let them go or encourage them to re-visit us when time permits?
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M$6 Answers
The ultimate goal, to me, is to provide an experience at Mahalo Answers that's compelling enough to make you want to come back again and again, without having to be reminded. Remember, if you are asking questions and actively participating in the site, you do have the option to get status updates via e-mail. That is a much more powerful motivator to come back, I think, than just an e-mail reminding you that we exist, though both are solid enough ideas.
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M$2. Mahalo 2.0 is going to have a feature which will drive folks to come back to the site multiple times a day to check on their pages... more on this to come.
3. It seems to me like the Q&A portion of Mahalo is not for everyone. some folks love answering questions every day, most do not. So, I think we get some folks who are excited about the quick belt levels at the start and the perhaps the promise of "easy money." Of course, there is no "easy money" to be had... the Mahalo Dollars are not intended to be a major motivational factor. The big motivation should be the joy of answering questions and being part of the community. So, if we lose the folks out for a quick buck that is ok.
4. We need stats on where folks drop off... like does everyone drop off at day 20 or answer 300? Where are the cliffs. That's what I would like to know. unfortunately the stats package we made for Mahalo Answers 1.0 was horrible and didn't tell us much... Mahalo Answers has a great 2.0 stat package that should help a LOT.
5. I think it's a great idea to open up people's profile pages and send them a note if you haven't seen them in a little while. I do that sometimes!
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M$
@Jason That's good news... You have to keep encouraging members to keep coming back!
I was hospitalised recently, and was away for a cpl weeks, and although I was kinda interested in getting back to Mahalo, somehow it didn't happen. it then took one email from a friend in the community, and i was intrigued once again!
UPDATE: I went through the top 50 members or so and there were only a half dozen or so who had not logged in the last month or so. I directed messaged them (direct question) asking them how they were doing and TWO of them got right back to me and explained they were busy with their "lives."
I'm not sure that this "lives" thing is... is that the thing you do when not on Answers? :-)
Anyway, run from #100 up to 1 in the most active lists and you'll see that actually very few are dropping out!
yagelski.......you addressed one of the issues I was trying to ask. Should we try to retain people with little knowledge or interest in what the REAL point is here.
One point though....when I found the site, I was quite unaware of how to procede the way the community wants.....with time, I learned what was really going on and how to help.
SO...sometimes newbies can be a great addition and therefore can't be automatically written off.
Thanks for addressing one of my concerns that no one else did.
Very glad to read your point number 3 Jason. We've all noticed members who come out of the gate with a bang and provide a bunch of bad answers to get the easy 4 points. Once the thoughts of easy money fade, they often become inactive.
It would not seem necessary to send these inactive members a wake-up call, but it may also be difficult for Mahalo 2.0 to discern who should receive a reminder and who should be left idle.
Good luck with that!
I think 2-3 times a month or whenever changes occur would be great to send gentle reminders. It is easy to get sidetracked which I did over vacation. Because my social sites reminded me via email with a link....I naturally went there for a minute or two.
EXCEPT.....Mahalo is more interesting and I spend more time here than any site other than email.
I agree with keeping stats on the folks we lose....I know some of the names I saw my first day back are new and some old names haven't been active in a few. Naturally we have summer coming so some people will come and go as I did.
I don't think that losing the few people that want to test the water and move on is a bad thing. I'd prefer to have people that enjoy and research instead of people just jumping on every "bonus" question to get points fast.
The main thing that discouraged me from answering tons of questions like I used to was finding out I could not cash out unless I filled out a W-9 form. What a hassle! I decided not to, but I don't answer questions on Mahalo Answers nearly as often.
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M$
I am no tax expert, but having worked in a field where tips have to be claimed, I assume the W-9 is an IRS mandate, not Mahalo's. They likely have rules they must follow to be able to let us earn money.
I'm by no means rich and won't turn away cash, but if money was my driving force, I would find another way to earn more. Since I haven't earned enough to use this, it seems I am being foolish, but in my few months here, I've tossed questions back with nice tips to learn AND build the database for future users.
Thanks for your input. I appreciate when people get involved in my questions.
Exactly! Mahalo Answers continues to improve, and often there are big changes. I'd love to get these noteworthy updates delivered via email (and it would increase traffic too).
That's great feedback. I think a quick newsletter to the members would be a great idea. I could tell folks what new features have arrived and how to leverage them. Sort of like Steve Case's member notes from back in the day.
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M$
ME TOO! I've returned to ask some questions and gather information-give away tips, etc-and while I answer some questions, I don't answer NEARLY as many as before.
Is the W-9 a Mahalo issue or does it fall under the same rules as EBaby or any income?
I assume it is law not Mahalo.
@ notshocked22, its a law, if you make $600 or more a year you have to fill out a W-9 form, the Mahalo issue comes in when they want your private info after collecting money for the first time before you can collect it a second time. I feel if I make under $600 a year at Mahalo there is no reason for them or anyone else to have my private info.
As for the casual user, who stops in only when they have a question, I think that shows that the site is doing its job. There's no need to come back again and again for similar questions if the question was answered right the first time, which it usually is with our awesome core user group. :-)
(Disclaimer: this is where personal opinion begins) Mahalo has never really been the sort of company that's going to shove itself down your throat through e-mails. Our motto is "we're here to help." How do those type of e-mails help the user? What a user really wants is great service. Most of the time, those types of e-mails go unread anyway, or sit idly in a spam folder.
Now what we will give a little "force" to are services such as "pulling" questions from Twitter users. While importing questions from unsuspecting users has come under question, I think the consensus is that it's ultimately a positive decision. It provides more options to the Mahalo Answers users, and provides great answers to the Twitter users' questions. It's giving users what they want.
Tons of people ask questions that nobody has an answer for. We can provide them with that answer.
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M$
When I say core group what I really meant was frequent users. Guess I should have just come out and said it then, huh?
I appreciate your well though out answer.
This is my own personal idea and opinion. A well thought out reminder does hlep me know I am a valued member, not a petty minion easily cast off.
As to "how it helps the user" the friend I mentioned in the question pointed this out. It helps members see what has changed or that their voice is needed to expand our knowledge base. While she is great at pop-culture answers, she finds herself learning from the community, so gentle reminders help her when she has time to access us.
Core group of users is a little vague to me.
I have high speed in my home and hit the site some days for hours and other days only if I'm following a question of interest.
I did however get a friend that accesses at her local library to join and she is only on when she gets to the library AND has no line behind her. I just checked her prof and it averages about every 10 days.
Just a point to consider.
I hate getting emails telling me I've been missed or something! If I'm engaged, I'll come back naturally, not because of an email...
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M$
That clearly is my personal surf habit. A site I want to be part of is like my favorite friend or restaurant....I find time.
My question was more to the folks that stop in and need prodding to contribute because of busy schedules or liking other sites more. They still can be important contributors, so I asked SHOULD we try to draw them back into the fold.
Thanks for answering!
I don't want bombarded either and that is a great point, but a quick link when something new happens or I've been inactive isn't going to drive me nuts when spam keeps slipping through that I didn't sign up for.
My point was more about the fact that some newbies with valuable contributions may need a gently nudge.