Raj Technologies Pvt. Ltd. - Blog

By Matt Haughey


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I'm frequently asked how Raj Technologies came to be, what the secret is, and what I've learned in the process of building it. I didn't have a tidy plan or set path when I started, I watched several big communities grow from nothing and prosper and I took my lead from them, but a good lot of what I know now was gained from trial and error. During those first few months, I picked up a lot of experience in dealing with new members, and got a chance to try out several different techniques to help growth and deal with problems. I noticed a lot of trends, I made a few mistakes, but above all I learned a lot in the process.

I'm here today to tell you the dos-and-don'ts of building a website community, but I can only give general guidelines. Every community is different, and every administrator of a community is different, so an aspiring community leader needs to adjust adjust accordingly.

...In case you were wondering, the title is a bit of a joke, building a website into a vibrant community filled with many contributors is very difficult and is impossible to break down the exact steps, but I'll do my best.

1. Make sure you really want to do this
You know how interviewers ask someone who has lived a full life and they're near death, if they could re-live their life again, what they would do different? You have to ask yourself that before you lift a finger building a community. Are you ready to be a leader? Are you ready to do all the work necessary to create not just a normal, engaging website, but one that many others can use? Are you ready to spend every waking moment watching it? Are you ready to stay up all night re-coding main areas of the site after someone hacks the files? Are you ready to keep it up, day in and day out for as long as you can stand it?

I can't underestimate how much time you will spend on a community website. It will take longer to create, often months to get rolling, with constant tweaking and twiddling of the code to keep everything running smoothly. I was lucky when I started MetaFilter because at that point in my life, I had plenty of free time, I was itching to learn a new programming language, and I had a laid-back job where I could take lots of little breaks to check in on the site. If someone asked me if I'd do it all over again starting today with my current life, I probably wouldn't, because I don't really have the time and energy to start a new multi-user community site from scratch.

This is the most challenging point in the list, but it's good to get this one figured out before you plunge full speed into new development.

2. Have both a compelling idea and compelling content
There are lots of possible reasons to start a community, but generally it's good to focus on a specific topic. Having a specific topic means you'll have an easier time explaining your site's purpose, and quickly find like-minded people to contribute their thoughts and content to your community. MetaFilter was created with the loosest of intentions, to simply have a weblog that covered anything on the web, and it took about nine months of daily posting before anyone noticed it existed. I guess having comments and allowing others to post was a compelling enough idea that lead to a busy site, but a frequent question from first time visitors was (and still is) "what's this site all about?" If my site was a model airplane owner's group site, with a well-defined mission and idea for its purpose, I'm sure I could have found other members a lot sooner.

Compelling content is more important than you probably think. The most well-defined group purpose, with lots of motivated members, will go nowhere unless there is something to draw everyone together and get people contributing. This rule could go for any site really, but it's important to have the best possible writing, design, photography, etc. that you can, and update as often as possible. This is where community sites can excel over single person operations. With a diverse enough membership, you can have an expert artist, fantastic writers, great photographers, and senior programmers to build the best community site imaginable, and everyone pitching in can update the content on a frequent basis. It's not exactly easy to get big membership numbers on which to draw for ongoing content, first you have to convince people to join your site, and contribute or comment on other work, and for that you need to start with good content. It's sort of a Catch-22, but once you get a group of members creating good content, it creates a strong positive feedback loop that leads to growth, popularity and quality.

3. Seed content sets the stage
In the early months of a community site, it's important that there is good content there, and that the comments or audience interaction are as close to optimal as possible, so that others reading the site can get a feel for how they are expected to act. If you're building a site that covers politics and you're dreaming of lively debate with a specific slant, make sure your first few articles, essays, or threads cover a good topic, and that some discussion follows where users (more than one) are debating things in an intelligent way. New members will see what is currently on the site, and react accordingly. If there is considerate and helpful criticism, others will usually follow. If there are "first posts!" and posts making threats on other members, other such garbage will follow that as well.

If it's a company discussion forum, set up some threads and have some friends start discussions. If it's a community of airplane enthusiasts, try and find 2 or 3 people to help start the site off the same way, by finding content and discussing it in a proper manner. You're not shooting for having hundreds of fake discussion posts with no one, you're just trying to convey a code of conduct by starting with things you can use as examples, and new members can follow.

4. Create some basic guidelines and be as fair as possible
When you're the administrator on a community site, it's important that you set the examples to follow. Post regularly and intelligently, and keep a high profile on the site so others know of your presence (this keeps some troublemakers away, since they know that the site owner will quickly catch wind of their mischief). Follow the Golden Rule, treat others as you would like to be treated, and watch for unsavory patterns that form. If you catch something that's happening with some regularity, and you'd like to see it stop, make it part of the rules of the site, and explain somewhere why people shouldn't do it (start by putting a pointer somewhere near the posting forms, so curious contributors can read them if they like). Keep track of these rules, and put them somewhere people can easily find them on the site. When you have to enforce them, be nice about it, and show people the rules and how they broke them. The world isn't a black-and-white place, so a lot of things will be up to your judgement, but explain as fully as you can why you chose to enforce a certain thing, and point out what the person can do to prevent it from happening again.

What users of a community don't want to see is a headstrong leader who rules with an iron fist, and seems to take pleasure in enforcement. Users also don't want to see a leader that changes his or her mind from day to day, enforcing rules with some users, while letting friends or long time members get away with murder. Users don't want to be yelled at publicly when they make their first mistake, and they want to be given second chances. Fairness and consistency are key practices when you're running an online community.

5. Have a place to talk about the site, somewhere on the site
I've had a lot of success with a special section of MetaFilter designed to talk about issues around the site, bugs and features users wish for, or any etiquette that may have been breached, and I created it because I noticed people were talking about the site on the site itself fairly regularly. Gone unchecked, I noticed it created circular discussions where people talked about other parts of the site on the site itself and it appeared to be senseless navelgazing. Having a separate section conveniently allows that to run in an organized fashion, while at the same time keeping the main site free of looking like one big game of Duck-Duck-Goose. It doesn't necessarily have to be on the site itself, or even on the web. It could be a many-to-many email list for interested parties to participate in, if that will easier for you to implement.

6. Spread the work out as much as possible
If it's possible, have a few trusted friends act as moderators and administrators and allow people to contribute and streamline the code that runs the site. When the day-to-day maintenance can be spread out among several people, it's okay if someone goes on vacation, gets busy with work or gets ill, or takes some time off from the site. If lots of new features are being requested, several people can work on them, and debug them faster. This situation isn't always possible, and there are only a few projects that come to mind, such as evolt.org where a sizeable, diverse group keeps a site running.

7. Deal with troublemakers as quickly and nicely as possible
If you're running a community site of some sort, there's a good chance that people are going to try and mess with it, push the envelope, and hack at it for no good reason. The important thing for you to do as the administrator is deal with problem members as soon as possible and as carefully as possible. If you act rashly, or too strongly, you may incite a casual hacker into a full-blown making-your-life-a-living-hell type of hacker. You want to defuse any situation before it gets out of hand.

Start by emailing the person as soon as you can (but give yourself a little time to think, don't send anything too rashly or in the heat of the moment), and asking them gently if perhaps they didn't catch the guidelines pages, or that you'd prefer if they did their thing in a different way. Be careful of your wording in these emails - you don't want to sound threatening or patronizing in any way. You might want to have a friend review the message before sending it to make sure it's neither of those things. A short email reminding a trouble-making member of the error of their ways can usually take care of 90% of problems. Even if a member is doing something obviously malicious, they'll usually stop when called on it.

If that doesn't stop the problem member, the next thing to do is enforce some sort of penalty. This would usually be something like taking away posting rights or moderation rights, posing some new limit on their participation in the site. You will probably want to email them, letting them know what you've done, why you've done it, and most importantly what they can do to get the ban lifted. Hopefully, you'll never need to proceed after these first two measures, because a situation can quickly escalate into a war of willpower. If you have to start banning members, doing so will prove quite difficult. You may take all rights away from their account, block their IP address or range of IP addresses, and/or remove their contributions from the site. There are trickier means of hiding a problem user's activity from the rest, but I won't go into that here. It's not a path you'll ever want to take, and no one "wins" in the end; it's just a big waste of energy for all involved.

The bottom line is to stop unsavory behavior by defusing nasty situations as early as possible, in as nice of a way as possible.

8. Highlight the good, recognize the work of others
I'm still searching for the perfect way to do this, but you'll encourage good contributions by recognizing and highlighting the best your community has to offer. This is especially true when your community is larger, and you need something to point to as a casual "Hall of Fame" that new users can take their cue from. This can take many forms, you can use voting/moderation to let the community pick its favorites, you can utilize some sort of Brownie Point system where members earn credits for good contributions which are displayed somewhere (an ego stroking stop, basically), or if you're lacking the extra technology just keep track of them by hand in a "Best of" setting.

Building an inviting place that attracts users and maintaining high quality content on a bustling community site is far from easy, but these key points should help get you going in the right direction.


Warm regards,
Matt Haughey
http://www.rajtechnologies.com/

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By Jennifer Irving

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Have you ever met someone who hears you have your own business, and immediately they launch into what they dream being a business owner is? Sleeping in, watching Springer, getting a tan, Shopping….. If only! Starting your own business Requires:

1. Guts. Everyone thinks of starting his or her own business one day. It takes guts to walk away from your “day job” into the uncertain waters ahead.
2. Being open to learning. Since I have started my business, I’ve learned more about marketing than I ever thought I’d need to know. Marketing is so much more than printing up brochures or placing an ad in the newspaper.
3. Dedication. Yes, it’s so much easier to wake up and decide you don’t feel like working today, stay in your jammies and watch TV. But in order to succeed in business, you need to be dedicated to your business. You have to work at it every day. Most of the time longer hours than you ever worked at your “day job.”
4. Passion. When you talk to truly successful people about what keeps them going, what encourages them, why they do what they do, it all boils down to passion. Running a business will take alot out of you. In order to keep going and not give up, you must have passion for what you do. If you’re doing something because someone else wants you to do it or for the money, it will get old real quick. If you don’t truly enjoy what you’re doing, you will never achieve the level of success that is attainable.
5. Desire to help people. Yes, everyone wants to make money. But in order to make your business a success, you must feel a need to help people. When you’re doing something because you want others to succeed, it makes you work that much harder, gives you that extra push, and makes you connect more to your customers. Customers are savvy. They can smell a line of bull a mile away. But if you honestly want to help people, it will show through and that is what draws people to you and your business.
6. Confidence. When you’re a business owner, you’re the face of your company. You need to have the self confidence and ability to talk to people about who you are and what you do. Most businesses rely, to some degree, on networking. If you lack confidence, it’s agonizingly hard to thrust yourself out there and make yourself be seen. Especially if you really don’t want to be seen.
7. The Ability to delegate. When you own a business, you are responsible for everything. Not only sales, but also marketing, accounting, customer service, shipping, administrative, PR, and IT. It’s way too easy to get buried underneath all the responsibilities and feel that because it’s your business, you must do it all. You don’t have to! Delegate! Work with a Virtual Assistant. A virtual assistant can take over the administrative and bookkeeping duties, can help you with marketing campaigns, and even help you bounce around ideas on where you should go or what you should do. Unlike an employee who is only there for the paycheck, a VA wants to see you succeed. Being a business owner is one of the best opportunities you'll ever get. When you're ready to take advantage of it, know what you're getting yourself into and it will go so much smoother.

Warm regards,
Jennifer Irving

http://www.rajtechnologies.com/

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By Niharika Ravia

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1. Barter

If you have a business you should be bartering goods and services with other businesses. You should try to trade for something before you buy it. Barter deals usually require little or no money.

2. Network

Try networking your business with other businesses. You could trade leads or mailing lists. This will cut down on your marketing and advertising costs. You may also try bartering goods and services with them.

3. Wholesale/Bulk

You'll save money buying your business supplies in bulk quantities. You could get a membership at a wholesale warehouse or buy them through a mail order wholesaler. Buy the supplies you are always running out of.

4. Free Stuff

You should try visiting the thousands of freebie sites on the internet before buying your business supplies. You can find free software, graphics, backgrounds, online business services etc.

5. Borrow/Rent

Have you ever purchased business equipment you only needed for a small period of time? You could have just borrowed the equipment from someone else or rented the equipment from a "rent-all" store.

6. Online/Offline Auctions

You can find lower prices on business supplies and equipment at online and offline auctions. I'm not saying all the time, but before you go pay retail for these items try bidding on them first.

7. Plan Ahead

Make a list of business supplies or equipment you'll need in the future. Keep an eye out for stores that have big sales. Purchase the supplies when they go on sale before you need them.

8. Used Stuff

If your business equipment and supplies don't need to be new, buy them used. You can find used items at yard and garage sales, used stores, used stuff for sale message boards and newsgroups etc.

9. Negotiate

You should always try negotiate a lower price for any business equipment or supplies. It doesn't hurt to try. Pretend you are talking to a salesman at a car lot.

10. Search

You can always be searching for new suppliers for your business supplies and equipment. Look for suppliers with lower prices and better quality. Don't just be satisfied with a few.


Warm regards,
Niharika Ravia
http://www.rajtechnologies.com/

P.S. Try this, Friend:
http://www.lankamatrimonial.com
It really works!

By Niharika Ravia

Visit our sponsor:
-------------------------------
http://www.hostmepostme.com
-------------------------------

1. Barter If you have a business you should be bartering goods and services with other businesses. You should try to trade for something before you buy it. Barter deals usually require little or no money.


2. Network Try networking your business with other businesses. You could trade leads or mailing lists. This will cut down on your marketing and advertising costs. You may also try bartering goods and services with them.


3. Wholesale/Bulk You'll save money buying your business supplies in bulk quantities. You could get a membership at a wholesale warehouse or buy them through a mail order wholesaler. Buy the supplies you are always running out of.

4. Free Stuff You should try visiting the thousands of freebie sites on the internet before buying your business supplies. You can find free software, graphics, backgrounds, online business services etc.

5. Borrow/Rent Have you ever purchased business equipment you only needed for a small period of time? You could have just borrowed the equipment from someone else or rented the equipment from a "rent-all" store.

6. Online/Offline Auctions You can find lower prices on business supplies and equipment at online and offline auctions. I'm not saying all the time, but before you go pay retail for these items try bidding on them first.

7. Plan Ahead Make a list of business supplies or equipment you'll need in the future. Keep an eye out for stores that have big sales. Purchase the supplies when they go on sale before you need them.

8. Used Stuff If your business equipment and supplies don't need to be new, buy them used. You can find used items at yard and garage sales, used stores, used stuff for sale message boards and newsgroups etc.

9. Negotiate You should always try negotiate a lower price for any business equipment or supplies. It doesn't hurt to try. Pretend you are talking to a salesman at a car lot.

10. Search You can always be searching for new suppliers for your business supplies and equipment. Look for suppliers with lower prices and better quality. Don't just be satisfied with a few.


Warm regards,
Niharika Ravia
http://www.rajtechnologies.com/mymail

P.S. Try this, Friend:
http://www.hostmepostme.com

It really works!

By Niharika Ravia

Visit our sponsor:
-------------------------------
http://www.hostmepostme.com
-------------------------------

I just had another one of "those" customer experiences.

I was taking an online seminar that included a product. I went to the website to order my product using the gift certificate codes that were given to me by the seminar documents.

I was presented with the option to upgrade the product, which I selected. So I entered in my credit card information to cover the cost of the upgrade.

All went smoothly until I realized a second too late that I missed the place to enter the gift certificate numbers (it was hidden in an obscure link that had a background that almost matched the color of the link text - were they trying to cheat me?). After the next screen loaded, I used my browser's Back button to return to the previous screen.

No luck I was stuck in the "process funnel" and I couldn't get out. It kept forcing me to the next screen and there was no "Back" button on the web page. So I selected the "Cancel" button in the screen thinking I would just cancel the order and start over.

No luck again. Now I was a "registered customer" and I had to login. And the previously familiar process was no longer available. I also received an email a few minutes later that said my credit card had been billed for the product that was suppose to be free. And I didn't get the upgraded product that I was trying for either.

Oh well, I thought, I'll just try to order the upgraded product and enter the gift certificate codes so at least I will get a discount on the product I actually wanted.

No luck again. The gift certificate codes were tied to a specific product and could not be used.

Luckily they had an 800 number with actual operators. I called thinking I could easily get this mess straightened out.

After giving the operator my information and telling them what happened, I heard a pause on the line and then the worst words you can tell any customer, "There's nothing I can do."

Too bad, tough crap, we have you money and there's nothing we (or you) can do about it. No offer for a refund, no replacement gift certificate codes, no help whatsoever. And eventually after my pausing in astonishment a lame offer to send me an email.

An email!?! An email about what; "thank you for the opportunity to rip you off and frustrate you completely, we thoroughly enjoyed it."

I was sure this wasn't their intent and that they are actually an honest business. But apparently they either give their customer service reps no tools to rectify order mishaps or they really don't care.

How hard would it have been to refund the credit card or give me some new gift certificate codes to use in purchasing the product I really wanted. I do this all the time in my business. My goal is to satisfy my customer even if I have to give away the product for free.

When we make a mistake we make it up to our customers. Free products, additional products, discounts, gift certificates - something!

Even when it is not technically our fault - bungled deliveries, missing packages, damaged goods, etc. - we still try to make our customer happy. Because they are our customer, we fought long and hard for them and paid dearly in cost and effort.

We never knowingly leave a customer hanging, disappointed, or frustrated. Our reputation is on the line with every customer encounter. And every one in our organization has the ability and authority to do what is necessary to fulfill our customers needs and desires.

Within reason of course - we're not a door mat we're a WELCOME mat.

We live by the old adage that one satisfied customer tells two others and a dissatisfied customer tells 10. Excuse me while I go find 10 people to tell my story to. Thanks for reading, now I only need 9 more.

Warm regards,
Niharika Ravia
http://www.rajtechnologies.com/mymail

P.S. Try this, Friend:
http://www.hostmepostme.com

It really works!