Thread: CGM - Consumer Generated Media - is Hot!

It has long been popular to post on forums, blogs, et al

But if you provide the facility on your own website to get consumer interactivity then you can add

Comments Features
Upload Text
Upload Images

etc etc

It's not rocket science but it does increase your viral marketing options and of course it in most cases will provide you with additional much needed original content

Try it if you site needs a boost (most do nobody turns down new traffic)

Start by filtering the uploads by using an approval/editing gateway

Then you can edit the content prior to approving and going live

We have been doing it on one site for over a year it has been a very very solid assured way of not only building the site, but it has given the site broader reach and penetration in different subjects and global destinations

At the same time with commitment of time and effort your site will gain solid hold with new uploaders/UGC providers, carving out and establishing your site in an expanding and viable niche sector of the web

And, your point is?

Originally Posted by Ash

And, your point is?

Quite simple more viral content means more traffic, and more traffic means more business

It's very simple, straight forward and basic

What you call CGM, I have been calling UGC (User Generated Content).

Except for the proxy lists, NetBuilders is my first CGM project in awhile -- all the others were dismal failures.

On the failed projects, I spent more time dealing with spam than building communities. They are all shut down.

It's been cheaper and easier for me to buy content than it has been to delete spam.

But, I have two new CGM projects in the works and scheduled for release in Q2. Hope springs eternal.

Originally Posted by Will.Spencer

What you call CGM, I have been calling UGC (User Generated Content).

Except for the proxy lists, NetBuilders is my first CGM project in awhile -- all the others were dismal failures.

On the failed projects, I spent more time dealing with spam than building communities. They are all shut down.

It's been cheaper and easier for me to buy content than it has been to delete spam.

But, I have two new CGM projects in the works and scheduled for release in Q2. Hope springs eternal.

Thanks for the input

Netbuilders certainly looks to be right on track

The spam is a nuisance but it's a nuisance period, but does not stop a top UGC/CGM Site becoming a winner

In our experience if you can get a handful of solid good contributors, that is what is needed to get a foothold in the vertical

Wikipedia have 1000's of editors
Augmented Social Cognition: Governing and authorship models at Wikipedia and Britannica
We have been quoted in the past that our characterization models of editors show that the top 1% of the editors in Wikipedia generates 50% of the edits. While that is true, the other 50% is being generated by the other 99% of the editors.

In our experience too with CGM/UCG content creation the top tier of the contributors act as a very very solid bedrock base to build up from

It seems to me that there is a "critical mass" issue. If you're below a certain size, you just get spam. If you're above a certain size, you get people to help you with the spam.

It's just a bear getting to that size.

Originally Posted by Will.Spencer

It seems to me that there is a "critical mass" issue. If you're below a certain size, you just get spam. If you're above a certain size, you get people to help you with the spam.

It's just a bear getting to that size.

That's it in one, its a slog, but from our experience it's worth the effort, as once you get hold, there are no 'glass ceilings' to stop you thereafter

One huge site done right has enormous value and revenue potential

It took us one year grind, grind and more grind

But nothing comes easy(or at least not as far as we are concerned)

Yes I've been thinking to do this for quite some time however still cannot come up with a solid step by step plan on how to do it. So far I only got 1 contributor to my glype theme blog.

Can you suggest how can I encourage people to submit their design to my blog?

I will really appreciate it.

UGC can be quite a menace unless your site has google juice - there are tons of people who'll spam the shit out of your platform.

The key is to "sandbox" the platform first - open it to few assigned users and make them create useful content.

Once the sandboxed platform creates inherent and attains traction, open it up to the public and spam.

When your site/platform is respected - the spam is ignored - if you start something out with public UGC - best of luck!

Originally Posted by Ash

UGC can be quite a menace unless your site has google juice - there are tons of people who'll spam the shit out of your platform.

The key is to "sandbox" the platform first - open it to few assigned users and make them create useful content.

Once the sandboxed platform creates inherent and attains traction, open it up to the public and spam.

When your site/platform is respected - the spam is ignored - if you start something out with public UGC - best of luck!

That's one of the reasons why it takes around a years work to get the traction in the market sector and establish the UGC/CGM base to build on