eternally beta

Content Creators meet Network Developers

Gina Bianchini, the CEO of Ning

links to sites gina mentions

front line club journalists

ning network creators

ning tutorial

RSS in Plain English

hi all.

i have been busy building lots of niche networks on ning. i built 4 for myself, before i came up with a really useful model. its an interlocking arrangement of any number of real people, and any number of the ning networks they may build. networks are nothing without members and content, and with over 155,000 ning niches, how does one connect with both people and networks in a useful way that is not too complicated, not too time-consuming, and allows for rapid and easy content distribution?

i've joined several ning sites where i was the second member, and there was zero content. sometimes i took a few seconds to embed a video, just so the network would have content. i'd make friends with the site builder, because obviously we each have what the other wants and needs; real people, a network, and fresh content.

but i want fresh content on my own network, and that takes my precious time. why would i give my time and content away for free, when i could make use of it myself?

interestingly, i went through 65 pages of ning developers network member thumbs without seeing one single familiar icon from the world of content creators (top digg submitters, etc). and, when i went hunting for specific ning "networks", often they existed in name only.

one member. no content. i thought, "how can there be such a disconnect between site builders and content creators?" at any rate, i would sign up, set up a few preferences, leave a link to my ning website, and install an RSS feed from my ning network activities onto my ning profile on their ning network, and move on

got that?

so, now, this network has 2 members. one who is waiting to for someone else to create content, and me. and, as i already said, i am not going to go to the trouble of going to his website and dropping my content in his files, where it will never be seen again, and with nothing in return from this other developer, who, since he wont even seed his own network with a little content, isn't likely to put content on my networks.

say a third person comes along to this other ning developers lame network, and sees that there is no content, but 2 members. they may check out the members, and find on my profile page a link back to my ning network, and nice little RSS feed with my fresh content. they have several opportunities to find my ning network, and then i have a potential member.

the "lame" website acts as a funnel or magnet, and it only takes a few minutes to set up. if the site developer was wise, they would follow my links back and set up a profile on my networks, so he can set up a link and an RSS feed back to their site. Then, if and when they put fresh content on their own page, we both benefit.

with this "criss-crossed" RSS feed and link structure, 2 or more real people can feed each other, and themselves, fresh members and content, while building each others networks.

for integrating network developers and content creators.

if you follow these steps. please read this through to the end before starting. some of the steps i have laid out may be out of sequence...

1) this is the most difficult part. think of a niche. it could be anything. your high school, your church, your band, car enthusiasts, a favorite cause, whatever interests you. then think of a name for your club, as well as a few alternatives in case your idea is taken.

2) go to http://www.ning.com and sign up.

3) on ning.com front page, partly way down on the right side, there are two boxes. enter the name you thought up in the "name your social network" box, and enter the same name in the "pick a web address" box. if your social network name has more than one word, just cram all the words together without the spaces. click "create your network".

4) you will be lead down 4 pages of choices, all of which can be ignored and changed at any later time. your network is always ready to launch, but if you want to adjust a few setting, it only takes a few more minutes.

5) at the "network information" page, you may want to say that you are "open to the pubic" for your description. put in a few key words in your tags box. move on.

6) at the "features" page there will be a "description" box in the top left column. leave it there. drag and drop an RSS box right below the "description" box. in the bottom left column, put the "activity" box.

7) in top middle column, put movies at the very top, followed by photos, followed by blog, followed by gadgets. whatever the case, put the "members" box at the very bottom of the center column. this gives viewers clickable options at the bottom of your page. if your member has branded themselves, this will be their opportunity to pick up profile hits

8) ignore your right column.

9) at the "appearance" page, you have the option of changing the "theme" for your network. these options are only cosmetic, basically, you get to pick an overall color. change or ignore other options. don't worry if you don't like your first choice, you can always change it.

10) you will have the option of adjusting the "profile questions". this is valuable real estate on your network that you want to allow your members to use. I set the top question title to "website:" and answer type to "website address". i set the second profile question to "add some stuff here", and answer type to "longer answer". then i set a third question to "add more stuff here", and set the answer to "longer answer". don't try to use more than one "website:" question, seems ning only lets you enable one question as "website:"

11) when your done screwing around, launch your site.

12) go to 'my settings" and adjust your e-mail. if you join several small networks that don't have much activity, you may want to get e-mail updates, so you don't have to go one-by-one back through the networks to check for activity, but you can set yours how you like.

13) right above the e-mail setting is the privacy tab. you can set yours as you like.

14) in the" about me" section, you can drop a link to your outside website, or to another ning site. those "add stuff here" boxes are now here for you to play with, or ignore and move on.

15), if you have 'branded" yourself, like many do, you may want to keep a consistent profile appearance across networks. click the "my page" tab, and click "edit page appearance", and adjust settings, or ignore and move on.

16) go to the main page. in the top right box, there should be your network description.

17) below it, there is an RSS box. you can set this up to get a feed, perhaps from news.google.com. this allows an RSS feed to automatically create new content for you. you may ignore and go on, or, to set those up go to news.google.com, go to "advanced search", enter some search terms. click "google search", click RSS. copy the URL. it should start with "feed://:....." go back to your front page, click edit on RSS box, paste URL. Name your feed. If you use google, TOS says you must use the word "google" in the title, such as "johns news by google" you can use any feeder you like. this is just an example.

18) go to the "activity box" and adjust it to show more details. i used to set these at 3 or 4, so that the lame announcements like "your site now has photos" get pushed off quickly, but now i set these at 20.

19) go to "my page". test click your outside link to make sure you didn't screw it up, along the left column, there is an RSS box. you can set that as a google feed, or, set it as a feed from the other ning site you are working on.

20) ignore and move, or, if you want to add the extra feature, "add pages" go here .

21) go to your front page. at the bottom left column, your activity box willl have an RSS icon. click on it to get the feed URL, you will use this the same way as the google feed. you may want to open a new tab or window, so you can leave this page open and come right back to it.

22) go to ning and search for networks you may want to join by searching by keywords.

23) find a new network and join. go to "my settings" and adjust your e-mail settings, adjust your privacy, adjust your colors, make friends with the network creator. move on.

24) hopefully they set their site up in such a way as to allow you to put your website link and an RSS feed from the network you just got done building.

25) repeat step 22.

you can start by checking out these networks i've been working on.

African American Opinion

Alternatives by Raine

Brand Fan

Central Iowa Bloggers

citizens for concealed carry

Club Magicians

Conspiracy Hub

Des Moines Underground

diskgolfersr.us

Duchy of Olympus, Iowa Live Action Role Playing Club