Patrick

Thanks Brian, NewEnglands_KyoSa and Heidi.

Hello and welcome. Are you speaking about writing on this website or just writing in general? Thanks, Patrick

Welcome.

Hello, I am very proud to announce that my new book, "Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards", is now available and can be purchased online at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and other retailers. If you are in the United States, it is being stocked nationally at Barnes & Noble locations, as well. You can check stock status at the closest store to you on their website. "Managing Online Forums" is the result of my years of experience running forums just like this one. I wouldn't have reached this point without all of the great staff members (Heidi, Brian, Danielle, Eric, Rusty, Ed, Nicholas and many others) that I have had and all of the supportive members that have positively contributed and helped me to build my knowledge. So, thank you for helping me to grow, improve and have the experience to share with others through this project. The book is definitely appropriately titled: it is truly a forums management book, but with principles that can apply to other types of online communities, like blogs, as well. From creating the infrastructure of the community and setting and enforcing policies to dealing with troublemakers and managing staff. This isn't a programming book or a software book, this is all about managing the actual forums. Here is a look at the chapters featured in the book: Chapter 1. Laying the Groundwork Chapter 2. Developing Your Community Chapter 3. Developing Guidelines Chapter 4. Promoting Your Community Chapter 5. Managing Your Staff Chapter 6. Banning Users and Dealing with Chaos Chapter 7. Creating a Good Environment Chapter 8. Keeping It Interesting Chapter 9. Making Money It also features three helpful appendices at the end that include online resources, a glossary and blank, general templates that you can use as a basis for your own user guidelines, staff member guidelines and contact templates (pre-written messages for you and your staff to use when contacting members). For more information on the book, including a full table of contents, advance praise, interviews and reviews, an excerpt, downloadable document templates, an example forums setup and more, please check out the book website. Thank you for reading and for visiting KarateForums.com. Sincerely, Patrick

Welcome aboard.

Congrats.

heh.

Welcome.

Thanks guys. It was a team effort. Patrick

Hello, KarateForums.com recognizes one member every month as the Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. The April 2008 selection is... IcemanSK. Congratulations!

Please see: http://www.karateforums.com/april-fools-vt33648.html Thanks, Patrick

Hello, We are not merging any forums (at this time, anyway). Much less would we ever do something like merge Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts, Internal Arts, Combative Martial Arts, Kickboxing, Boxing and Muay Thai and Sport Martial Arts into one forum. Hope everyone had a good April Fools Day. Thank you for reading and for visiting KarateForums.com. Sincerely, Patrick

Update: This was an April Fools joke. Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. In order to stimulate growth on our community, we have decided to merge a number of different forums together in order to make the forums appear as active as they really are and also to make our index page more user friendly (and not as long). The mergers will be happening on April 7. So that no one is caught off guard by this or wondering where something went, we wanted to go ahead and announce this and mention where everything is going. General Martial Arts, Karate and Martial Arts Entertainment become General Martial Arts. Chinese Martial Arts and Korean Martial Arts become Chinese and Korean Martial Arts. Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts, Internal Arts, Combative Martial Arts, Kickboxing, Boxing and Muay Thai and Sport Martial Arts become Combative, Grapping and Internal Martial Arts. Equipment and Weapons become Equipment and Weapons. Martial Arts and Politics, Instructor Central, Getting Started in the Martial Arts and Testing, Grading and Promotions become Dojo Issues. Self Defense and Strategies and Tactics become Strategies and Tactics. It'll all happen seamlessly and there is nothing that you'll need to do, besides post as you always have. We'll take care of the rest. Thank you for reading. Sincerely, Patrick

Thanks. Still don't feel that bad, today, but have a little something. If this is as bad as it gets, I'm good.

Yeah, I got a flu shot last year, as well. I feel a little worse today, but not too bad, really.

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you finish it off soon. I have been hearing about a lot of people I know getting sick, but I have been great... until this morning. I think I may be coming down with something. We'll know soon enough. Patrick

Thank you for the submission.

You're like a machine in here, Brian. You must really enjoy these books.

Welcome, mmaguy17.

Hello, KarateForums.com recognizes one member every month as the Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. The March 2008 selection is... white owl. Congratulations!

This should help: http://www.stevewilkos.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Steve_Wilkos_Show http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wilkos

Welcome aboard.

Welcome aboard.

Welcome aboard.

No problem. Glad it helped. I agree with what NewEnglands_KyoSa just said. Ideally, I'd tailor the conversation around them and not so much around what you think they may need to know. In other words, answer their questions and don't seem like there are points that have to be made. If they have specific goals they are looking to accomplish and they want to ask you about them, they will. For example, they may ask, "I'm looking to defend myself. Can you do that?" or "I'm looking for a good art for my 8 year old - is your art good for kids?" And then that will give you an opportunity to share with them more about your school. But, when you do it without them prompting you, you risk coming across as forceful or pushy. So, I'd just let them ask the questions. If they only ask about pricing, after giving them their answer, you could simply say that if they have any questions, they are welcome to ask you. So, for example: You: Hello, this is . Them: Hi, I was wondering: what are your rates? You: Our rates are this for this, this for this and this for this. We teach and if you have any questions about it, please feel free to ask me. (I would probably have the pricing part scripted, at least casually, to ensure that it is both 100% complete (no hidden fees) and as short as it can be. If your rate system is so complicated that you have more than 5 different rates or so, I'd just say "We have a number of different programs. Could you tell me a bit about the person who would be attending?" or something like that. But, keep it as short as you can, really). And, at this point, they'll probably either thank you and say good bye or they will ask a question. But, by placing them in control of the call (or, at least, perceived control), you'll probably be more likely to put them at ease. I'd say the most important things are to speak slowly, kindly and be receptive to what they say, rather than trying to pull information out of them unprompted. Just my thoughts. Good luck. Patrick