Our First Site Spotlight: My43.net
Cleveland's WUAB-TV launched My43.net with community powered by KickApps and saw a 30% increase in monthly visits. First, we issued a press release with the official story, then we caught up with Adam Clark, Internet Manager at WUAB-TV/WOIO-TV, for the real story on how he's building a successful community.
How did you discover KickApps?
I found KickApps from researching online. I decided to use the KickApps product because it's a true turnkey application and their widget technologies makes inclusion of user contributions, fast and easy.
What were your original goals when you began using the KickApps platform?
We had a demand for a social networking platform that allowed for media uploading. We needed a YouTube meets MySpace solution and KickApps met both demands.
How would you describe your KickApps-powered community today?
A viral growth on the neck of our broadcast. Our doctors are worried it will explode one of these days. With little on-air promotion we are seeing monthly increases within all facets of interactivity. I have also found different applications for the KickApps platform outside of just social networking. We've used KickApps for a media upload tool for citizen journalism on our CBS 19 broadcast - 19ActionNews.com. I'm also working on other niche applications.
How are you marketing your community and attracting new members?
Online contests, community events, and grass roots marketing are the approaches we've implemented to date. Don't forget, we reach millions of households every day with our broadcast that helps a little bit.
Tell us about your favorite community member, photo, video, audio upload, or blog entry.
We've been receiving loads of social photos, funny videos along with original music and poetry excerpts.
Give us three recommendations for other affiliates who want to build a successful community.
Your level of creativity is the only hurdle. Think outside of the box and make use of the widgets. An advance understanding of CSS will help with custom page layouts too.
Do you have any plans for your community in 2007?
Yep, they are top secret though.
There you have it, straight from the source. Check out Adam's vibrant community at http://www.My43.net.