Learn the ropes by untying the knots.

1. What is Snapzu?

   Snapzu is the community platform at the core of the Blog Enhancement Suite. It went live in 2013 to much fanfare and currently hosts 1000's of active web communities where people can discuss, create content, share links, and participate in ways unlike anywhere else. Our extended social features and gamification create an ideal environment for bloggers to fit right in while leveraging the power of community to help their blog excel. The platform as a whole is too vast and extensive to describe here, so for more information on all things "Snapzu", you can check out the Snapzu FAQ here.

2. Why is Snapzu invite only?

   Snapzu is invite only for several reasons. First, it allows trusted community leaders to be the "gatekeepers" of the platform as a whole, where no one can join without first being invited by a community/blog. Second, it creates a barrier of entry for people with any potential ill intentions, such as spammers and trolls, whom always seem to try and ruin the fun. Keep in mind that we do keep an invite request queue for people that discover Snapzu organically, and we do occasionally send out invites ourselves.

3. Where can I find more information on the Snapzu platform and its community?

   A number of fantastic documentation has already been published and you can check out the following posts to find out everything you want to know about Snapzu:

   Prologue - A guide to getting started on Snapzu
   Snapzu Frequently Asked Questions
   Snapzu Blog (shows all history and documentation)
   10 Awesome Features of Snapzu

If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough.

1. What is the Blog Enhancement Suite?

   Snapzu's Blog Enhancement Suite is a complete web-based package of growth, enhancement, engagement, and monetization tools created for bloggers by bloggers. It was released in March of 2017 as an expansion of Snapzu.

2. Why is the Blog Enhancement Suite service mostly aimed at bloggers?

   It's the perfect combination and ideal situation where we can leverage our individual strengths and help each other mutually. Of all the people out there, we've found that bloggers are among the most (if not the most) qualified to run communities, because not only do they already show passion and/or have expertise in a specific topic or niche, they also have the dedication it takes, having already taken the necessary steps to set up and establish their blog. For those fortunate enough to have, a large existing audience can also be of massive help in seeding initial community members to start getting engaged and getting the "ball rolling".

   As a community leader you can create and grow your blog (and its community) on the Snapzu platform, while enhancing your blog with incredible social features, increasing audience, content, and engagement, and even securing an additional source of revenue. In turn, we handle the hosting, development, marketing, and further expansion of the platform, letting you laser focus on your blog (and community), and of course, your member count (referral pool). This proven business model makes an ideal setting for a suite of tools like this to thrive on a community platform of this size.

3. How does the Blog Enhancement Suite help my blog?

   There are several ways as explained in the BES Homepage, including:

   • Audience: Your tribe's top posts will make it in various areas of Snapzu such as user feeds and the front page, constantly introducing it to other existing Snapzu members who may then choose to join and participate in your tribe. These posts are also shared by us on major social networks such as Twitter, Medium, Wordpress, and Blogspot/Blogger. Note: These examples are from our Snapzu Science and Space category.

   • Content: Once you have a booming tribe with a few hundred active members, additional related content will be flowing left, right and center. Linking to or embedding your tribe's user-generated content on your blog will significantly increase your blog's value and social functionality.

   • Social features/interaction: Your users will be able to participate in almost all aspects of your tribe (and/or widget). From the content shown, to discussions, to voting, etc. Almost all aspects of Snapzu's functionality are focused with the community in mind.

   • Monetization: When someone receives "Platinum" status on Snapzu, they get it across all tribes, not just yours. This alone provides incredible value across the entire Snapzu platform and becomes much more likely they will renew month after month. Each of your community members is a potential recurring revenue source, where 50% goes directly to you. In today's ad-block dominated web, it's hard to make money off just ads, and a program like ours can go a long way to earn you an additional long-term stream of revenue.

4. What makes growing a blog so difficult?

   Because the concept of blogging is two sided, all blogs initially suffer from what we've come to call the "chicken and egg" problem, referring to the age old question of what came first. New blogs are most susceptible because it's hard to get people to visit and stick around if there is little to no content. As a direct result, as a blogger it's hard to stay motivated and provide new content if there is little to no audience. This becomes a vicious cycle that is extremely frustrating and time consuming to crack and is the single most common reason for why most bloggers burn out and eventually give up. Our tools are specifically designed to attack the issues internally and from both sides of the problem.

5. Do you have any examples of blogs with the embedded widget?

   Of course! Our own BES blog uses the widget, and this blog post introduces and explains it.

6. Do I need a blog to participate?

   No, a blog is not required to participate, and in fact many of our current popular communities never had an accompanying blog, since the Blog Enhancement Suite is a recent add-on to Snapzu. However, it can be significantly easier to grow a community if you already have some pre-existing audience (or influence) to seed your new community with its first and most important few members.

7. Will this service work on my small business website?

   Absolutely, the BES works well on all websites, and not just blogs. If you have a website for a small business (ie. Photography, Nutrition, etc), you are more than welcome to jump on board, but be mindful of our 10 community guidelines so that you don't accidentally break any rules, especially those about self promotion. It's important to remember that Snapzu is an established "community of communities" that's been growing for the past three years. We have adopted strict rules that must be followed by all participating members in order to assure a fantastic ongoing experience for everyone.

8. In what ways does the Blog Enhancement Suite bring new traffic/audience to my blog and its community?

   a) Directly on Snapzu:

   1. Front Page: The Front Page lists the highest voted (top) content from all tribes.
   2. Category Pages: There are fifteen category front pages, and each lists the highest voted content from all tribes within that category. Example: Snapzu Science.
   3. Follower feed: Users that follow you on Snapzu see your posts on their feed live.
   4. Tribe feed: Users that subscribe/join your tribe see its posts on their feed live.
   5. Weekly Round-up Top Lists: Top content from each category goes on top lists regularly published and shared on all our social media channels. These lists are unique, informative, and highly shareable.

   b) Our social media channels:

   1. Targeted social channels: Snapzu has 15 categories, each with it's own social media accounts. We routinely share top content, top lists, top tribes, and top new blogs. Example: @Snapzu_Science on Twitter.

   c) Your social media channels: (if applicable)

   1. Automation using RSS feed: Your top content from your tribe has its own RSS feed. Plug it into your Twitter (or other social platform) using IFTTT and have your top posts from your tribe tweeted automatically, increasing awareness of your blog, while making your social channel more active and engaging.

9. How much revenue can I expect to earn?

   It depends entirely on a number of equally important factors such as your dedication, creativity and audience/influence. Having lots of traffic, a solid strategy and good promotional experience helps, but nothing can beat creating a truly fantastic and active tribe that sells itself.

10. What are the skills necessary to become a successful BES partner?

    a) Leadership: You need to take charge in the beginning when it's just you. With great leadership your new community (and blog) can thrive and evolve into something exceptional. This same mentality works for when growing a blog audience, except we provide tools that are simple and easy to work with on an expansive platform with an established audience.

    b) Marketing (aka “Growth Hacking”): Knowing how to bring users to your tribe from your blog can be an invaluable skill. There are a countless number of promotional tactics and strategies, you just have to find one or more that works for you and your audience. Creativity is key.

    c) Audience & Influence: Having an existing web/blog audience and/or influence on other social networks can be a massive help as it can completely eliminate the hassle of looking for and finding users to join your tribe(s). Simply embed the community widget, put up some links to your tribe, and watch its population and engagement climb.

    d) Devotion: Just like starting a blog  —  seeding, growing, and maintaining a successful Snapzu tribe will take some effort, devotion, and most importantly, patience.

11. How much does the Blog Enhancement Suite cost?

    The Snapzu Blog Enhancement Suite is free for the most part (in the Hobbyist package), with additional premium options and customization available in two premium packages (Aspirant and Professional packages). We're going with the SaaS (Software as a Service) sales model route, which will allow this service to self-sustain as a business. Membership fees we collect from paid packages cover web hosting, daily operations, maintenance, research & development, wages, marketing, social media management, and more.

Alone we can do so little, as a community we can do so much.

1. What are tribes on Snapzu?

   Tribes are individual communities run by Snapzu members (such as bloggers, influencers, and everyday people) which host shared links, content, media and discussions about a specific niche, topic, or idea. Users can join any tribe and post/submit relevant content such as discussions, links, images, and videos. Users can also up or down vote each and every post to determine its place on the list in the tribe, and on the front page. With the social tools available with the Blog Enhancement Suite, such communities can also be embedded on any blog or website, adding additional content, audience, engagement, and even revenue. For additional information on tribes, feel free to visit the tribe related frequently asked questions section.

2. Where can I see a list of the top tribes on Snapzu?

   To check out Snapzu's most popular tribes, visit the tribe index area.

3. What are some examples of niches, topics, or ideas that I can choose for my new tribe?

   You obviously want to choose a tribe based on something that you have a passion in. We highly recommend you choose a niche/topic that is closely related to your blog to make it as easy to target and invite potentially interested users. Due to the vast and virtually limitless amount of niches and interests out there, there are tons of great tribe names still available. Here are some examples of general tribe ideas:

   • Location oriented tribe (ex: /t/newyorkcity or /t/canada): A tribe that's focused on a geographical area. You and your members can discuss local subjects, share local news, pics, videos, and such.

   • Interests tribe (ex: /t/gardening, /t/books, /t/entrepreneurship, /t/birds, /t/diy, etc.): A tribe focused mainly on a general interest. This is the most popular tribe type as there are nearly endless amounts of topics and interests out there, especially in all the smaller niches.

   • Current Event tribe (ex: /t/donaldtrump, /t/makingamurderer, etc.): These types of tribes usually have a fast growth rate while a significant event is hot and popular news.

4. Is it important for me to choose a tribe topic/name that is related to my blog or website?

   Absolutely. It will be much easier to target users that are already interested in the topic of your tribe.

5. Can my audience (referrals) join additional tribes besides mine?

   Yes of course, that's what Snapzu is all about! Likewise, other Snapzu members referred by other partners can also join your tribe(s) if interested, thus helping it grow in member base and activity, making it more appealing to new incoming users.

6. What can be posted to tribes, and by whom?

   Snapzu members have the ability to post all sorts of content like links, discussions, images, and videos into tribes. Submissions are then voted on by the entire community (including your own audience) to determine where they rank in your tribe (and blog widget) and how much exposure they receive. Because of this democratic system, high quality posts usually hang out at the top and for longer periods of time, while potential spam or other unwanted content stands no chance.

7. The tribe name I really want is already taken. What should I do?

   The Snapzu community as a whole has been around and growing for a few years now, so naturally a lot of popular topics and niches will already have an existing tribe. If you want to start a tribe that is similar to an already existing one on Snapzu, feel free to go right ahead and don't be discouraged as it's not uncommon for two or more similar tribes to co-exist and even join forces (by linking to each other) on the Snapzu platform. For example: /t/weather and /t/extremeweather  —  Many Snapzu members will subscribe to and participate in both, especially if the quality of posted content and discussions is high.

8. The tribe name I really want is already taken but seems abandoned by the current chief. Can I claim it and take over?

   Yes, this sort of thing happens, and we have rules in place because of it. If the current "chief" (owner) has not been active (no logins) for 3 months or longer, and is not a BES participating blogger (Aspirant or Professional plan), anyone can claim that tribe on a first come first serve basis and continue on from there. No previous posts or members are removed from a tribe during exchange of ownership. To be fair to our valued moderators, active moderators of an abandoned tribe have first priority to claim the tribe (after 2 months of the chief's inactivity), followed by all other Snapzu members (after 3 months of the chief's inactivity). You can claim a tribe by posting to the /t/reclaimtribe tribe, or if you want to do it privately, you can PM /u/teamsnapzu directly.

9. OK, I got my tribe. What now?

   Great, now you can use the growth tools available in your tribe, such as the widget and RSS feeds, to help greatly enhance your blog while simultaneously growing your tribe (and referral pool). You also have access to a unique referral URL and invite codes if you want to link to it, or invite users manually. Once you have a steady flow of users coming to your tribe (and/or using the widget on your blog), you're set. Keep in mind that as the leader of your tribe, you are responsible for the initial seeding/growth of your tribe (as in the beginning it's just you), and you should regularly participate by posting content and engaging in discussions to keep it as busy as you can, especially during the first few weeks or months when your tribe is still in its infancy. A busy community keeps readers engaged more, and is much more enticing for new users that stumble on your tribe (and/or blog if using the widget) to join and start participating. Your tribe's most popular posts (based on vote count) will naturally spread around Snapzu which will help existing Snapzu members find your tribe. Once you build up a member base of a few hundred initial users, things will gradually get easier as more and more members start participating and submitting relevant content, and it usually "snowballs" from there.

10. Can I link back to my blog/forum/website from my tribe?

    Yes, we allow you to link back to your blog in the Rules/Etiquette/Info area on the side bar of your tribe. This may help existing Snapzu members find it if they want more content related to your tribe. You can also share posts from your blog on your tribe, however be sure to follow the 10% self-promotion sharing rule to avoid any issues.

Welcome to the club, partner!

1. What defines a Blogger Status affiliate account?

   A "Blogger Status" account is a regular Snapzu profile that has agreed to the BES Terms of Service agreement and has at least one tribe validated into the program. Participating blogger status accounts have access to several growth and engagement tools for their blog (and tribe), and can earn a 50% cut from any purchases/gifting of Snapzu Platinum by referred members.

2. Why should I use a normal user handle/username (ex: johnny787), and not a company/business (ex: movieblog) handle/username?

   Snapzu is a community platform that allows users to "down-vote" poor quality or spammy content. Posts made by members with usernames resembling a website or business may get down-voted by some users without much thought (to weed out spam). Because of this, it's better to play it safe and avoid any unnecessary down votes.

3. Can I operate (and collect referrals from) more than one tribe?

   Yes, you may run more than one tribe, especially useful if you have more than one blog. If your blog is about multiple topics, you can also run multiple tribes for the same blog.

4. How does the referral URL work?

   Your tribe's referral URL can be used to link people directly to your tribe. This unique link will use a cookie allowing any users you send to by-pass Snapzu's invite code requirement and join immediately. In addition, all your new referrals will automatically join your tribe, follow your account, and get a greetings "system message" from your tribe. Click here for more information on the Referral URL.

5. How does the invite code system work?

   With a dynamically recharging supply of invite codes, you can add a personal touch when referring people to your tribe. Simply copy and paste one or more invite codes and share them around. Just like with the referral URL, registering members that use your invite codes will also automatically subscribe to your tribe, follow your profile, and get a greetings "system message" from your tribe. This is an excellent tool to share using social media as you are providing someone with direct and exclusive access to your tribe (and the rest of the communities on Snapzu.) Click here for more information on the invite codes.

6. How does the blog widget (plugin) work?

   The blog widget acts as a compressed window to your Snapzu tribe from your blog. Your stand-alone tribe and widget show the exact same content, except the widget is designed to be shown in a thinner and more mobile-like format so that it can be easily plugged into your blog (preferably the sidebar if you have one) to provide more content, add social functionality, increase engagement, and more. It is also a huge upgrade to current popular (but severely lacking) "timeline" widgets as offered by top social media giants such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.

7. How does the RSS feed work?

   Your tribe's RSS feed has several ideal uses. Firstly, it can be used to build an RSS audience as, believe it or not, there are still many people that live and die by the RSS feed! Secondly, you can plug it into IFTTT, an automation service, to automate your social media channels with the top content of your tribe increasing activity and engagement.

8. In what ways can the Blog Enhancement Suite generate revenue on my blog?

   a) Referrals: Referrals are users that you have "referred" using any of your tribe's available growth tools (such as invite codes, referral URL, widget, etc.) These users can earn you money (a 50% rev-share) when they upgrade their own, or someone else's account (via gifting) to Snapzu Platinum status.

   b) "Support this Blog" button. All users, even those you didn't refer, can support your blog with the optional support button that's available on the widget. When supporting your blog, users get Platinum membership in return.

Take care of them and they will take care of you.

1. What is a referral?

   Referrals are users that you have "referred" using any of your tribe's available growth tools (such as invite codes, referral URL, widget, etc.) These users can earn you money (a 50% cut) when they upgrade their own, or someone else's account (via gifting) to Snapzu Platinum status.

2. Where can I see the referrals I have collected?

   All referrals can be viewed in your Blogger Status control panel page (requires active status). Here you can see various statistics on all your active blogs, tribes, referrals, and earnings.

3. What happens if I stop referring users?

   If you remove all your links, and/or the widget from your blog, you will keep earning money for as long as your previously referred users continue purchasing credits. But why in the world would you want to stop?

4. Can I refer people using the content that I post to my tribe(s)?

   Yes, we have designed a crafty way for you to earn referrals by sharing content you already post to your tribes. If you are the post creator (original poster, OP) and it's posted to your tribe, a timed pop-over automatically promotes your tribe to each new user that lands on your snap, regardless of how they find it. It then asks the user to join Snapzu (and your community), and if they do, you get the referral credit (and 50% of all of that user's future purchases, if any.)

   Important note: Posts are required to reach a +3 vote score to ensure that the post is of sufficient quality. Once the vote score is met, the promotional pop-over automatically becomes of active status. As a security measure, posts with a score lower than +3 will not show this pop-over.

5. Why do I have a lot more tribe members (users subscribed to my tribe) than actual referrals?

   Your referrals are comprised of members that have joined using your invite codes, referral URL, widget, or any other provided growth tool. Already existing Snapzu members can find and join your tribe(s) at any time (and help grow your member base) but do not give you additional referrals because it wasn't you who initially referred them to make their account on Snapzu.

6. Can I ever lose my referrals?

   Your referrals stay tied to your account for the life of both your account and that of the referral. If a referred user deletes their profile, they will no longer appear in your referrals list. You can only lose your referrals if your referral status is terminated for violating the terms of service agreement of the referral program.

7. What happens if I renounce my tribe or quit being a moderator of a tribe that I've earned referrals from?

   If you cease being a chief/moderator of a tribe, your referrals will stay and will still potentially earn you money, however you will lose access to that tribe's referral program and it's growth/blogger tools. If that happens, you can't refer any more users to that tribe.

You have to learn the rules before you play the game.

1. Where can I read the referral program Terms of Service?

   The referral program terms of service can be found here. You are required to accept this agreement before you can gain access to your tribe tools.

2. Can I advertise on my tribe?

   No, you may not use your tribe to advertise in any way, shape or form since it will negatively affect the Snapzu community as a whole. No one wants to browse tribes that are full of spammy links to other sites.

   If we notice that your tribe is being misused in any way your tribe may be removed from the Blog Enhancement Suite, and/or you may lose your Blogger status. It is important to keep in mind that tribes are public inter-connected communities with site-wide equality, etiquette, and rules, and not someone's personal playground.

   The only exception is that we allow you to link to your related blog, website, or social media profile on the side in the rules and etiquette area. You can only link to a site that also links back to your tribe and/or has the widget embedded.

3. Can I share my tribe on Snapzu?

   Yes, you can tastefully share your tribe in comments and related links areas as well as mention it in discussions, snaps and text posts as long as the topic is relevant to your tribe's niche or topic. You can also share it by introducing it in the /t/newtribes tribe, if you haven't yet. You can only share your tribe directly, not using your referral code, as explained below.

4. Can I post/link my referral URL or invite codes anywhere on Snapzu?

   No, you will not be able to link your referral URL or post invite codes anywhere on Snapzu. Anyone trying to bypass our attempts to stop the posting of these referral codes/URLs (by using URL shorteners, etc) can and will have their blogger status terminated. The main reason is that Snapzu has a lot of "lurkers" that browse without having an account, and attempting to poach those users as your own referrals is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

5. What types of communities are not allowed on Snapzu, and why?

   Here is a short list of the topics or content that is not allowed on Snapzu:

   • Marketing: While we're aware that there is some good and ethical marketing information out there, we're playing it better safe than sorry and not having any of it here. Too much gray area for our liking.

   • Piracy: For obvious, legal reasons.

   • Erotica/Pornography: It may degrade the community experience as a whole.

   • Hate Material: For obvious, legal reasons.

   • Gore: Most people don't want to see that.

   • "Doxxing" and/or revealing private information: For obvious, legal reasons.

   If you run a blog that contains or promotes any of the above, it cannot participate on Snapzu and/or the Blog Enhancement Suite. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you understand our concerns.

6. Does this Blog Enhancement Suite affect the Snapzu community as a whole in any negative form?

   Not at all. In fact it has the opposite effect. It allows the entire Snapzu community (of bloggers and their audiences) to grow and unite together from all angles of the web. Since our Blogger Status partners only earn money if their audience (referred members) buy premium credits, it is in the best interest of all other partners to provide the best possible user experience for all.

   As for those worried about spam showing up on Snapzu and potentially ruining the community, you have nothing to be concerned about since the posting of referral URLs or referral invite codes anywhere on Snapzu (snaps, text posts, comments, related links, etc) is dynamically disabled, meaning that no one can do it even if they tried. And to top it all off, the voting system, along with the reputation system protect us from even the mildest of spammers.

There is a lot more where that came from.

1. How exactly does the credits system work?

   The Snapzu credits system allows members to earn and spend credits which have a set value of 1 credit for every $5 dollars USD spent. Credits can be earned by reaching higher XP levels (as a reward for participation) or can be bought directly from Snapzu.

   Credits can be spent to purchase Snapzu Platinum (our version of premium members) for personal use or it can be gifted to other members for being helpful, funny, informative, etc. Credits can also be cashed out for real money (50% of their value) once a minimum of 60 credits is collected. When you refer a new user to Snapzu you will be credited with any credits they purchase which are then made available within your account.

2. What are the perks of having Snapzu Platinum membership?

   Snapzu Platinum membership adds unique perks, customization, and special access to any regular profile, as explained on the [Snapzu Platinum] details page. Credits can be acquired by:

   A) Reaching certain experience levels (by being active)
   B) Gifted by other members (for being helpful, entertaining, etc)
   C) Purchased directly from Snapzu (to help out financially)

   All premium perks work in a such a way to not compromise the integrity of the voting system and the fairness it plays in the community.

3. Why is there a 14 day hold (validating) on incoming credits?

   To avoid the possible exploitation of our credits system, we put a temporary 14 day validation on all incoming credits to verify all incoming payments are legitimate. This process prevents stolen credit card use, charge backs, and account padding. We apologize for the inconvenience.

4. Why do I need at least 60 credits to "Cash Out"?

   Each transaction is verified by a member of our team to assure that your cash out happens on-time and without issue. To avoid a large number of small transactions we have set a minimum of $150 dollars (60 cash out credits) needed in order for such a transaction to be started.

You don't have to be great to start but you have to start to be great.

1. Do I have to switch my blog to another platform to use the Blog Enhancement Suite?

   Absolutely not. We fully understand that most bloggers typically want to stay on the same platform they've established themselves on, which is why we have been focusing on a widget (plugin), so it can integrate your community with your blog in a simple yet extremely effective fashion.

2. How exactly do I get started?

   To get started, you need to follow these six steps:

   • Step 1: Register your blog: To get started you will need to visit the Blog Enhancement Suite "Bloggerite" Registration form, and enter a few details about yourself and about your blog. Based on whether you are already a Snapzu member or not, you will get a slightly different signup form, but instructions are short and simple in either instance. If you are not yet a Snapzu member, it will automatically create a Snapzu profile for you after you click the "Continue" button.

   • Step 2: Seed some initial content: If you are creating a new tribe, you will be asked to provide some initial content to seed your new community with. The purpose of this step is so that your tribe (and widget) have some content to begin with, and not leaving it completely empty. This can quickly be done by "mirroring" existing relevant content that was already submitted by someone else on Snapzu. You will be asked to mirror five submissions based on tags you enter (relevant to your blog) which will ensure that your tribe has enough content for a viable initial growth strategy. You will also be able to submit your own content from scratch, but after this streamlined "getting started" process.
     Note: If you already have an existing tribe with enough content, you will automatically skip this step.

   • Step 3: Embed your widget: Now it's time to embed your nifty new widget on your blog. Once you have found a good and visible place on your blog (such as the side bar), you can use the provided HTML snippet and insert it in your blog. For this step you will require basic HTML knowledge, but it's really easy (and useful) to learn if you don't possess it. You can also customize the look and feel of your widget, but please note that some features are only available in the Professional package.
     Note: It is highly recommended to embed this widget on your blog, but not required. However, please keep in mind that most of the benefits of the Blog Enhancement Suite revolve around the widget as the primary growth tool of your blog and its community.

   • Step 4: Customize your tribe (and widget): Now you want to provide some basic visuals for your tribe, such as the flag (similar to an avatar), the background image, title, description, rules, and more. This is all available in the "settings" area of your tribe, a section only visible to you.

   • Step 5: Other tools at your disposal: You have access to a unique referral URL if you want to link to your community while collecting referrals that can earn you revenue, along with an endless supply of invite codes that when given away will also collect referrals. "Aspirant package" members will also have access to a customizable RSS feed that can be used to grow audience and for social media automation, as explained here.

   • Step 6: Grow your community (and blog): This final but never-ending step is explained in its own question below.

3. OK, I got my new tribe all set up, looking great, seeded with some content, and linked from and embedded on my blog. What now?

   Now that everything is in place, you need to efficiently grow and maintain your new community by routinely providing new content and staying engaged as best you can. This is especially important in the early stages of your tribe's existence when it's literally just you. Remember that every community starts at just one, but it can only go up from there.

   Think of your first short-term goal as reaching 200 initial members. Our extensive research has shown that this is usually the tipping point of when most communities start to self-sustain, breaking free of the "chicken and egg" dilemma (or network effect) of internet communities. Time it takes to reach this goal can vary as it greatly depends on several factors including your current blog audience size (traffic), your niche/topic, your engagement/dedication, and even luck. That being said, many existing Snapzu tribes have successfully reached this figure in a matter of days.

   The following are some useful and proven tactics in making your community stand out and getting noticed so you can get that member count climbing:

   • Post cool stuff: At its core, Snapzu is a content sharing and discussion platform designed with a democratic curation approach that rewards good quality and insightful content, as illustrated by our Front Page, where the top content gets the most exposure and with the best "real-estate" on the page. Each time you submit/post/share something on Snapzu, it has a chance to ripple around, rise in the content ranks, and reach the Front Page, resulting in exposure of not only your community, but also your Snapzu profile. On Snapzu -- like on Twitter -- users can follow your profile, slightly increasing your reach and influence with each new follower, especially with the popular following feed. Just remember that we have a 10% rule in effect, where you can link to your blog (or any other web properties you own/operate) once every ten (10) posts, as explained [here].

   • Interact with your community: Just like you may already do on your blog (if you have commenting enabled), when you see people being active in your community by submitting new content, making comments, adding related links, and other participation, be sure to interact with them whenever you can. These (like-minded) members help grow your community by contributing their time and you should give them the most memorable experience so they eventually come back for more. The more loyal members you have contributing, the more useful and engaging your community becomes as a whole.

   • Take care of your community: Having clear set rules and enforcing them is an essential part of running a great community that people will want to come back to and participate in. When the time is right, be sure to appoint a few trusted moderators to help out in managing things if things get a little too busy to manage alone. Moderators have access to most of the tribe tools and can also help with inviting new members (and earn referrals.)

   • Continue blogging as before: While your new Snapzu community is an extensive social companion to your blog, it does not change the fact that your blog is still your blog. Regularly writing fresh new content on your normal schedule is the absolute most important part of blogging and building backlinks which can improve your SEO. However, if you've ever heard of the 80/20 blogging rule, you should know that most of your time (as a blogger) should be spent promoting your blog and its posts. This means that if you spend 2 hours writing a new blog post, you should then spend 8 hours doing anything in your power to get people to read it (or otherwise land on your blog.) Your Snapzu activity counts towards that 80%

   Once you reach a few hundred members, things usually really start to pick up and you can consider your next goal of 1000 members. Then 5000. You get the point.