Daily tasks - building a successful community website:

(The following tasks were written with Field Reps in mind but because this is a team effort members of our support staff or even site sponsors and users might find this information helpful) 

1) Be a Regular - Visit your community website every day as any visitor would. Check and post to the forums and events calendar. Don't hesitate to keep a series of ads to post on behalf of your sponsors. It would be better if they posted their own ads but the next best thing is for us to post ads for them. Just rotate the ads posted to keep things interesting.

2) Test Things - Do a few keyword searches and check the menu system to make sure everything is working properly. If your website has a prize program check the winner's list to make sure it's working properly. Don't hesitate to make suggestions to our development team if you see aspects of our sites that could use improvement.

3) Help Others - Help at least one sponsor each day to learn how to use the classifieds. Explain in detail the sponsor interface. In short, make sure at least one sponsor per day really shares the vision and is in our camp. Active sponsors are hard to come by but they are worth their weight in gold. They will help you grow your business and they'll be sure to renew. It's especially important to make sure they understand the Promotional Partners Program. If your sponsor is active in telling the world they can be found on the AreaGuides portal they'll be even more inclined to renew. Also don't forget the entire set of tools in the Sponsor Toolkit. The more tools that get used the more likely a sponsor will renew. 

4) Event Promotion - Each week pick the community event that is most interesting to you and attend the event and take some photos (of course make sure any events you attend are on the Events calendar). Then post a photo tour of the event. Annual events are especially important because those planning on attending the event in subsequent years can get a feel for the event and your photos may encourage additional attendance. You can also use the Article Interface to publish an article about the event.  

5) Brand Promotion - Be proud of your community website's brand. If you live in Frederick County, for example, have Frederick.com embroidered on your shirts. Have Frederick.com lettering added to your vehicle. Auto lettering is some of the most efficient visibility for the cost possible because the car is driving around anyway and the only cost is the one-time lettering fee. Carry store window decals, banners and plastic signs with you so you can put them up when you see a good spot. Listen to local radio stations and make sure Promotional Partners are doing their part to promote our community website.  

6) Content is King - In the ten year since the first AreaGuides site was built one thing has not changed: Content pulls traffic into our network. So, we need to always focus on adding rich content to our sites and helping others to do so as well. We need to focus on ease of use and always try to make the process necessary to add content as user friendly and as streamlined as possible.

Special Note: The above tasks are in addition to regular visits with your sponsors, making daily task lists, checking your e-mail regularly and other standard good-business habits. Remember, when you're out and about in the community you should always be looking for opportunities and most importantly always remember you are representing your community's homepage. Hold your head high and realize that your mission is a righteous one and that with some good old fashion hard work even those that resist at first will eventually see the light.