Any ways to encourage more people to join the Metal Academy?

It's a very good question actually. When we originally came up with the concept for the site we always thought that we would mainly grow our membership through word of mouth with existing members bringing friends & associates online. We've since found that this hasn't happened organically & the periods of growth you see happen every month or so are entirely off the back of organized recruitment drives that Ben has been conducting with high profile users of others sites. I'd like to think that this won't be required long-term but it does give you the impression that a large percentage of our members tend to be people that enjoy the music in isolation & don't generally associate with other metal fans (at least not the obsessive types that will become regular contributors). 

But on the positive, the regular contributors we've managed to recruit here  so far (like yourself) really know their shit & seem to be as passionate about the site as we are so we're feeling pretty confident that the slow initial build will start to escalate over time. The moral of the story is that if you really want to see this site gaining traction then we need everyone to be selling it to the market. And if you can think of some sort of incentive plan for people to bring others on-board then we'd love to hear it.

I've been thinking for a while about how to bring people on-board to the Metal Academy, and soon I thought, "Hey, maybe I can try doing that via a YouTube video!" Yeah, I have a YouTube account, SirZP thundergod9001, which I use to upload my own metal song remixes (just changing the pitch/tempo, plus a few full album specials). It's not at all super popular, but I'm willing to seize that opportunity. So I decided that I would make and upload a video telling people about the site and see if it would attract any metalheads to join the site. It's not a forceful shameful promotion, I just want more people to know more about the site and let them decide whether to join in or not. So how about that?

We would appreciate any "marketing" effort by any members, so would be more than happy for you to give that a go. Daniel and I decided at the outset that we'd make a website that we both personally wanted to use, and we've achieved that, but it would obviously all work much better if we could get the word out and build a bigger community.

Cheers!

Excellent, thanks guys! Video coming soon...

Cheers to you too!

It's a shame that Forum based websites are a tough sell nowadays, with most casual music fan discussions taking place in shout-boxes on other review websites, YouTube comments, or other forms of social media. This site actually has a stellar design for both, with the forums being overly organized with the Clan system (which is a good thing) and with the ability to add comments to existing reviews for another quicker form of communication. 

Plus, I feel like the site is in a much better place and is going to continue to be in a better place as the music library grows. When I first joined, it was a weird feeling only being able to rate/catalog under half of my library, but now that has risen substantially and it'll only get better from here thanks to Ben's hard work. It's much easier to recommend the site now that most common searches won't turn up empty. 

I agree with that last comment. I could have spent all of my time recruiting, but instead decided that the best thing to do is spend that time adding content. That way when people do visit, they have a more positive experience.

Plus it's actually really fun adding bands / releases. 

Video uploaded! Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou2mnTXQ6fY

Thanks so much for going the passion & effort in making that video Andi. It's much appreciated. I've also made a targeted drive to grow our membership base over the last few days & we've seen a sharp upwards turn in our numbers with some very knowledgeable metalheads joining our ranks. I'll continue to push in the same way for the next little while & are very excited to see what's possible. Stay metal mate!

No problem. Glad to help!

We have over 100 members now by my count & that’s grown very quickly over the last week or so. Not all members are particularly active as yet though & the value & relevance of the site is only gonna get stronger with more ratings, reviews, threads, posts, personalities, villains, opinions, debates, etc. So don’t be shy guys! Every opinion is valid & welcome here no matter what your particular tastes, culture, age, gender, nationality, sexuality, religious belief or level of experience. We created the site for the enjoyment of every metalhead & are hoping to build clan-based communities amongst a greater overarching love of all things metal. Later on we might start to make things a little competitive between the clans for a bit of fun too. The world is our oyster really. So get stuck into communicating & keep that feedback coming on what you’re enjoying & what could be better. We’re good listeners (well I’m not really if I’m being honest but luckily Ben is).

The speed with which we can grow the site membership comes down to a few things really. Firstly, the time that Ben & I have available to us to do marketing is limited given that we both have young families & high-profile jobs on top of our responsibilities here with transforming the site into an attractive prospect for potential members. The RYM marketing option was very easy for me to attack as I simply had to identify appropriate candidates by searching through reviews for knowledgeable & active people & then sent them an email to encourage them to check the site out. That effort was quickly rewarded with our membership levels doubling in around 2.5 weeks but unfortunately the administrators at RYM picked up on it & swiftly suspended my account so I no longer have that avenue available to me. I can't really complain as I definitely deserved my punishment given that I was using their site functionality to advertise their direct competition.

Since that time I've checked out both Reddit & Metal Archives to see whether marketing there would be possible. I was easily able to determine that it isn't & I'd only end up getting myself banned there too as both sites have strict rules on advertising. A much better option would be to encourage some of you that might already be established on those sites to start to encourage other members to check us out in a subtle way. Are any of you long-time members of those platforms? If so, perhaps we can work together on a strategy that won't get you into trouble but might create some interest. We're certainly more of a competitor for Metal Archives than we are of Reddit.

Ultimately the site will be successful because everyone agrees that the concept is great & we are continuing to expand on it regularly to see it organically evolving & improving. But the speed with which its popularity with existing users is transferred into increased membership numbers is heavily reliant on how many of our members are actively helping to promote the site. If everyone converts every metalhead they know into Metal Academics then we should see things snowballing from there. And Andi, if you know of any ways to draw people to your YouTube video then please feel free to go down that path. It all helps.

I'm now starting to look at other options like social media  applications (Facebook Twitter, Instagram, etc.) & reaching out to already established metal-related podcasts, blogs, websites, etc. for exposure. This last option is probably the key. If we can get some exposure on a well-known podcast or a site like Metal Sucks or Metal Injection then we'd likely see some noticeable interest level increases as a result. If anyone knows anyone involved in those sort of areas then please send me a message with the details but in the meantime, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram & help to contribute to healthy discussion that can draw people to the website.

Sure, Daniel! I have an Instagram account but it was set it up by my mom for other stuff. I can ask my mom if I can use my account to "do some social media posts", but really I'm following the Metal Academy Instagram page and sharing my Metal Academy YouTube video there. I won't her tell her those real reasons because she can't stand metal and I'm afraid she might be like, "EUYUGH!! METAL?!? That's not what this Instagram account is for, son, give it back!" Sorry, mother, but I have to channel my inner rebel and make this white lie to help this website grow. Hopefully my plan will work...

As for the Metal Archives, I actually used to have an account there before joining the Metal Academy. But then I realize how strict as hail Metal Archives can be about adding reviews and what's considered metal or not. For example, they don't accept djent even though it's a direct descendant of progressive metal, and they don't accept metalcore genres unless the band is "more metal than core". The latter example is understandable, but the selection isn't; Bullet for My Valentine really do sound "more metal than core" in The Poison and, especially, Scream Aim Fire; and Avenged Sevenfold and Between the Buried and Me both used to be metalcore before each going off in their own metal directions. That's a good reason why I prefer to stay in the Metal Academy, where I can find any band/release that is considered metal as a Rate Your Music primary genre. You can't just decline a metal album just because it's "not metal enough" even though it IS considered metal!

I've started contacting some prominent metal influencers this morning (mainly Australian to start with) to see if I can draw a little attention to the site . We'll see how we go with that. 

Good work with the site everyone.  Good to see a non-social media based platform getting some attention and getting a dying medium such as forums growing again.  I have watched the Tez forums die off over about a decade or so and although I moderate on another forum the numbers there aren’t that high so seeing some life here is great to witness.  Not much to offer in the way of marketing opportunities (even though selling is my job) I am afraid.

Any chance you might have a quiet word to some of the ol’ Tez faithful & see if you can get them over here? I think the likes of Sol & Stat would really enjoy the site. ChineseWhispers signed up early before disappearing & I’ve been trying to get markhebb over for months now but he’s been too busy finishing his latest book. Perhaps the message might sound better coming from a user rather than someone like myself?

Good work with the site everyone.  Good to see a non-social media based platform getting some attention and getting a dying medium such as forums growing again.  I have watched the Tez forums die off over about a decade or so and although I moderate on another forum the numbers there aren’t that high so seeing some life here is great to witness.  Not much to offer in the way of marketing opportunities (even though selling is my job) I am afraid.

Any chance you might have a quiet word to some of the ol’ Tez faithful & see if you can get them over here? I think the likes of Sol & Stat would really enjoy the site. ChineseWhispers signed up early before disappearing & I’ve been trying to get markhebb over for months now but he’s been too busy finishing his latest book. Perhaps the message might sound better coming from a user rather than someone like myself?

Yep I will give it a go.

Dropped a fishing line in the water over at Tez but it is so dead in there at the minute there’s no telling when anyone will pick up on it.  Also added a link in the Promo section of the other forum I mentioned.  Around 30 views in past 24 hours so if a few of those take the plunge then that’s all good.

Awesome. That’s great. Thanks a lot.

I’ve been flogging Facebook, Instagram & Twitter over the last few days too.

I came back to this old thread to share my Revolution playlist promotion video that could help spread the word about the playlist and Metal Academy: