Category Archive

community

Instagram and the shifting social media landscape

This past year, I’ve been fascinated by the growing influence of Instagram. Of course Offbeat Bride has been on Instagram for years, but it’s always been a relatively small following — we’re talking 17k Instagram followers as compared to 155k on Facebook. Let’s talk more about what this means for biz dev…

“Yeah, Totally!”: Don’t confuse interest with commitment

When you’re doing something big and interesting (like, oh, say, organizing an online community) and are looking for people to help, please, for the love of niches and all that matters to you, understand that not all yeah totallys are created equal…

How Offbeat Empire comment moderation has changed

Over the last couple years, however, things have shifted DRAMATICALLY with our comments. The shifts felt so natural to us behind the scenes that they felt kind of gradual, but when I look back I realized that it’s been a huge change over a relatively short period of time, all leading up to a dramatic shift that readers may not be fully aware of. Here are a few of the things that have changed…

How to tell a publisher you’re unhappy with their website (and actually get them to consider making changes)

Over the past eight years, I’ve dealt with thousands of complaints from readers… ranging from the completely baffling the to the hugely helpful. I’ve noticed a few patterns in what makes the difference between constructive and helpful feedback vs extremely frustrating feedback. The next time you’re unhappy with a publisher, here are my suggestions for how to make sure your feedback is heard and acted upon: