Guild Talk- Useful Information For Anyone Starting a Guild or Wanting to Start a Guild

People always ask me, at least once a day.. "Will you help me with my guild?" or "What advice can you give me? My guild is really great but no one will join." Ever asked someone these questions? On this page, I can ultimately try to help you sort out problems and such.

To start a guild, you have to be willing to give it your all if you want it to become the best. Your guild should have a goal or mission, or at least a point for existing. Decide what you want to do with this guild, and where you want it to go. As you go along and your guild progresses, you'll get more and more of an idea of what you should and shouldn't do. It may take a couple of tries, but you should be able to eventually make a great guild.

Most guilds succeed because they have a good layout that draws visitors. Now, if you can't find one, and you're saying to yourself "No way in heck could I make one!", Maybe you just want to try to make one. You never know what talents you have hidden and most go to waste unless you take chances and try new things.

If you just can't get a layout, that means you probably should make up for the layout with good content. Be creative and think up some great contests, groups within your guild, stuff like that. Learn HTML and just with that knowledge you can create a great layout. There are resources all over the Internet for learning so many things, they're easy to find. If something is more difficult to find, then maybe you want to try talking to people on the Neopets message boards and somebody there may have the knowledge you're looking for or know of a website that does. Search Engines are the main thing that can help you. When you search for something, don't just look at the first three results and say, "These are no good," and close the window. No. Instead, keep looking down the list. The best sites for what you want might not always be on top. The sites listed on top usually pay a lot so they are on top, even if their site is junk.

Back to guilds. Debating whether or not to create a guild website? You might want to. Just different pages to explain different things that you've created for the guild, and how they work. You can explain the point of your guild, or what the mission and goals for the guild are. You can provide information for your users, such as Faerie crossword answers daily if you're up to it, or just about anything else. Give out goodies and prizes, that sometimes works.

Advertising. The dreaded advertising. "Why can't they just come and join?" Simple answer: Because they don't know your guild exists. If your guild topic happens to be very rare, then you can bet people interested in that topic will search for it. If you have a guild topic like..SpongeBob Squarepants or something equally popular, you're going to need to prove that your guild is the best for this subject. When advertising, give the better points of your guild, what you plan to do or have already done, stuff you'd like to brag about as well.

Advertising tips: ONLY advertise on the Guild Message Board! On just about any other board, the moment you post your ad, you will be grilled by people saying "Wrong board." "Wrong board loser." "Go to the right board." I am one of those grillers, as there is nothing more annoying than seeing ads on boards designed to help people.
Also something you shouldn't do is SPAM. Spam is the continual posting or sending of a message that is nearly the same every time you post. After you post one ad, wait at least five to ten minutes, check that the first ad has gone off the page of boards, then post another ad but change the wording. It may take longer than posting a hundred of the same message, but if you Spam, expect your account to be warned or even frozen by theneopetsteam.

Another tip: Don't offer items to people if they join your guild (AKA bribe them). Some people join anyway, but most join for the item, leave as soon as they get the item, and go down the list of guilds that give items to new members. That is a form of scamming. If you are giving items to people who join, put a stipulation on it such as, "Once you are a member for a month, you will receive an item." That may be used as a sort of reward for those loyal to you and as something to deter guild-scammers.

Now, some of you have asked me to join your guilds and help with HTML or whatnot. I have joined a couple because I thought they were sincere in wanting to learn HTML and such, but I usually end up leaving these guilds. Most of these 'leaders' are not ready to be leaders. You need to learn this stuff. You need to learn HTML if you ever want to get anywhere with a website, a guild or anything online. Other leaders have asked me questions.. "Should I make a guild website? Should I change the layout?"

Let me say, there is basically no point in asking me to join your guild, because I answer ALL questions like that the same way: "YOU are the leader, it is YOUR decision whether or not the layout stays. It is your decision on whether or not you want to take on a project like a guild website."

If you aren't ready for the responsibilities of owning something that has people utilizing what you provide every day, you aren't ready to make a guild. So consider what I've said. These are my opinions on a common issue. If you don't like them, then leave. I hope this has helped you in some way, shape, or form.


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