Pat,
I don't think Skippy Forums needs a new form or purpose. What it needs is daily content. Engaging (track maps, track data, hotel/restaurant recommendations for your next race weekend, insider info, etc) and Entertaining (race reports, stick poking, fun videos, etc).
It's all of us bringing content that's fun and engaging EVERY DAY. Gradually, people who visit will want to come back to see what will entertain them if they pop in. Again, let me emphasis:
There should be something new every day, at least one thing.
I'll give two examples.
SkipBarber.com circa 1998 to 2002
More than a decade ago, skipbarber.com was my home page for my computer browser. Why? At the time, the lead marketing guys, Jim Bowie, Jim Moore, and George Tamayo made it a priority to post a news article on the home page every day. In fact, the News section dominated the space on the homepage, with less space devoted to promoting Skip Barber products. Some news items were original content by SBRS, while others were repostings of press releases by drivers, teams, and other news sites. Customers got to read about themselves, alumni, and the sport they love at higher levels.
The key was to post at least one new item every day. And it worked. It remained my homepage and go-to news source until the major management change at SBRS in 2001. News was shrunk, and eventually removed. Why would I come back?
Matt McMurry
I'm biased on this one, Matt's my client. But I advocate what his father Chris has done with his
FaceBook page. Matt is only 16 years old and has three seasons of car racing under his belt, the latest in USF2000. He has more "likes" (53,000+) than most IndyCar drivers (Castroneves: 24,538, Power: 8,453, Hinch: 6,966). Chris takes care to make sure Matt's FaceBook page has something new (and entertaining) every single day. He follows that up with targeted ads around the web to get new viewers. I have no idea what his spend is on the ads, but even without that, the "new cool content every day" strategy is working for them. They were once contacted by a major manufacturer's motorsports marketing guy to ask how Matt was getting so many likes!
Recommendation - New Content Every Day
There is no single magic bullet, but I believe if we all pitch in and post something new every day, retention will increase. Take five minutes (okay, I gotta look in the mirror and tell that guy to get with it) and share something you would want to talk about in person.
Keep the ideas flowing. It's a start.
Before any of you think of reasons why this might not work, spend those same five minutes and write something you think we'd all enjoy reading. Then do it again tomorrow. Five minutes.
Talk about how you'd prepare for the next race weekend. Tell us what you think about the unified Tudor series. Tell us what you think of Mark Blundell's comments about pay drivers in F1.
In time, our site can flourish.
Have fun!
