How do we get the lurkers to sign up and join BiggerPockets?

[Joshua Dorkin]

This came up in another thread and I thought it worth having its own discussion.

What do you think would encourage those people who come and read the site (available to non-members) to sign up and participate?

Ideas? Thoughts?

[Darryl Dahlen]

I know with the people I've invited the primary reason why they're not active is simply due to the lack or relevant topics for them to participate in. That, or the topics come up so infrequently that they miss them because they stopped checking BP.

Since I'm in the commercial arena, most of the people I would invite are as well. In the case of the attorney I asked to visit (this is just one example), he didn't see all that much for him to contribute to so faded away.

I think in order for BP to really flourish it needs to encourage a broader spectrum of discussions. Don't get me wrong, it's great as it is, but if you really look at it, what are 80-90% of the topics related to? Residential real estate.

For those who don't play in the residential space all that much, it's hard to get them to stay/get active in the posts.

The challenge is how to get people who participate in other sectors of real estate to become active.