How to recruite new member quickly

[Holaloperho]

Me and my partner foundered a new region, the GLOBALUNITEDUNION and I become the delegate while I am in charge of recruiting new members.
I am wondering how can I do so quickly and easily?

Please help me

[Zitru]

Me and my partner foundered a new region, the GLOBALUNITEDUNION and I become the delegate while I am in charge of recruiting new members.
I am wondering how can I do so quickly and easily?

Please help me

Well, the best way to do it is to go into Lazarus and the Pacific regions, see which nations have been newly founded and newly re-founded. Then send them a telegram saying (for example),

Dear Testlandia,

We would like to welcome you to our great and wonderful region: GLOBALUNITEDUNION.

-explain a bit about your region-

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and we hope you will join us,

Sincerely,
Holaloperho.

[Bears Armed]

Me and my partner foundered a new region, the GLOBALUNITEDUNION and I become the delegate while I am in charge of recruiting new members.
I am wondering how can I do so quickly and easily?

Please help me

Well, the best way to do it is to go into Lazarus and the Pacific regions, see which nations have been newly founded and newly re-founded. Then send them a telegram saying (for example),

Dear Testlandia,

We would like to welcome you to our great and wonderful region: GLOBALUNITEDUNION.

-explain a bit about your region-

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and we hope you will join us,

Sincerely,
Holaloperho.

Which probably gets you around one new recruit per 20-30 TGs, at best, and then most of those recruits (a) do nothing to interact with anybody after they move into your region and (b) cease to exist within the next three months...

[Mike the Progressive]

Recruitment can be a tricky thing, but mostly it depends on having a great advertisement, respecting and following the rules, and being patient.

First, let's establish some basic guidelines, like you can only recruit nations from feeder regions (The North Pacific, the South Pacific, etc., Lazarus, the Rejected Realms and so on -the full list is available in the link I provided you), and you can only send one telegram to a nation per 24 hours. Second, because RMBs (regional message boards) are really a bad way to recruit, not merely because of how unsuccessful they usually are, but the discontent that they generate in regions that they are posted in, I'd avoid them entirely. That's ultimately up to you, though.

The best way to recruit is via telegram, that is sending your advertisement to newly created or refounded nations in feeder regions. Remember sending telegrams to nations in non-feeder regions (for example, say you sent your ad to nations in Islandia, this can result in repercussions by the moderators) is against NS rules. So don't do it.

But here's the hard reality: There is no easy way. When I was recruiting heavily, I was sending out nearly 1,000 telegrams a recruitment run, and only ten nations would come on average (sometimes more, sometimes less -it's not an exact science). But that means I had a 1% success rate. So don't be discouraged if no nations show up or only one or two. It takes time! Just stay consistent, keep up the hard work, and you'll see more nations in no time! Plus as you grow, that rate will increase.

Now, here's the most important part of all, your ad. Your ad is a preview of your region. Remember newly created nations are getting not just yours, but a dozen others, from regions big and small, some important, some not so much. This means whatever you write has to catch the eye of your reader, it has to stick out. You're selling a product, and you're the ad guy (For more information, watch: Mad Men).

Just remember, every great region began with one nation. So don't feel bad or discouraged. Recruiting takes time, but it also takes consistency and hard work. There is no real easy way. Then again nothing good ever came easy.

If you ever need any help, advice, tips, or somebody to proofread, don't hesitate to ask!

Best of luck!

Respectfully Yours,

Mike the Progressive

[Holaloperho]

Thanks everyone
Hard time ahead for me
But I does got a question to ask though, is it a good idea to write a page in NSwiki as a way to recruit ?

[Mike the Progressive]

Thanks everyone
Hard time ahead for me
But I does got a question to ask though, is it a good idea to write a page in NSwiki as a way to recruit ?

I don't know if it really helps with recruiting, but it does give your region some character. Especially when you have newer nations contribute to your region's page, thereby creating a community. For example, a past region I was founder of, resulted in some natives making a wiki page, including writing an interesting history that was part-fiction and part real. It was fun and it built friendships, as cheesy as that sounds.

Hope that helps!

Respectfully Yours,

Mike the Progressive

[The Bruce]

There’s no question that it’s harder than it used to be, in the early years of NationStates, to recruit nations to your region. There are however a lot of things you can do to make your region more attractive to nations looking for a new home and be a more effective recruiter.

Don’t post a bunch of recruiting spam on the boards of the system created regions. Use telegrams. While it’s permitted in the rules to post recruiting ads on the boards of the feeders and sinkers, the addition of post suppression to delegate powers will result in them being quashed and feelings of ill will towards your region by many there. Even if it is permissible by the system rules it’s still spam and nobody likes a spammer. If a feeder or sinker is in the middle of a huge invasion or other FUBAR event, do yourself a favour and go recruit in another region. You really don’t want to get any of that mess on you or your region. If you’re really busy get help from other players in your region. When you’re region building it helps to get help. It means less hands on quality control in how recruiting is done, but if you don’t have the time to make the region active and do all the recruiting, you might need to enlist others.

Be active. If your region is inactive, recruiting more people won’t necessary work. Also, if you’re the only one posting on your region board it may as well be inactive. Before you do a major recruiting drive, it’s a good idea to let the core players in your region know (the people you count on most) and make a request that they be a bit more active in the next couple weeks to help build the region. Players look at your region and if they see nothing happening then they will probably decide to go elsewhere. It really makes a difference for the future of a region when it’s founded by a group of people who actually know each other. That’s the strongest foundation for a region. Recruiting strangers to take the place of that kind of foundation is difficult and requires that all these new players gain some traction through shared experiences in your region to build a community.

Have shiny things. Besides being active a NS Wiki, private regional forum, and even maps are shiny things to attract players. Inactive private regional forums are somewhat less shiny. Take some time to lurk around to see what the other kids are doing. Check out their regions and forums to get ideas.

Quality recruiting not quantity recruiting. When you’re recruiting in the system created regions (feeders and sinkers) do so by telegram and take the time to personalize the telegram. Check your spelling and grammar for your recruiting telegrams (that goes for your region’s world factbook entry too). Don’t recruit inactive nations (inactive more than three days), since it’s very possible that this nation is going to die of inactivity. Try to think about when you recruit. Sunday evening to Thursday morning is probably the best time. A lot of players are also students, so telegramming them on weekends isn’t as effective. Only telegram nations you think would actually be a good fit in your region. If you’re a region that is themed around liberal thought and being environmentally green, recruiting nations that have mottos reading KILL! KILL! KILL! is probably not in anyone’s best interest. Similarly, if you’re an atheist region, you might want to stay away from nations that use the words Jesus and God repeatedly. Don’t bother recruiting nations that are a billion population or more. It takes six months to accumulate that kind of population. If they haven’t moved in six months they’re not likely to move for you. Stick to more recently created nations and you’ll get better results.

If someone does move to your region after you recruit them, send them a telegram to welcome them to the region. Now that they’re in the region, you need even more for them to do or not do as they choose. A number of those nations you just successfully recruited will die of inactivity after arriving. Few of those that arrive will become active participants in your region, but those who do will make all that work worthwhile. Some will make you wish they weren’t active participants in your region. Most will be lurkers. Others will just be there because they like the idea of having a nation in your region.