Frequently Asked Questions

We add to this list as we receive more questions. If you have a question that's not yet answered here, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

What exactly is Snapzu?

Snapzu is the community platform at the core of this Blog Enhancement Suite. It went live in 2013 to much fanfare and currently hosts 1000's of active web communities where people can discuss, create content, share links, and participate in ways unlike anywhere else. Our extended social features and gamification create an ideal environment for bloggers to fit right in while leveraging the power of community to help their blog excel. It's too vast and extensive to describe here, so for more information on all things "Snapzu", you can check out the FAQ here.

Why is this service aimed at bloggers?

It's the perfect combination and ideal situation where we can leverage our individual strengths and help each other mutually. Of all the people out there, we've found that bloggers are among the most (if not the most) qualified to run communities, because not only do they already show passion and/or have expertise in a specific topic or niche, they also have the dedication it takes, having already taken the necessary steps to set up and establish their blog. For those fortunate enough to have, a large existing audience can also be of massive help in seeding initial community members to start getting engaged and getting the "ball rolling". We're essentially taking the best functionality of Snapzu and making it possible to implement it into any blog to make it incomparably more engaging, memorable, and profitable, while establishing a long term mutual partnership where both parties win.

What makes growing a blog so hard?

Because the concept of blogging is two sided, most blogs suffer from what we've come to call the "chicken and egg" problem, referring to the age old question of what came first. New blogs are most susceptible because it's hard to get people to visit and stick around if there is little to no content. As a direct result, it's hard to stay motivated and provide new content if there is little to no audience. This becomes a vicious cycle that is extremely frustrating and time consuming to crack and is the single most common reason for why most bloggers burn out. Our tools are specifically designed to attack the issues internally and from both sides of the problem.

Do I need a blog to participate?

No, a blog is not required to participate, in fact many of our current popular communities never had an accompanying blog. However, it can be significantly easier to grow a community if you already have some pre-existing audience (or influence) to seed your new community with its first and most important few members. The best way to do so is by taking advantage of our strategic tools this Blog Enhancement Suite provides!

Will this service work on my small business website?

Absolutely, it will work for all websites, and not just blogs. If you have a website for a small business (ie. Photography), you are more than welcome to jump on board, but make sure you read over and follow our 10 community guidelines so that you don't accidentally break any rules, especially about self promotion. It's important to remember that Snapzu is an established "community of communities" that's already been active and growing for the past three years. We have adopted strict rules that must be followed by all participating members in order to assure a fantastic ongoing experience for everyone.

Should my new community be the same niche/topic as my blog?

Yes, as it will be easier to get people to participate in a topic you already they know are interested in, hence why they visit your blog in the first place! If your blog is about multiple random topics, we recommend you narrow down to a single topic for your community that will work well with a large percentage of your existing audience.

What types of communities are not allowed on Snapzu, and why?

Here is a short list of the topics or content that is not allowed on Snapzu:

a) Marketing: While we're aware that there is some good and ethical marketing information out there, we're playing it better safe than sorry and not having any of it here. Too much gray area for our liking.
b) Piracy: For obvious reasons.
c) Erotica/Pornography: It degrades the community experience.
d) Hate Material: For obvious reasons.
e) Gore: Most people don't want to see that.
f) Doxxing: For obvious reasons.

If you run a blog that contains or promotes any of the above, it cannot participate on Snapzu and/or the Blog Enhancement Suite. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you understand our concerns.

Why is Snapzu invite only?

Snapzu is invite only for several reasons. First, it allows trusted community leaders to be the "gatekeepers" of the platform as a whole, where no one can join without first being invited by a community/blog. Second, it creates a barrier of entry for people with any potential ill intentions, such as spammers and trolls, whom always seem to try and ruin the fun. Keep in mind that we do keep an invite request queue for people that discover Snapzu organically, and we do occasionally send out invites ourselves.

How does Snapzu help me find members to my community?

When you or your members/audience post content to, or otherwise participate in your community, that content ripples around on the entire Snapzu platform, landing in user feeds, other communities, and ultimately the front page. Content that makes the front page then gets shared on all our social channels and networks, top lists, and even our weekly newsletter. The entire process is governed by a fair and democratic approach, meaning that posting fresh and quality content is the best way to get noticed.

What are the self-promotion rules on Snapzu?

As a general rule of thumb, all members (including community leaders) must follow the 10% self-promotion rule on Snapzu, meaning that you can only link to your blog or its articles (or any other blogs you have an invested interest in) in up to 10%, or 1 of every 10 of your posts. As we are a community platform with rules and etiquette in place, the reason for this should be obvious. Community etiquette suggests that it's best to share all types of content from all kinds of sources (not just your blog) into your own community, along with other communities on Snapzu that interest you. This winning formula grows and promotes your community naturally and organically, while simultaneously building up a profile and establishing roots in other communities. It's all about getting noticed the right way.

How much (if anything) will the Blog Enhancement Suite cost?

The Snapzu Blog Enhancement Suite will be free for the most part, with additional premium options and customization available for a reasonable and affordable fee, something around the cost of a cellphone plan. We're going with the SaaS sales model route, which will allow this service to self-sustain and expand as a business. Membership fees we collect will cover web hosting, daily operations, maintenance, research & development, wages, marketing, social media management, and more.

How can I get a discount on the premium paid plan?

There are two ways:

a) If you place a pre-order deposit down for $100, we will offer you 50% off any plan for any duration when it's live. This deposit goes a long way and may even help us launch faster as it will allow us to dedicate more resources for development, more powerful hardware setup and more. Putting down a deposit is the only way to also get early beta access 1-2 weeks before official launch.

b) After you enter your e-mail (to get notification of official launch), we offer several perks for sharing it to other bloggers that may be interested in this service. For every 5 bloggers you refer, you gain an additional discount of 25%. Refer 20 bloggers and you can get a free year of our premium plan. Refer 40 and you can get free LIFETIME premium plan. No catch! We're offering real meaningful incentives because we understand that's what it takes.

Note: To check your up-to-date blogger referral count, simply re-enter your email address in the box and it will take you to your referral panel with stats and your referral URL. You may not refer yourself (with a different email) under any circumstances, or you may be disqualified from the offer.

Does my community also have a standalone area on Snapzu?

Yes, all communities have their own standalone area on Snapzu, and are officially called "tribes". Because mobile is tricky with embeds and widgets, this provides your mobile audience direct access to your community and all its functionality. Simply add a few links to your tribe (in a visible area) to ensure that your mobile audience can also get engaged. It's important to remember that your stand-alone tribe and your embeddable widget show the exact same content, with the widget simply acting as a compressed/embedded window, allowing your blog to remain exactly the same in all areas outside of the widget.

How do I set up the community widget on my blog?

To set up your community widget on your blog, you will need to copy and paste a small snippet of HTML code to where you want it to appear. We recommend near the top of the sidebar (if you have one) as it will provide sufficient exposure to get things moving along naturally. Once it's up on your blog, you can customize the look and feel to as you see fit. Then it's time to jump start your community by posting, or "mirroring" some content (it's really easy and fun) so that your community has enough initial content to provide enough value to your blog, and to get users to join and/or participate. After that it's all on cruise control.