Every server starts with a dream. For Eqilux the dream was to start a succesful gaming server, based around Roblox. Over time the server's purpose changed, moving away from gaming and toward helping people get the word out about their own servers: Eqi's Roblox server became Advertise Your Server. But the growth didn't stop there. As time went on, more and more people joined to help AYS become a household name on Discord. The server grew steadily and became a business, offering its many services to everyone looking to grow a dream of their own. The virtual sky was the limit.
Life can be unpredictable and after many years of being number 1 among the advertising servers, the demands on the Staff were becoming too great as their own lives offline became busier to match or surpass it. Sadly, drowning in its own success, AYS had to close its doors.
Obviously this closure wasn't permanent as here we are, now about a year and a half after the reboot. Not only has AYS reopened its doors; we've expanded. We are now The Advertising Network, or TAN, now also boasting Advertise Your Creation and Advertise Your Game, with another launch being prepared as we speak. How did we get here?
Building on a Dream
Just as a number of former AYS Staff believed so much in AYS that they wanted to continue where the old AYS left off, you have to believe in your own servers. Growing a server, or anything for that matter, takes time and dedication. If it were as easy as setting up a discord server and barely having time to pick role colors before new members started rushing in, advertising servers would have no business existing. In reality it may take some time before you hit your first 100 actual members. You might find yourself advertising for weeks or months before you get to that milestone.
At this point some people start to lose steam. We often see such people in our chats, at a loss for how to fix this. They ask why nobody is joining, claiming they've tried everything but with no luck. The answer why nobody is joining a particular server is never down to just one or two things. Any number of things, and combinations of things, could be causing the growth to slow down to a crawl. Maybe the theme isn't attractive. Maybe the channel layout is confusing or the rules aren't clear. Whichever the case may be, getting discouraged (or worse yet: openly complaining about the lack of growth in front of potential new members) isn't going to help.
As the server's owner you have to be your server's #1 fan and supporter. Because if even you don't believe in it, why should anyone else? Building the server and community of your dreams takes hard work. We hope you're having the time of your life building and maintaining the community of your dreams. If not; we're sure we've got something on offer that will help you along!
Happy dreaming!