What are best practices for growing and monetizing my Space?

In contrast to the rest of Quora, where questions and answers are organized by topic, Spaces are organized by the contributors of the Space. Instead of assigned topics, Spaces have a point of view. They can be a place to ask experts, an exchange of specialized knowledge or unique experience, or a place to build and engage a community.

Spaces are also the primary way a creator can ask the community to support their work.

Space owners may participate in the Quora+ program, which allows them to share in the revenue from readers signed up for Quora+.

If you choose to monetize your Space, read below to learn how to set it up for success.

Starting Your Space

1. Align your Space around a specific theme.

• How can you make your Space feel like home for like-minded followers and visitors? Start off by naming your Space and declaring your Space’s mission and story, why visitors should follow it, and what kind of content and experiences they can expect.
• You can use free tools like Canva or Unsplash to customize your Space’s profile photo and banner.

2. Write and pin an initial welcome post.

• A good practice for new Space creators is to write a welcome post as a personal greeting to new visitors, along with more specific details expectations and rules within the Space. You can pin your welcome post to the top of your Space so that it’ll be the first thing new visitors see.

3. Identify your ideal audience.

• Knowing what your ideal readers are like can help you build a more authentic, intimate relationship with your followers and let your personal brand shine. You’ll also have a clearer idea on how and when to best reach them.
• Try out the exercise of defining your ideal reader persona, which is a generalized representation of your ideal reader and his or her interests and motivations. Having a clear definition of your ideal reader personas and knowing what motivates them will help you tailor your content to find the readers who matter to you. Some examples of reader personas are:
  • Marshall the Marvel Avengers maniac
    Marshall reads all things Marvel Cinematic Universe whenever he can.
  • Tommy the Tech Guy
    Tommy enjoys skimming through content on start-ups but prefers to deeply read about emerging tech and answers from tech leaders and entrepreneurs. He mainly finds time to read during lunch, after work, and on weekends.
  • Penelope the Physics student.
    Penelope likes to ask questions and read answers about pursuing grad school and career advice. She reads in between classes and in the evenings.

Building Your Space

1. Original content vs. content curation.

• The first few posts in your Space set the expectation for your followers. How do you decide which form of content - original, curation, or both - you want to focus on within your Space? This is where you want to think back to your ideal reader personas and how you want to engage with them. Ask, “What would my ideal reader want to see?” Rest assured there is high demand for both original content such as knowledge from individuals with the right set of credentials, as well as for well-curated content from other areas of Quora. You may want to offer gift subscriptions to writers whose content you frequently share to your Space or to invite them to be a contributor. Remember, Spaces are about a point of view, so express yours!

2. Stick to a routine.

• Set a schedule and prioritize consistency.
  • Whether you’re curating 3 high-quality pieces each day or posting two original answers a week, one of the biggest reasons visitors follow you is because you’re consistent and they know they can expect more.
• Be strategic with the timing of your posts to maximize your reach.
  • Post when your ideal audiences are most likely to see it. You can set up your content to post ahead of time in your Space using our Queue feature.

3. Consistently publish content that your audience will find valuable.

• It's important to maintain relevance, quality, and consistency for your audience. Keep your Space content on theme and post actively. There are many ways to publish content that is relevant and valuable for your readers:
  • Add admins, moderators, and contributors over time to help manage and post more to your Space. People who frequently submit content or comment may want to get involved.
  • Use the suggestions tab for content ideas.
  • Take and review content submissions and schedule these posts over time. To reduce the burden of review, submissions that are not posted within 14 days are declined. You can change this in your Space settings.

4. Invite your network.

• Once you’ve laid the starting groundwork in your Space, you can start inviting your friends and followers. Go to your Space settings in the “People” section to send invitations. It’s important that you have some good initial content within your Space to start things off right.
• Share your Space on your personal website, social media, and Quora profile.
• Learn what types of posts resonate with your audience through stats.
• Respond to comments from your audience.
• Encourage your readers to turn on all notifications for your Space, if they're finding it valuable.

5. Open conversations with your community.

• Ask questions.
• Encourage and participate in comments.
• Post feedback threads to check the pulse of your Space. Ask questions of active followers, such as what they want to see more or less of.

We hope this provides a clearer step-by-step on actions creators can take to start building a successful Space!