I create great communities.Tumblr (3.0; @markwilhelm)http://markwilhelm.com/<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvn36fvArf1qasif1o1_r1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Optometrist website redesign.</p> <p>This actually has nothing to do with community-building and everything to do with showcasing my versatility as a web content producer. Nearly every photograph on the website was shot by yours truly.</p>http://markwilhelm.com/post/13685757562http://markwilhelm.com/post/13685757562Sat, 03 Dec 2011 12:56:00 -0500<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq3wzgInRQ1qasif1o1_r3_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>The largest ArcheAge fansite…</p> <p><strong>…is ArcheAgeSource.com.</strong> But why is it great?<strong><br/></strong></p> <p>How about the dedication the community’s staff and members have to a game that hasn’t even been officially announced for the North American, European, or Oceanic markets?</p> <p><em>ArcheAge</em> is basically a unknown property outside of Southeast Asia at the moment, but ArcheAgeSource.com is in the business of selling it to the thousands of potential future customers that live everywhere else. This courageous dedication is infectious and has enabled the game to make a name for itself on bellwether sites like MMORPG.com and Massively.com.</p> <p>ArcheAgeSource.com runs on Invision Power Services’ Community Suite, which consists of forums, blogs, image galleries, and more.</p>http://markwilhelm.com/post/9068652177http://markwilhelm.com/post/9068652177Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:41:00 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq3wgkfoE61qasif1o1_r3_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>The ArcheAge news blog…</p> <p><strong>…is ArcheAge-Online.com.</strong> But why is it great?</p> <p>Let’s start with how well the site is optimized to show up in organic search results: consistently at or near the top of results for targeted terms, ArcheAge-Online’s SEO metrics are impressive. The site looks so well-kept that many visitors mistake it for the real thing and stick around to consume older content. They see the links to fansites and offsite media mentions and assume someone “on the inside” is at the controls.</p> <p>ArcheAge-Online is also heavily integrated with social media, with around a thousand Facebook fans and 300 Twitter followers. News portals, such as Massively and N4G, have picked up the site’s RSS feed and often use it as a source in their own articles, creating powerful backlinks. This makes it almost literally the de facto <em>ArcheAge</em> news outlet.</p> <p>All this is achieved through Wordpress.</p>http://markwilhelm.com/post/9068341773http://markwilhelm.com/post/9068341773Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:30:00 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq3vxy1i761qasif1o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>The first TERA fansite…</p> <p><strong>…was TERAblah.com.</strong> But why was it great?</p> <p>Before there was En Masse Entertainment, there was TERAblah: a bastion of Lineage 2 fans trying to figure out what Bluehole Studios was up to and what exactly <em>Project S1</em> was going to become when finally released as <em>TERA: The Exiled Realm of Arborea</em>. The community kept close tabs on the infamous NCsoft/Bluehole lawsuit while working PvP-minded MMO fans into a frenzy for a game that had yet to be publicly tested.</p> <p>When En Masse Entertainment was founded and TERA-Online.com’s forums became more active, many of the conversations that would have previously occurred on TERAblah.com naturally moved to the newer, more visible platform.</p> <p>TERAblah.com was powered by a combination of Joomla (front page and news) and vBulletin 3 (forums and blogs).</p>http://markwilhelm.com/post/9067948111http://markwilhelm.com/post/9067948111Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:20:00 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq3viuyP1w1qasif1o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>The largest Aion fansite…</p> <p><strong>…is AionSource.com.</strong> But why was it great?</p> <p>The biggest factor behind AionSource.com’s unlikely success was momentum. Being the first fansite on the scene for a game is always a good thing, especially if the game in question is completely fresh intellectual property. Besides being first, AionSource also was more polished and professional than its competitors.</p> <p>Over time, AionSource.com practically became the game’s official community, since NCsoft (conveniently) refused to set up their own forums for the game until much closer to launch. Eventually it was the only English-language Aion fansite worth spending time on, and the member count exploded into five and then six-digit territory.</p> <p>I sold AionSource to <a href="http://www.curse.com" target="_blank">Curse Inc.</a> in 2008 and stayed on as Administrator until late 2009, right before <em>Aion</em> launched. I needed to spend more time on my college studies.</p>http://markwilhelm.com/post/9067532145http://markwilhelm.com/post/9067532145Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:10:00 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq3uuvlpdu1qasif1o1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>My second Game Recruiter ad.</p> <p>To be published digitally in the first issue of the <a href="http://www.worldgamingexecutives.com/" target="_blank">World Gaming Executives</a> magazine.</p>http://markwilhelm.com/post/9067014016http://markwilhelm.com/post/9067014016Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:55:00 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq3uz0jWyV1qasif1o1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>My first Game Recruiter ad.</p> <p>Published in the Summer 2011 issue of Casual Connection Magazine (a casual game dev zine).</p>http://markwilhelm.com/post/9067122904http://markwilhelm.com/post/9067122904Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:55:00 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq3tilmSiD1qasif1o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>My current business card.</p> <p>Satin laminated and spot UV coated.</p>http://markwilhelm.com/post/9065927595http://markwilhelm.com/post/9065927595Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:25:00 -0400