I worked for a for-pay Q&A site a little while back. They had all the incentives of SO and more. For example if you answered half-a-dozen questions a month, you got free access. The reward system. The asker declared how much the question was worth and awarded the points to one or more answerers. Awards could be adjusted by moderators so a better answer could be awarded the points.
There were a large number of categories, added to all the time. An answerer could register as an expert in one or more categories and could become an expert, guru, grand-master, etc. in one or more categories with the badges showing up everywhere.
There was an elaborate email system that kept every one engaged.If you were an expert, you got an email when a question was in one of your areas of expertise. An asker go an email whenever there was an answer of comment to one of your questions.
It appealed to the corporate IT world, but the combination of incentives, communications, and content curation seemed to work quiite well.
There were a large number of categories, added to all the time. An answerer could register as an expert in one or more categories and could become an expert, guru, grand-master, etc. in one or more categories with the badges showing up everywhere.
There was an elaborate email system that kept every one engaged.If you were an expert, you got an email when a question was in one of your areas of expertise. An asker go an email whenever there was an answer of comment to one of your questions.
It appealed to the corporate IT world, but the combination of incentives, communications, and content curation seemed to work quiite well.