1 : CHOOSING YOUR GAME MASTERS = Avoid hiring friends as game masters, or administrators. They are just some people who take advantage and will abuse their abilities. It's human nature. If they screw up, you can't discipline them well (because after all they're your friends!). If you try to discipline them, you may risk your friendship.
2 : ENFORCING RULES = It's better to be feared, than loved (as it is difficult to combine them). You should be loved, but mostly feared, so they take you seriously as an Owner/GM and don't try to play around with you.
Am I telling you to be total dick? No. But there are lines that should not be crossed.
Don't let them walk all over you saying your to strict so your a bad Owner/GM, being strict makes you a GOOD Owner/GM. You should be 60% strict, 40% fun.
3 : Patience = Some servers know how to market themselves exceptionally well. Then there are the late bloomers. Don't lose motivation just because your server's a little late, as in some stuff don't work when you want it to work, like WZ Edits, VPS updates, coding, etc....
Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted. Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working the first time you try, doesn't mean it won't work. It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity to be the first, or one of the first few to do it.
"Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing."
4 : Responsibility = You may consider it a little odd that I'm telling you to be responsible.. you might be like "it's just a game aint it?"
Running a game server can teach you how to better yourself, manage a community, and the responsibilities you need to manage within your community.
Be cautious of your actions, BE RESPONSIBLE.
5 : That's the way it is = Sometimes it just doesn't work out. You can be a great developer, but you may lack leadership or marketing traits others may have (in Luxury's case, she doesn't lack anything).
What's so great about a custom, feature-filled private server when no one knows about it? Or when it has crappy leadership? It's a good idea to pursue a right hand man. A senior moderator or administrator who helps you with the load, who also has excels in other areas. Be wary of who you hire.
These are just some tips to help the server, not to say your doing anything bad/wrong with the server! Your great with the server, just to give you some help (if you need it).
Subject: Tips to run a successful server: 
