[dnpodcast]

* This is just an example of how you can get a jump start with a forum months before the topic at hand is popular. *

Taken from my blog at http://predictingtrends.com/profitin...ry/2007/02/21/
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/webmaster-tutorials/297179-starting-a-niche-forum.html

Here I will try to fill you in on how to sniff out a Niche to start a forum for and make some extra coin. Every time something new and exciting hits the market you can bet on there be a forum on that topic. It’s quite easy to sit down and think about your favorite industries and what you’re into, from that we can start hunting for the Niche. I will use the video game industry for this post.

Video games are an easy target because you know without a doubt that the game will sell and have MANY fans. Take Gears Of War for example. If you’re into the Xbox 360, you would have most likely heard about this game half a year prior to its release date. This is when you need to jump on the bandwagon and try and grab the best domain possible, hopefully something like;
gowforum.com
gearsofwarforum.com
gerasofwarforums.com

So now you got the domain, you can go pay for Vbulletin or use the best free alternative PHPBB. There was hype from the very first day that Gears Of War was going to be a hot hot hot game, and having the biggest forum for it would be a good source of income. Start by optimizing the site for the search engines, as well as get some unique content up talking about the game. Before you know it you already have good placement, and perhaps members signing up.

So skip ahead to 2 months after the game was released, and by the way it was the FASTEST selling video game of all time. You now should have members signing up everyday contributing to the forum, which also means less time spent admining, and more time playing the game…or working on other projects 8) The game is now going to be made intro a trilogy, so every time a new version comes out it only adds more fuel to the fire.

The biggest Gears Of War forum online now is the Gears Of War Forum with roughly 3200 members and growing daily. At this point your adsense/YPN integration should be making some decent money, as well you could be selling the game online and other Xbox items.


I hope this is informative to someone!

[WiiSaid]

Thanks that was some great info

[Barrucadu]

Thanks, i'll have to use that knowledge next time I try to start a forum.

[bbalegere]

Thanks.
I might find the info when i start my own forum.

[squatter]

Hi, thanx for the article, do you have any recommendation on forum promotion?

[dnpodcast]

http://www.wickedfire.com/content-ki...ighlight=forum

Some great tips here!

[zachary0611]

yeh i was reading about some marketing guys and they do this to people also start blogs about niche topics

[jl255]

no offense, nor experience in starting forums, but it seems alittle simplistic? don't think u will get visitors pouring into your site within 2 mths. You may not even get into google search in 2mths. so most of your traffic will come from personal marketing on forums, etc, which will still be limited. Do correct me if i'm wrong, just my friendly opinions =)

[YesBrilliant]

Thanks dnpodcast.

Simple, but a very nice starting point.

[noli1985]

Tnx for the infos.