Obviously I'm doing something wrong

[user-7256]

Hey,

I'm trying to advertise my new forum: http://forum.mattsprojects.net

But even with a $50 incentive, I'm failing to attract new members and activity.

($50 awarded to highest poster after 200 members)

What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
-Matt

 

[user-7256]

Hmm... I'll cut down on the amount of boards.

Thanks everyone, I'll also think of some way to make the boards unique... does anybody have any ideas? I know it's tough, I can donate some $$ for really good ideas, rep for any unique ideas that make sense.

-Matt

 

[user-7256]

I cut down the boards by like half, a little more than that actually.

What else can I do to make it unique?

 

[TUFKATH]

Matt,

It's pretty nice actually. The top is a bit cluttered and I'm not sure why there are apples as it isn't a farming forum.

Something to think about: people don't generally want to be on MATTS PWNAGE FORUM because it's sort of like saying I'm the admin, the forum should be named after me. I did this before. I had forum.taylorhewitt.com and it didn't do too well. I could have it all wrong but this is something I've thought about and it makes sense. Maybe change the name.

Another thing - subdomain? It doesn't proclaim it's importance to the world while upon a subdomain platform. Maybe get it it's own domain and people will pay more attention to it.

Good luck Matt!

 

[user-7256]

Apples are cool

Again, take a look at DigitalPoint... it's a company and they have some of the most popular webmaster forums online.

The idea isn't that you're posting under "Matt's Pwn4ge F0rum", but rather just a place to discuss, a gathering of webmasters, designers, programmers, etc.

As for a subdomain, I don't see why it hurts? I don't really want to get it its own domain just to redirect to a sub...

 

[TUFKATH]

Who said anything about redirecting to a subdomain? Get it its own domain!

I've never heard of DigitalPoint but you say it's a company. That means that it has more money than you do and has made a name for itself I assume. How's this:

If Tom Cruise made a general discussion forum where he was the admin and he was very active then I'm sure it would get tons of members. I'm not putting you down but to the average person, Matt Whateveryourlastnameis, is nobody.

 

[user-7256]

Okay, you have a point.

http://forums.digitalpoint.com btw

So then, my question: Is there any HOPE for my forum?

 

[TUFKATH]

Matt you can hope for a million dollars but it probably won't come true. At the same time there is hope for anything because this is life and anything can happen.

Do I think your forum will be successful as is? No but it depends on what you think is successful. It won't be the next namepros as is, how's that.

 

[user-7256]

Okay... but how would I go about getting something unique up? That's what I really need is a unique feature. As mentioned, I'll donate $$ for good ideas.

 

[trafficsurfer]

Well as a traffic exchange owner, I think they are good resource in getting more traffic! If you want your alexa rating to go up, use autosurfs, and if you want people actually viewing your site use manual surfs

Good luck!

 

[user-7256]

Hmm... never appreciated autosurfers...

But what I'm really wanting to know is a unique idea to make my FORUM unique, not just to get traffic.

 

[trafficsurfer]

Just lay down and think

Nampros is unique by the fact you can actually use NP$ as a currency for buying quite a few things

 

[sm]

brand it differently as i said before. Unless you're a celeb or a well known webmaster or something along those lines, it's not a great idea to brand it based on your name. How much time does it really take to get an appropriate domain name ?

.... and digital point might be a company, but it doesnt appear to be so... to me "digitalpoint" is like a cool domain name for a techy site (even sounds similar to sitepoint) Whats your domain? mattsprojects.net : the "matt" in the domain spoils it. it would have been okay for a blog site, because after all on most personal blogs, the primary contributor is the blogger himself. On a forum, many contribute. Those "many" wouldnt want to contribute because they wouldnt feel like they are a part of the whole thing: the name of the forum domain itself makes them secondary players, and gives too much importance to the owner of the forum. That's not how a community is built, unless the community is about you

also your design is great from the design point of view. But, it should be simpler...... not too "bright"......too much of brightness and bold colors get tough on the eyes after a while (not a great idea if you want folks to spend time on your forum....)

 

[TUFKATH]

sm pretty much summed up what I was trying to say.

 

[HHDomains]

You need to give people a reason to go to the forum.
First of all, if people actually do have a very unique and original idea they are not going to tell you it for a few NP$ Matt. They will use it themselves.

Also, you forum has been online since January 10. You have a total of 19 posts, most of which are not at informative.
If in 16 days the best you can do is 19 posts what incentive do people have to return even if they decide to sign up?
These things don't just magically take off. They require hard work. Even if you had made 12 decent posts a day your forum would at least be showing a little activity.

 

[user-7256]

Hm... thanks, when I have a chance I'll add rep for the suggestions.

I may just get myself like 5 accounts and post back and forth :p

 

[TUFKATH]

No compuXP, that's wrong and is lying to your members faking activity. I've been in the forum biz for 5 years now and not once have I had to resort to that.

 

[sm]

right ... no need to sign up under multiple accounts ...... just create about 10 threads every day for about a month, and then post an incentive on namepros for posts ...... dont do it now .. do it AFTER there's something nice to read on your forum .. else you'll get posts like "whats you favourite web browser? mine's firefox" hahahaha

 

[user-7256]

Lol, good point Taylor and sm. Thanks.

I'll start posting I guess