Starting up a new forum

[ddzc]

What type of an approach would one take when starting a forum. It looks to be very difficult b/c many ppl wont join or even stay when they see an empty forum. Any tips or suggestions?

Thanks

 

[weblord]

it basically depends on what forum it is, what niche/category, who are the target audiences? what are your expertise in relation to that forum? what type of staff you have, how knowledgeable/interested they are in that specific community. this is where you will start your marketing and promotion for that said forum.

i can give you concrete advise if you post what forum is that or pm me if it's competing forum.

HTH

 

[webd]

You might have to create a few fake users in the beginning, and have them talking with each other.

If you can attract some prolific posters in the early stages, make them moderators and they will help make the forum look active.

 

[TrafficLicious]

I 2nd what webd has just mentioned. It's basically guerilla marketing technique for you. Be willing to pay some of your friends or whoever to post some good content/threads up. Give each and every one of these characters a real personality.

Good luck buddy!

 

[italiandragon]

You might have to create a few fake users in the beginning, and have them talking with each other.

If you can attract some prolific posters in the early stages, make them moderators and they will help make the forum look active.

that`s cheating :td:

 

[John Allen]

The basic fact of making a forum popular, is its Niche, or in simpler words, something liked.
Basically, It revolves around the age group of people you are targetting.

For example, Gaming for kids.

Some of the good niches out there are :

Gaming, Domains, SEO.

One must remember that, there are great competitors out there and you must be unique i your way to get to the peak!
Here are some of my favorite traffic driving & website promotion techniques to drive traffic to my sites.

They are great for pulling in traffic, subscribers and sales.

1. Article Marketing such as EzineArticles, GoArticles and ArticleCity
2. Social Bookmarking such as Digg, Propeller..
3. RSS Submission
4. Directory/Blog Directory submissions
5. Blogging
6. Viral Marketing with ebooks
7. Comment Posting
8. Forum Posting in related forums. Simply Google "yourtopic + forum"
9. JV with related competitors
10. Hire Forum Posters.

Hope it helps!

-John

 

[nmr86]

You have to be dedicated on the niche and post a lot yourself in your new forum! visitors have to see that it is active and you have to get interesting discussions up !

Good luck

 

[RSK2000]

Here are two good articles you might find helpful from the AdminFusion forum, for forum owners.

The first is a prelaunch checklist - things to do before you even launch your forum.....Launch Checklist - http://www.adminfusion.com/forums/t8848/

and this

Starting to promote your community http://www.adminfusion.com/forums/t6428/

You should find some helpful stuff in both articles.

 

[obvio]

Find a few good posters and pay them well. Exchange posts with other forum owners. Also, post on other forums that are somewhat related to your topic with your signature link (those that allow signature links).

 

[Krs Hasukie]

Get friends to help you or co-workers. Um If you need people if it is a message board just Chit-Chat I will Join.

 

[iulianh]

Post a thread on NP$ Incentives forum , where you pay users an ammount to post on your forums . Or you pay them to stumble your site, or you pay them to register.

Worked for me .

Iulian

 

[simon johnson]

Start small - with one main discussion forum. When it grows take out the more popular topics onto other sub-forums.

If you don't have the traffic to start a forum then don't do it! It's not a good look.

 

[Hafsoh]

For a new forum you have way to many sections. Condense them down for the time being to make the forum appear more active, then you can just make offer for something that other sites dont offer for free, or have a lot of stuff people will use.

 

[Idea Market]

Just start off small, only creating a few categories and threads so your forum doesn't look empty. Hire a few posters who will offer quality posts/threads for an affordable price. Start advertising it only after you have a bit of activity (from paid posters, or personally spreading the word throughout your networks, etc).

I am in the midst of creating yet another forum. The work that goes into a starter-board is horrendous but it pays off quickly. Nothing is stickier than a community board.

Good luck!

 

[dkr]

People come to your forum for content. Make sure you give them what they want or they'll leave almost instantly.

Be sure to stay active yourself. Spending 30-60 minutes to make 20-30 posts each day is a MUST for all new forums if you wish to be successful. I would also recommend having a team of 5-6 moderators/staff members who genuinely care and wish your forum success. Then, like what Jake talked about, simply promote.

Thank you,
Donny