How to Build a Forum That Doesnt Fall Apart Two Months Later, Part 1
If you can get a big enough following from customer lists and newsletters you might want to start your own forum. But I always see people trying to start a forum and it falls flat on their face, mainly because they make it too big and they never promote it.
The main reason is because nobody eats in an empty restaurant. Don't setup a "multiple topic" forum like phpBB where it allows you to partition the thing off into different subjects. You have to start small, get enough traffic to that forum for THAT type of forum to become self-sustaining before you build bigger.
By that I mean start off with a blog.
This blog (and eventually your message board) HAVE to have a niche. You can't just have a general purpose hang-out message board, or have it based on something really vague like "Marketing," or "Finance," or "Computers." Instead go for something specific like a Copywriting message board. Or a message board about home loans. Or a message board about digital video.
You supply all the posts, and any user "posts" will just be comments to this journal. Don't require any sort of signup in order to post.
Give people an option to sign up for e-mail updates but DO NOT use the autoresponder built into the blogging software. Instead use a separate autoresponder script. Why? Two reasons:
1.) You can write a quick teaser message that will entice more subscribers to read your posts than any boring automated notice could. 2.) This way it will be easier to move subscribers over once you graduate from a blog (keep reading).
(WordPress works great for this and is free.)
Start off allowing anyone to post, but once you start getting traffic to that page and the blog spam starts rolling in you will either have to require approval by you for a comment to go through or require the poster to type in a code to prove they are human (you've seen the kind).
It will be easy to get SOME traffic to the blog, if you keep most of your entries to it in article format, because then you can submit these articles to ezines and the article directories with a link back to the blog.
Keep the blog format going, be SURE to post regularly and if possible write content in advance (Post To Future) so that if you miss a week your content will still be updated as if you never left. If you feel ambitious setup RSS feeds for the blog and submit to the feed directories.
Continue posting until you reach the point where after you make a post, you receive comments from 10-20 different people within a day or two of the post. This 10-20 has to happen without any e-mails being sent out, or any kind of active promotion.
Until you reach this point stay with the blog, it means you haven't reached critical mass yet and any attempt to change over to a more complex kind of site will never work.
Once you've got those 10-20 spontaneous posts you can go ahead and make the move from a blog to a forum. But be very very careful. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, especially if your forum doesn't "unfold" properly, which is a technique I'll discuss with you in Part 2 of this article...
Free (humorous) video for you about how to promote an affiliate program without seeming spammy. Take a look: http://www.affiliatebattleplan.com/Rewrite.html
Latest News
Governor's office hosting small-business survival forums Denver Post, CO - Bill Ritter's office said Thursday that his administration will organize a series of six "small-business finance forums" across the state starting next week ... Surviving the downturn in Colorado |
UWGB chancellor search forums start Friday Green Bay Press Gazette, WI - The forums start Friday with local candidate Tom Olson, followed Monday by Michael Renner of Mansfield University in Mansfield, Pa. Thomas Harden of Clayton ... University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Sweeps Valparaiso UWGB study looks at boosting Green Bay port's freight capacity |
Webcasting Plays Key Role in Chancellor Interviews at University ... MarketWatch - He and the other four finalists for Chancellor participated in two days of campus interviews, including two public forums. The campus community was ... Webcasting Plays Key Role in Chancellor Interviews at University ... |
Forums set in Hunterdon County for homeowners concerned about wood ... Scarlet Scuttlebutt, NJ - By WALTER O'BRIEN • Staff Writer • December 4, 2008 HUNTERDON COUNTY —A state legislator has announced two forums for homeowners concerned about the safety ... |
Board finishes up budget forums Ypsilanti Courier, MI - By Tom Perkins , Special Writer The Ypsilanti Public School District Board held the second of two public forums on the financial issues facing the district. ... |
Express Yourself! Forums Gwinnett Gazette, GA - Join the Send-Off for Grayson Rams! - 2008/12/04 12:06 The Grayson Cheerleaders are trying to line Georgia 20 with cheering Grayson fans on Friday as the ... |
Small business survival meetings set Bizjournals.com, NC - 16 forum in Denver, Gov. Bill Ritter said Thursday. The free Small Business Finance Forums, sponsored by state and federal agencies, and financial trade ... |
State Senate Democrats Launch Statewide Budget Listening Tour NewsLI, NY - (New York, NY) With New York State facing the biggest budget crisis in a generation, State Senate Democrats will convene a series of local forums around the ... |
Wallkill School District plans community forums Times Herald-Record, NY - HAMLET OF WALLKILL — The Wallkill School District will hold two community forums in December to share the district's vision and mission with the community ... School Board Finalizes Bond, Focuses on Library Issues |
Indianapolis Lands Influential National Medical Technology ... MarketWatch - To celebrate the organization's new headquarters location, the group is holding one of their three yearly forums in Indianapolis next Monday and Tuesday, ... Indiana Scores National Influence With Medical Tech Think Tank Move |
Resources
-
Our Ultimate Reality. Spiritual Evolution, Astral Projection, OBE, Out of Body Experiences and Astra
Information and Forums for Astral Projection, Astral Travel, OBE, Out of Body Experiences,Spiritual Evolution, The Afterlife and much more
-
Forum Fortunes - Make a living with online Forums
Did You Know That You Can Make A Living Using Online Forums? Forum Fortunes Helps Make YOU A Resident Expert By Automating Your Forum Message Posting AND Replies, And That Means More Income For You!
-
Did You Know That You Can
Get Paid For Your Opinion. Make money from home. Extensive database for paid surveys, paid Forums and more online.
-
Money4OnlineSurveys.com - Get Paid to Shop, Eat and Take Surveys!
Get paid up to $125 hr. to fill out online surveys, participate in online Forums. Get paid to eat and. Earn 60% as an affiliate.
-
The Original - How to Make & Market Gel Candles That Sell LIke Wildfire!
how to make, market and sell gel candles. the original gel candle resource for gel candle how to information, news, supplies, Forums, photos, assistance and other resources.
-
Poker Affiliate Program - PokerAffiliateWorld.com-
Poker Affiliate World is a resource for poker affiliates regarding poker affiliate programs and features an active poker affiliate forum. Learn to make money promoting online poker from professional poker webmasters who have succeeded.