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Starting a Forum - How do you drive Traffic and get discussions going?

by Cru
9 replies
I am interested in starting a non-IM related forum. I'd like to get a discussion started on how to drive traffic and promote participating in the community when only a small one exists.

For me, when I find a new forum and it only has 25 threads I immediately leave. It is like the chicken and the egg. You can't get people to post on an unpopular forum, but your forum will never become popular unless people post there.

If you have a successful forum, can you go through the early days and what you had to do to get it up to speed?

If you don't have a forum but have some ideas about generating traffic and participation I would love to hear them.

If you know of any great resources on how to generate traffic (paid or not, doesn't matter), I would love to see some links to them.

PS. I plan on finally utilizing the vBulletin license I purchased months ago

Thanks,

Cru
#discussions #drive #forum #starting #traffic
  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
    Banned
    There was a site that I used to write for called Postloop. In essence you bought credits (or earned them through posting on the forum's of others) and these were used to bring people to your site. They had a quality control system and you would rate the people that posted on your site. Forum posters would trade their credits for cash, and their rating determined how fast they got to a payout, so they would want to post long, qualitative, and on topic posts.

    You can try that (it's been a few months since I used it and I'm not sure how busy it is now) it can be a good way to jump start some discussions.
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  • Profile picture of the author jivens
    Banned
    wow postloop looks great thanks for the share!
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
    Banned
    No problem, if you haven't earned any money online yet, it can also be a good way to get your first couple of bucks. I recommend it to newbies (if they ever actually come to me for information) because all it takes is that initial spark to get you motivated and then things taking off is inevitable.
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  • Profile picture of the author oda
    My experience was that I got used by every backlinker in the world to get a profile backlink.

    I tried to get conversation going but I really believe that launching a new forum is very hard work unless you know your niche and you have a way of killing off back link hunters.

    One of my favorite Australian Webmaster forums has just been smashed by people getting backlinks. NO content just crap with a signature on it.

    My forum
    wordpressmarketingforum dot com is now an adsense domain and makes $30-$80 a month & growing, Like clockwork.

    The best thing I did for my forum was to turn it over to adsense for domains.

    Just my experience, Not saying it happens to everyone and they where in the IM niche, but i have heard similar stories from many niches.

    Membership control was very hard.
    IE back linkers versus proper members)

    Just had a thought
    I wonder how many people a day get banned from WF for doing that, This forum is one of the best for regulation and discussion.
    (Find out how WF does it and copy it, Its the IM way! LOL)

    Oda
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    • Profile picture of the author Mitsakis
      You can find others who want to start a new forum and do some post exchanges.
      Signature
      .
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    • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
      Originally Posted by oda View Post

      My experience was that I got used by every backlinker in the world to get a profile backlink.

      I tried to get conversation going but I really believe that launching a new forum is very hard work unless you know your niche and you have a way of killing off back link hunters.
      The automated bots like xrumer don't sleep. They focus on profile back links. There was a topic here a few months ago that had a few people explaining that technically it isn't spam. But no one said it was nice.

      Simple Machines has had a nice stopper out for about 6 months now. In addition to the captcha, you can ask a question, like 'what is the fifth letter of the word spammer?' That has been extremely effective so far. The profile back links have dried up to a tiny trickle.

      It might take a bit of practice to get the right questions. The first couple I tried weren't nearly as effective as the ones I have now.

      You do need decent traffic to get a forum to work. The numbers aren't great. More than 90% of the people who sign up for a forum (including this one) never make a post. Also, you need at least another person to help moderate.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
    Yes, indeed it is complicated to get discussion going. The first way, obviously the hardest, posting the content yourself. Make multiple accounts and post the content yourself creating a discussion. But in order for this to be natural, you must spend a lot of times doing this. You need at least 300 posts to start a regular forum and open it up to the public. Even then people will comment about how small your forum is but you can start working from there.

    Another way is contests. Host contests on forums and offer money. In order to get about 300 posts using this method uses up about $40-$50 though. There are also other communities that allow post for post if you want to participate in that.
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  • Profile picture of the author wrayor
    How do you go about making a forum in the first place?
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by Cru View Post

    I am interested in starting a non-IM related forum. I'd like to get a discussion started on how to drive traffic and promote participating in the community when only a small one exists.
    Contests.

    Get your existing community members to compete for medals and badges.

    Start off by giving everyone currently on your forum with at least X number of posts a badge. Tell them you'll give that badge to anyone who reaches that post level before the end of the year. Then tell them you'll give another EVEN COOLER badge to anyone who refers five new members by the end of the year, and a special not-as-cool badge to everyone who's a member at the end of the year.

    Now you've got a month of people scrambling and fighting to get what amounts to three cute little graphics on their profile.

    Then start a special forum you can't post in unless you've been a member for five months, referred five other members, and have a post count over 500. Call it the three-by-five club or something.

    Now, the key here is: NEVER make awards based on "best" anything. Don't make your community compete AGAINST each other. You want them to compete with THEMSELVES to reach goals that anyone and everyone else can also reach.

    Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski View Post

    There was a topic here a few months ago that had a few people explaining that technically it isn't spam.
    Farting in an elevator isn't spam, either. And you don't really know those people anyway. It's not like you come here all the time and have to be friends with them. If they don't like it, they can just get out at the next floor and wait for the odour to dissipate.

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    "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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