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Niche forums?

by OceanFisherman
14 replies
Greetings Warriors!

I have been lurking for some time and have a few questions for everyone.

I am considering creating a niche discussion forum and trying to monetize it. Is anyone having any luck with that. I dont see very many topics closely related to it.

also

I am not a web developer. I've seen a few postings suggesting Blue Host as a source for hosting and Aweber to keep in touch with my forum members. Are there any good utilities through Blue Host that anyone has used successfully to create a usable forum? I called them today and they said they have some utilities that will meet my needs .. but thats their sales staff speaking.

Any and all help is appreciated. I would love to make something that could produce some additional revenue for my family and I.

The Fisherman,
#forums #niche
  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    I know a few people that do this as their main source of income, it's very niche/demographic dependent. You also need to have a good/strong user base.
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  • Profile picture of the author UAS Mayhem
    The market is already very competitive.However with a little tweak you can make it work.

    To make it work, you can start with following step.
    • Target a certain group, age, country, market, product.
    • Provide something new.Could be free tutorials or ebooks.
    • Make things interesting.Just owning a forum won't cut it.
    • Get involved with your members.
    • Suggest new ideas, opinions and give advices.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fishing
    Ocean,

    Based on your username, we are probably closely aligned in goals.

    I currently do this full time.

    Forums in a general ocean fishing niche would be tougher than drilling down to a specific species geared site at first.

    Then you can expand out from there.

    I helped a gent start a Shark related forum, and its doing well, but it focused on 1 aspect and 1 passionate group.

    IMO, the toughest two to tackle would be a general ocean fishing forum, then a general bass fishing forum.
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    • Profile picture of the author Baadier Sydow
      Originally Posted by Fishing View Post

      Ocean,

      Based on your username, we are probably closely aligned in goals.
      I enjoyed that..

      Forums are tough to get off the ground and in my opinion you need to be passionate about the subject as well have some form of influence in that community/niche to get it going.
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      Baadier Sydow
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    • Profile picture of the author OceanFisherman
      Originally Posted by Fishing View Post

      Ocean,

      Based on your username, we are probably closely aligned in goals.

      I currently do this full time.

      Forums in a general ocean fishing niche would be tougher than drilling down to a specific species geared site at first.

      Then you can expand out from there.

      I helped a gent start a Shark related forum, and its doing well, but it focused on 1 aspect and 1 passionate group.

      IMO, the toughest two to tackle would be a general ocean fishing forum, then a general bass fishing forum.
      Fishing - Rest assured its not related to my favorite hobby fishing for Snapper in the Keys. Its a lot less interesting (business related). Did you have to become a web developer to start your forum? What kind of software did you use to start it up.

      The Fisherman,
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  • Profile picture of the author Fishing
    I have had quite a few start up forums in my niche, none have lasted and give up after 12 months tops,"so far".

    I am my competitions best friend, all they have to do is say they are against me, and instant base of traffic, LOL!
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    • Profile picture of the author Baadier Sydow
      Originally Posted by Fishing View Post

      I have had quite a few start up forums in my niche, none have lasted and give up after 12 months tops,"so far".

      I am my competitions best friend, all they have to do is say they are against me, and instant base of traffic, LOL!
      lol eish to that
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      Baadier Sydow
      Budget Furniture

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  • Profile picture of the author marketwarrior06
    Banned
    Dude don't think about the web development think. By spending some $ you can easily get a common and most popular theme for the forums.
    Niche forums on an specific topics are really cool. You can see that most of the forums are just full of thousands sub forums. But if you can do a few related to one thing I think that would be just great.
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  • Profile picture of the author brettb
    I've just started a forum. My god, it's gigantically hard to get members and kick it all off!

    Don't even consider running a forum if you're not 110% committed to your niche.
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    • Profile picture of the author Baadier Sydow
      Originally Posted by brettb View Post

      I've just started a forum. My god, it's gigantically hard to get members and kick it all off!

      Don't even consider running a forum if you're not 110% committed to your niche.
      Best advice here.

      Also look for a post from John Durham(I think) where he discusses methods to getting a forum up and running.
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      Baadier Sydow
      Budget Furniture

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      • Profile picture of the author OceanFisherman
        Originally Posted by Baadier Sydow View Post

        Best advice here.

        Also look for a post from John Durham(I think) where he discusses methods to getting a forum up and running.
        Thanks for the advice Baadier - i'll search for it.

        As I research this idea more and more it looks like it may require a tremendous effort to get the initial lift off.

        The Fisherman,
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  • Profile picture of the author chiwawa
    Well its a competitive field and you have to have a very strong user base to make it work. You have to be passionate about it with a lot of hardwork as its difficult most times to get members to join.
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  • Profile picture of the author spujap
    If you have a targeted user base for the niche, it works well. User base can be Twitter followers, FB Fans, Subscription or members of your local group.
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    • Profile picture of the author Baadier Sydow
      Originally Posted by spujap View Post

      If you have a targeted user base for the niche, it works well. User base can be Twitter followers, FB Fans, Subscription or members of your local group.
      That makes all the difference, its a lot easier to get a targeted FB or Twitter following going and then cross-marketing the forum to promote it.
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      Baadier Sydow
      Budget Furniture

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