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Starting a Blog or Forum for fitness site

by natethegreat7037
15 replies
Hey, guys!

I'm looking to start a site around fitness.

However, I'm torn between creating a blog or a forum instead.

The visual appeal of blog is always nice, but something about the community aspect of a forum really appeals to me. Especially for a field with tons of information such as fitness.


I guess my question is, if you were looking to plug into a fitness site/community, would you feel more at home on a blog, or on a forum?


Thanks for your insight,

Nate
#blog #fitness #forum #site #starting
  • Profile picture of the author jmh777
    Obviously more at home on a forum.

    People know you, you feel you belong to something. You also contribute.

    A blog is just someone else's writing.

    This is a bad question
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    • Profile picture of the author Cali16
      Originally Posted by jmh777 View Post

      Obviously more at home on a forum.

      This is a bad question
      No, it's a very good question.

      If you allow for discussion below each blog post, you can develop quite a community. I subscribe to a popular health-related blog with a large group of devoted followers. There are new posts daily, and these are lengthy, exceptionally well-written and highly informative posts. There's almost always a very involved discussion after each post. Although I lurk far more than I post, there are a lot of regulars who seem to feel very much at home there.

      And there's also a forum on the site, although the bulk of the activity seems to be on the blog part. So, you could start with the blog and add a forum later, or just go with the blog.

      I'd suggest going with the blog if you can consistently provide high quality content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Javisito
    Well which one is the most apealing to YOU?

    Both a forum and a blog can be easily monetized but the same thing is needed for both. Traffic!
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  • Profile picture of the author winnermarketing
    Open a blog is the easiest way,
    but if you are interested to opena a forum you could

    - open a forum and connect it with your blog!
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  • Profile picture of the author Hamza Adams
    I will choose a blog it's more appealing and all the famous sites in fitness industry are blogs or magazines and if you're just starting the site you can follow Neil Patel experiment on How to Generate $100,000 a Month from a Brand New Blog where he uses a fitness blog in his challenge

    Neil Patel blog post
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  • Profile picture of the author Teri802nj
    I would go with the blog. The blog is your hub. It's like your home online. It's where people will go to get more of the value you provide as well as products or training or anything you have to personally offer. Ever thinking of including a forum on your site. This may interest you: https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/t...dpress-website
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  • Profile picture of the author mreespinosa
    Why not do both? Post daily content on your blog and as it grows, people can interact and get more involved on your forum. Just my two cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author ShannonWhite
    I think incorporating a forum with your blog is a good way to get the best of both worlds. I've seen other marketers do it and they have created a good go to hub for information for people - and it's monetized.
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  • Profile picture of the author VivekThakur
    Go for Blog, People love to read new and informative stuff. And for discussion comment section is available as well. Or you can add Community/Forum category in your blog site.
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  • Profile picture of the author DN85
    Hey man,

    I would say a blog would be much easy to set up. With a forum you'll need to get it of the ground pretty quick.

    Maybe create a blog then once it's established you can create a forum for the readers of your blog?

    Good luck with which ever you choose :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelAppleton
    A blog is the easiest way to get an online presence and you can incorporate a forum into wordpress with the bbPress plugin.

    As previous mentioned aswell you can collaborate with your reading within the comments sections.

    Good luck man!
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Do you have any idea what running a forum entails? If not, I'd suggest you contact some successful forum owners and ask them.

      I'm not saying which one is best for you . . . a forum or a blog. I'm not saying which one holds the most potential for monetization - either one could give you full time income if done properly.

      But you really should look into what each will require as both are a major commitment of your time if they get traction (like you're probably hoping).

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author jmh777
    Originally Posted by natethegreat7037 View Post

    Hey, guys!

    I'm looking to start a site around fitness.

    However, I'm torn between creating a blog or a forum instead.

    The visual appeal of blog is always nice, but something about the community aspect of a forum really appeals to me. Especially for a field with tons of information such as fitness.


    I guess my question is, if you were looking to plug into a fitness site/community, would you feel more at home on a blog, or on a forum?


    Thanks for your insight,

    Nate
    I hope you have a lot of money for advertising. Breaking into the fitness niche is hard.
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  • Profile picture of the author GGpaul
    Something I notice about fitness is that it's KILLING in instagram. Make sure whatever it is that you do (blog / forum), that you get yourself out there on Instagram. At the same time, don't just do it because you are trying to get traffic. People into fitness share their lifestyle like no other and people get inspired on instagram, which THEN makes them check out their product / blog / site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    I would go with the blog. Forums are tough to get up and running, and tough to become *active* from alot of users on a daily basis. WarriorForum was the same way when it first started, but the previous owner stayed with the model. Look at the very bottom of this page.

    It says: Copyright 1997-2015. Long time. Almost 20 years.

    Blogs are easy. I would use it and generate subscribers, and market to them via email directly to get them coming back to your blog over and over again. And then put some banners or affiliate links/yourownproducts to monetize it. Simple model. Be sure it's in a tight niche where you can become the instant obvious expert.
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