For Membership Site: Private Forum or Closed Facebook Group

by wildlifer

Posted: 11 years ago 15 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hi,

We are launching a membership site very soon and we want a way that will allow our users to communicate with each other. We are thinking a private forum using wishlist and simple press or a facebook closed group.

Pricepoint: $10/month
Estimated members: 500-1000

(I understand with a FB group, we will have to manually add/remove members.)

If we go with the forum, what is the best way to run it?

Is running a forum lots of work? I expect to bring in a few moderators to help out. I have never run a forum before and I want to make sure I am not taking on more than I can handle.

Thanks for the advice.

#closed #facebook #forum #group #membership #private #site

egyptik 11 years ago

Hi Wildlifer,

If I were you, I'd go with a forum. Why? Because it gives you much more controll than a Facebook group ever could. Stickies, catagories & design to name a few. It's just a lot easier to order all the information.

Running a forum isn't very hard, but it takes some playing around to get to know how the system works.

And, ofcourse, you need to put a lot of time in it, consistently, to keep the discussions going. Especially in the beginning.

Hope this helps!

- Jerre

EDIT: Oh, one more thing to keep in mind: The search function in Facebook Groups sucks.. it only works on the posts that the user has loaded at that moment. They would have to scroll down for minutes to load all posts if they want to search through all of them. It just doesn't work efficiently..
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GforceSage 11 years ago

Wishlist/Simple Press allows you to use the entire internet to find perspective members.

Facebook, though very large, will be somewhat more limited and have parts of your perspective customer base being people just looking for their long lost High School friends.
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- James Fame 11 years ago
  
  Personally I have seen the success of small facebook groups, however the problem lies in the value of the information that stays visible to new members to the group.
  
  Facebook cons:
  - Your message gets pushed down, and most of the new members won't bother to scroll to the bottom.
  
  What I like about a forum is that you're able to manage it on your own. Threads that are valuable can be stickied for your new members. Value is important. But it is also important for it to be easily accessible.
  
  You can make modifications as you like. You can even integrate Facebook on your forum - just get a developer to help you with it.
  
  James Fame
  
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vtotheyouknow 11 years ago

+1 for a forum. You have control over it. It's YOUR asset. Also, it projects more exclusivity than an FB group, and you can really build a nice community on your terms, especially with that many members. Good luck!
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zuberr 11 years ago

I'd say forum too. I do run a FB group with more than 6000 members and I think you will find yourself restricted to do many things as opposed to your own forum. Plus, any member in a FB group can add other members to it, so it might become a big mess dealing with those unwanted members.
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- egyptik 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by zuberr
  
  Plus, any member in a FB group can add other members to it, so it might become a big mess dealing with those unwanted members.
  
  You can turn on Admin approval for new members of the group if you want to. But still, go with a forum!
  
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alvinchua91 11 years ago

Definitely your private forum.. If Facebook ever shuts down one day, you would not be able to continue your business.
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sahi 11 years ago

Private forum is the best option as you won't have to worry about your someone closing your facebook group and removing your account from facebook on some silly complaint.

There are many good forum scripts available both paid and free. Have a look at them and choose the one which suits you best.
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John Romaine 11 years ago

I know of someone that had a Facebook group with over 40,000 members and it got flushed. He was literally beside himself.

Private forum. All day.

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- Anonymous Affiliate 11 years ago
  
  Private forum, of course. Dont host your entire business on someone else's property.
  
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bgray 11 years ago

I'd go with a forum.....and I'd actually choose Google+ over FB if going outside.
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WillR 11 years ago

A forum.

1. It builds search engine traffic for you unlike a Facebook group.

2. You own the content being created unlike in a Facebook group.

Forums do take some time to manage but if it's a paid forum where only paid members are allowed, things will be easier. You will usually find with most forums there are a few people who love to hang out and help people and you can give them mod status to help run the forum for you.
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wildlifer 11 years ago

Thanks everyone.
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JohnJMJKEnterprises 11 years ago

I think private forum is really going to be the best thing for you. The best part about a forum, is that you can have a dedicated thread for each topic that you are reviewing with your members.

For example, in my marketing course membership site, at the end of each module, I have it linked to our private forum so that if the member has any questions about the current module they are on they can go to the forum... See if their question has been answered already and if not, they can reach out to us at any point to find out what they were looking for!
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PPC-Coach 11 years ago

Private forum all the way and I'm very bias.
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