Stages of Forum Lifespan

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QMcFarlan

QMcFarlan

My Internet is Broken
Sep 26, 2006
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So I'm starting a forum, and I've purchased vBulletin, started some paid posting, and I'm running a little bit of cheap Adwords to bring in the uniques... now I'm interested in the stages of forum life.

Are there any experienced forum builders here that know what stage a forum is at by looking at it, and what the various steps are? My understanding from reading WF is this:

1. Research niche
2. Use vBulletin
3. Fake posts or pay for posts
4. Run contests and promote with PPC
....

And by step four the forum should be off and running. How long does it take on average to build a forum from the ground up - ie. without a website or blog community dedicated to the concept from the beginning?
 


I'm not an experienced forum builder, but I've had a semi-popular forum. There are some things you should know..

#1 Unless it's a good niche, forums are a bitch to monetize. Don't plan on making shit from adsense

#2 The key to gaining visitors and keeping them is having something unique. You need good content! My forums were just a collection of street fight videos, which were nicely organized and embeded in each thread. The site got popular REALLY fast, but it really wasn't worth the effort I was putting in so I shut it down after a month. I was making like $5 a day off adsense, theres not crap you can really sell to people interested in that niche.
 
Topic is EVERYTHING. Whatever you are doing better be totally unique and you better have some damn good content that a lot of people will be drooling at the mouth to get to. If your content kicks ass, you don't need keyword research, contests, or anything else. And please, whatever you do, don't do a registration contest... All you are doing is trying to run up your member count with useless people. And I wouldn't drive PPC unless you are sure you can make money off those people. I promise you will never see that money back otherwise.

I would highly suggest trying something else if the above sounds like more than you want to take on. I know you have everything purchased, but starting a forum that is worth anything is *really hard* and the payoffs are much, much smaller than if you put comparable work/hours into something else.

If you are really, really determined, start a blog on the topic and start putting really good content out there. When you start getting 20 comments on each post, you are ready for a forum.

I really don't mean to be Nancy Negative, it's just that we are all here to make money and starting a forum in 2007 is probably the hardest way to do that.

That said, if you are just interested in having fun and seeing if you can do it, (if it were me) I would spend 99% of my time on the content. That's the only reason people would go to a new site - you don't have much else to offer. A pretty design isn't worth anything without the people to enjoy it. It's easy to put up a site, but it's hard to create a community. And a community is what makes forums work. I wouldn't pay for forum posts, but I *would* create a bunch of fake accounts that mostly have really great stuff to share to get people talking. If you think that you can't provide that kind of content, you are probably going to have a tough time getting off the ground.

Hope that helps. :) And if you prove me totally wrong, please come back and tell me. I love to be wrong. :D

Laura
 
Laura, sound, solid and strong advice is what's needed. Popular opinion doesn't matter much. Thanks for sharing your insight.
 
Thank you for all of the insight - I appreciate all of the advice from more experienced WF members.

I think solid content is key, and I'm going to start adding decent content every opportunity I get. With my topic, I think I will be able to make decent money from auction ads and maybe CJ offers as well.

How many pageviews/uniques are needed at a forum before it can be considered a decent time for monetization?
 
I agree with what Laura said. I have had a forum for almost going on 3 years and it really sucks money wise. Forum members don't convert*. I have sites that are 6 months old that make more than the forum.

I would say that if your point for being online is making money, then don't start a forum just yet. If you are already making money and want to start it for other personal reasons, go right ahead. Just keep in mind it will consume most of your time.


*usually they are very ad blind.
 
Forums are more of a long term investment in my opinion. Small forums which I used to visit when I was younger have grown a lot since then, and they are making a killing from not only adsense but also sponsors (thats where the real money is at, in my opinion). The funny thing is, some of them are still using the same old software and layout and look very "low tech" - but they work because they have built great communities with great members! It takes a while for a forum to grow and get busy, but the sooner you can attract quality members with quality posts, the better.

It's also important to keep in mind that forum users are a lot different from the average internet browser. Users may browse 10-15 sites in a day, but usually they are involved in only 1 or 2 key forums which they visit regularly (this is their social environment). Therefore, you have to think of your members as your friends if you really want to be successful here. A good forum should have a) good, intelligent discussions b) open sharing of information and knowledge c) helpful people willing to give advice and tips. Thats why paid posts and PPC are useless. It's all about quality members.
 
Here are a few other additional suggestions:

1) fuck paid posts and paid posts, get real members. That means you need friends with an interest in the niche, if you don't have them, find them. Real people write high quality content, recruit new targeted members through their social circles, and they are free.

2) what came first, the chicken or the egg? Have a real site with real content and real traffic when you launch the forum. If your page is constructed the correct way you will have an active forum in a matter of days.

Good construction = pages have links such as, "Still have a question about X? Click here and receive your answer" bad construction = a tiny "forum" link buried in a navigation panel.
 
Yeah - from everything I've been reading, it's best to roll from an already-established blog or website into a forum, which does make a lot of sense. It gets you past the slump of having no posts with no members joining because you have no posts, heh.

That said, I started the forum first - on a vBulletin lease. If I can't get it up and off the ground (at least generating a decent amount of pageviews) by the time the lease is up, I'll drop it and go back to trying arbitrage or something else.

I'd just like to create something useful on the internet, then make money from it, rather than make money through creating junk for arbitrage, etc...
 
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