Taking over a Forum

[cagarcia]

Hey guys I have been lurking around and reading and learning. Currently working on a website. While lurking around other informative sites, I came around a domain that is up for auction. Is also the same niche I plan in doing in the future, but is a forum.

I am not very familiar with what is cost, how to run, and how to profit from it. But I only have 3 days to make a decision if is a good idea to get this forum domain.

Bid is around $20 so far, and I also contacted a cousin of mine who is in the same niche as a hobby to see if he would be interested in being a moderator while I work on my site. Once I felt my site was taking off or at least make something so it can pay for itself. I would start to put more time on the forum. He said he is willing to be a moderator, but I am not so sure if I'll lose money or make money from this forum. I don't really have much space money wise for mistakes or to lose more money than what i am losing with my current site, which is $10 for hosting a month.


Quick info about the forum domain

Is about 4 years old
Around 600 unique visitors a month
3,700 pageviews a month
Currently has a google page rank of 1


It currently has no real active members

As for revenue current owner does not know because he claims "he used the same adsense code as his other sites" he also didn't set up a URL channel either




So what do you guys think, I have been researching around and found a lot of mix up information so can't really tell if I should pass or go for it.


As for profiting an idea for "ad space rent" was to go around locally to the stores in the same niche to see if they wanted to rent an ad space. Not so sure if this would work one because most of the shopping is done walking in unless they have an ecommerce site going on. Also I could ask companies that provides products to this niche or hobby. This is also a niche I am really into so coming up with content shouldn't be hard and to get users to start signing up might be a small crowd but I have the connections to get a couple of them sign up and get some activity going on. :question4::question4:



EDIT* Forgot to add is currently running on MyBB

 

[neutralhatter]

I remember that there was a software that could automatically fill in a forum for you. not saying that this is the case but since it has no active members and no traffic sources or keywords it's ranking for, it's a bit of a guess.

 

[insectlife]

I am not very familiar with what is cost, how to run, and how to profit from it.

How badly do you want to learn the forum ropes? How much free time do you realistically have? If you aren't moderating it what specifically will you be doing?

but I am not so sure if I'll lose money or make money from this forum. I don't really have much space money wise for mistakes or to lose more money than what i am losing with my current site, which is $10 for hosting a month.

You said the bid is currently $20, right? Won't this likely rise, making it unfeasible So you're budget or financial means for doing IM is $10 a month? (Are you getting a reseller for that price?) Or is that all you're willing to spend? I'm currently not successful enough or "ballin'" but one of the things this forum has taught me is the idea of the "peasant mentality." Not saying you have it, but you got to spend money to make money in some cases. Whether this is paying for a professional logo or theme, are you prepared to invest in these two things at a minimum?

It currently has no real active members

I have no experience owning forums besides posting on them and moderating 1-2 and seeing a few at various stages of their life cycle. Personally, I think for the average person with average circumstances they're not worth it. There's so much factors and dynamics at play which result in "traction" or put more simply, usage, it's unreal. If it looks like a 4 year old ghost town then you're going to have a very tough time injecting some life into it IMO. Either you'll have to plump some $ for a rebrand/launch or put lots of time posting there yourself which I believe Jon did when he launched this site.

As for revenue current owner does not know

You can interpret this how you want. As can why they're selling...Seems weird that you wouldn't at least offer a reasonable estimate.

As for profiting an idea for "ad space rent" was to go around locally to the stores in the same niche to see if they wanted to rent an ad space. Not so sure if this would work one because most of the shopping is done walking in unless they have an ecommerce site going on. Also I could ask companies that provides products to this niche or hobby. This is also a niche I am really into so coming up with content shouldn't be hard

If you're thinking of getting into the niche is there any value in just buying the domain providing it's goodand using it for something else?

 

[cagarcia]

How badly do you want to learn the forum ropes? How much free time do you realistically have? If you aren't moderating it what specifically will you be doing?

Well I do have high interest in learning it, would like to incorporated in the future to my current website I am working on. I have 3 days that I get to be at home and continue working on more content and tweaking a couple of things here and there on my site. Always reading more on SEO and my niche.

You said the bid is currently $20, right? Won't this likely rise, making it unfeasible So you're budget or financial means for doing IM is $10 a month? (Are you getting a reseller for that price?) Or is that all you're willing to spend? I'm currently not successful enough or "ballin'" but one of the things this forum has taught me is the idea of the "peasant mentality." Not saying you have it, but you got to spend money to make money in some cases. Whether this is paying for a professional logo or theme, are you prepared to invest in these two things at a minimum?

Well here's an update news, owner isn't selling it anymore so he took it down. My budget for that forum was $100, I have connections with graphic designers and redoing a new rebrand promotion was the idea including a new logo and banner.

I have no experience owning forums besides posting on them and moderating 1-2 and seeing a few at various stages of their life cycle. Personally, I think for the average person with average circumstances they're not worth it. There's so much factors and dynamics at play which result in "traction" or put more simply, usage, it's unreal. If it looks like a 4 year old ghost town then you're going to have a very tough time injecting some life into it IMO. Either you'll have to plump some $ for a rebrand/launch or put lots of time posting there yourself which I believe Jon did when he launched this site.

:conehead: Well I don't know who Jon is, but I take this as a good advice as well. Now that it isn't for sell no more maybe is a sign I am moving to fast and focusing in to many things at once. Is all good, but still willing to learn the forums ropes. :thumbsup:

You can interpret this how you want. As can why they're selling...Seems weird that you wouldn't at least offer a reasonable estimate.

You mean offer a reasonable estimate to bid on the site? Not understanding what you are trying to say.

If you're thinking of getting into the niche is there any value in just buying the domain providing it's good and using it for something else?

My idea in the future was to set up my own domain in the same niche, is pretty much a hobby and I was also a lurker of similar forums and was also getting into the hobby. I had to eventually hold off the hobby project and thought maybe if I had a site dedicated to it and also share useful content and articles to others might help them to.

Is that you in the avatar? :love-smiley-083:

Thanks for your response, I learned something today :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[cagarcia]

I remember that there was a software that could automatically fill in a forum for you. not saying that this is the case but since it has no active members and no traffic sources or keywords it's ranking for, it's a bit of a guess.

Automatically build the forum for you? Or fill a post or a thread for you? :bigear:

 

[@Tom@]

forum and niche website are very different from each other. don't stretch yourself too thin by trying to build both at the same time. my suggestion is to put 100% into the niche site first and see where it take u

 

[cagarcia]

forum and niche website are very different from each other. don't stretch yourself too thin by trying to build both at the same time. my suggestion is to put 100% into the niche site first and see where it take u

Thanks thats what I am focusing now :thumbsup:

 

[neutralhatter]

Automatically build the forum for you? Or fill a post or a thread for you? :bigear:

sure, a simple one is "auto forum thread creator". but there are also more complex ones that spin content.