How to Build a Forum That Doesnt Fall Apart Two Months Later, Part 1 -

Home
>
Forums
>
How to Build a Forum That Doesnt Fall Apart Two Months Later, Part 1

How to Build a Forum That Doesnt Fall Apart Two Months Later, Part 1

If you can get a big enough following from customer lists and newsletters you might want to start your own forum. But I always see people trying to start a forum and it falls flat on their face, mainly because they make it too big and they never promote it.

The main reason is because nobody eats in an empty restaurant. Don't setup a "multiple topic" forum like phpBB where it allows you to partition the thing off into different subjects. You have to start small, get enough traffic to that forum for THAT type of forum to become self-sustaining before you build bigger.

By that I mean start off with a blog.

This blog (and eventually your message board) HAVE to have a niche. You can't just have a general purpose hang-out message board, or have it based on something really vague like "Marketing," or "Finance," or "Computers." Instead go for something specific like a Copywriting message board. Or a message board about home loans. Or a message board about digital video.

You supply all the posts, and any user "posts" will just be comments to this journal. Don't require any sort of signup in order to post.

Give people an option to sign up for e-mail updates but DO NOT use the autoresponder built into the blogging software. Instead use a separate autoresponder script. Why? Two reasons:

1.) You can write a quick teaser message that will entice more subscribers to read your posts than any boring automated notice could. 2.) This way it will be easier to move subscribers over once you graduate from a blog (keep reading).

(WordPress works great for this and is free.)

Start off allowing anyone to post, but once you start getting traffic to that page and the blog spam starts rolling in you will either have to require approval by you for a comment to go through or require the poster to type in a code to prove they are human (you've seen the kind).

It will be easy to get SOME traffic to the blog, if you keep most of your entries to it in article format, because then you can submit these articles to ezines and the article directories with a link back to the blog.

Keep the blog format going, be SURE to post regularly and if possible write content in advance (Post To Future) so that if you miss a week your content will still be updated as if you never left. If you feel ambitious setup RSS feeds for the blog and submit to the feed directories.

Continue posting until you reach the point where after you make a post, you receive comments from 10-20 different people within a day or two of the post. This 10-20 has to happen without any e-mails being sent out, or any kind of active promotion.

Until you reach this point stay with the blog, it means you haven't reached critical mass yet and any attempt to change over to a more complex kind of site will never work.

Once you've got those 10-20 spontaneous posts you can go ahead and make the move from a blog to a forum. But be very very careful. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, especially if your forum doesn't "unfold" properly, which is a technique I'll discuss with you in Part 2 of this article...

Free (humorous) video for you about how to promote an affiliate program without seeming spammy. Take a look: http://www.affiliatebattleplan.com/Rewrite.ht ml

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20081123/WDH0101/811230648/1981cid=1273540522ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNGyB1K1no7Y4bivm4ZcXnMFCy_vXQCrime bforum/b attendees support reform/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWausau Daily Herald,nbsp;WInbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Brian Reisinger • Wausau Daily Herald • November 23, 2008 Participants in a series of bforums/b on crime and punishment want to reform the way Marathon b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20081123/WDH0101/811230635/1981cid=1273540522ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNFGgSmiO_z6Uh_GOWO8i0EQmSU7uQMarathon County Board weighs jail crowding solutions/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWausau Daily Herald/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1273540522hl=ennobrall 3 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2335028,00.aspcid=1272246146ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNGnHb0F01XwIyTSIKA5fSvKW-HO_AHP Transplanting Support bForums/b in Service Revamp/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fPC Magazinenbsp;-/font nobrNov 19, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1by Mark Hachman Hewlett-Packard said Wednesday that it has overhauled its online consumer support system, adding bforums/b and how-to videos to provide b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/peripherals/showArticle.jhtml%3FarticleID%3D212100909%26subSection%3DAll%2BStoriescid=1272246146ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNHwUMjDNy1_X8agzk1LVF8J-PYP-AHP Revamps Online Customer Support/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrInformationWeek/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/HP-Creates-Global-Online-Consumer/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257BFE78B38C-991D-40F2-9D1F-9F1D82B847AB%257Dcid=1272246146ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNHHVUJZ4vdj6ioCV_r8kyxnTwKqXQHP Creates Global Online Consumer Support Community/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMarketWatch/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1272246146hl=ennobrall 16 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_327210427.htmlcid=1273453290ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNEzqpevAMU3Sr9Pqk0Kh2O4GYj87AStudy to report Vigo school facility needs/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTerre Haute Tribune Star,nbsp;INnbsp;-/font nobr8 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Two community outreach bforums/b will be conducted: 6 pm Dec. 1 at Terre Haute North Vigo High School and 6 pm Jan 8 at Terre Haute South Vigo. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_327210753.htmlcid=1273453290ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNFn2ae2ThJZy8e1QOZREjtqRQTMbAFourth Annual Ethnic Health Summit helps community/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTerre Haute Tribune Star/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1273453290hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/columnists/x1751726655/More-consideration-input-needed-on-school-zone-plancid=1273493948ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNE47DupuEn8--OjQO9SUcwsum62sAMore consideration, input needed on school zone plan/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fRockford Register Star,nbsp;ILnbsp;-/font nobr12 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Take into consideration the comments and concerns of those who participated in the bforums/b held in October and early November. If one additional Montessori b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1293573,4_1_JO22_FRSKL_S1.articlecid=1273493948ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNGgR3sd4eXfJeXq9ul5-Ir4vN5U4AFrankfort tells secret of schools#39; success/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrJoliet Herald News/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1273493948hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattle911/archives/155060.aspcid=1272654394ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNGHfrHIFbl1wJAcLzYlZwEyG6hw7wimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=m7RO8Mwpo_oJimgurl=blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattle911/library/forest_ridge_photo_(KOMO).jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Seattle Post Intelligencer/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/North-East-Cities-Move-Regional/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B99E73F4F-9D96-45BF-B8B9-12371191E08A%257Dcid=1272654394ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNG6Y15yynbGrU4DWxikxAoyQ-nxNgNorth and East Cities Move Regional Jail Solution Forward/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobrNov 20, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Public bforums/b are planned to provide information and hear feedback regarding four of the possible sites (public bforums/b regarding the Seattle north and south b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_112008WAB_jail_study_KS.1d05b915a.htmlcid=1272654394ei=g1YpSejQLo2A7QOamvH9CQusg=AFQjCNGsyNNDqzzHhnfneT8XLeX7Gi5E2Q6 sites under consideration for new WA jail/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrKING5.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1272654394hl=ennobrall 51 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

forums - Google News