Thats sounds great. What kind of contests can I have? I mean I do not have alot of money to give out?

Also there is a site that only there forum is like mine, but I have been a member for a few years. How do I add my url without them getting all mad?

Anyways this is a great start thank you so much

Originally Posted by colochris

Thats sounds great. What kind of contests can I have? I mean I do not have alot of money to give out?

Also there is a site that only there forum is like mine, but I have been a member for a few years. How do I add my url without them getting all mad?

Anyways this is a great start thank you so much

Depending on your fund situation, it generally doesn't take much money get people to post. Even something like $10-$20 could help get things started.

Most forums will allow you to provide your own site links in your signature, just check with their rules ahead of time. One of my signature URLs is almost the same as this site, I'm just waiting for some comments about it. (In my defense, it's an old domain name from before I even knew about the existence of this site. I actually came across this site a few days ago searching for names similar to mine)

This Is My Site CruZader

Originally Posted by Montero

VW Jetta Forums

i've made this forum long time ago, but i have only 50 members
I tried advertising on other VW sites, but it didnt do any good.

any info

its true its very hard to get REAL VISITORS for any site.even mine

A topic that gets fans & detractors going can often bring posters out of the woodwork. (Here, you could also try, "CSS is bloated and unreliable.") Every forum topic has these kinds of issues - controversial people or topics, etc. On a sports forum, "Should Kobe play?" or "Why the Yankees are Overrated" would probably work nicely.

On the plus side, these will draw not just lurkers but sporadic posters into the conversation. The negative part is that topics that generate controversy can also move in the direction of members attacking each other personally (which won't help your community building effort).

Originally Posted by Ronok

A topic that gets fans & detractors going can often bring posters out of the woodwork. (Here, you could also try, "CSS is bloated and unreliable.") Every forum topic has these kinds of issues - controversial people or topics, etc. On a sports forum, "Should Kobe play?" or "Why the Yankees are Overrated" would probably work nicely.

On the plus side, these will draw not just lurkers but sporadic posters into the conversation. The negative part is that topics that generate controversy can also move in the direction of members attacking each other personally (which won't help your community building effort).

This is VERY true.
Controvery goes a long way in promoting traffic. You just have to be careful that you don't lose more posters than you bring in to replace them.

I used targetted email marketing from a site that delivered me 16 members from a 100 mailing also 56 unique visitors this is expensive but with a big budget it does work.

PM for url i am not sure if it is against rules to post it here.

expresso - i've got an idea for you. if you wnt to promote your forum, use compiting forums for your good - buy sig links tehre and so, you get targeted traffic, good seo link and a new way to promote and develop your site. keep on adding links, and consistantly with the same keyword. than, when the time is just right, you will get target traffic from seach engines as well
wish you best of luck! Roy

I just started my medical forum 2 weeks ago (www.emedinews.com). Any comments? The purpose of me to start this forum is to provide a place for people to interact and discuss issues on health. This will also increase health awareness of the public. We have many medical professionals there e.g. doctors, pharmacists, nurses etc..

I hope more people will come and join. But I am not sure ways to promote a forum as my knowledge in this field is limited. Together, learning for health.

Dr. Teoh KA

This is a great thread. I have considered starting a forum on alternative medicine. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have two forums. See my sig.

It's definatly hard getting people interested. But I think i have a nice thing going. So it doesnt matter.

My novoportugal.com is building slowly. And on the 10th its going to be Portugal day, so I might just try and do some normal marketing with flyers.

In New Jersey there are tons of portuguese owned businesses, so dropping cards and flyers should increase traffic.

I think we forget about traditional marketing, it does work well.

Originally Posted by smartguy

no matter the trafic you bring, the quality is that matters. so,
for start you have to get a team of good topic admins that
will answer any question so people get some benefint from
wasting their time on your forum.

This is a good point, forum moderation is a major factor in the success of a forum.

thakns dave and totalservers

Dr T,

Nice forum! I just joined and I will soon add it to my blogs that are medical-related......

I have found that writing a short article that is health-related and publishing it on ezinearticles.com, helps in your SE rankings and also people DO click the links contained in the article.

Keep up the great work....

Jack

I actually read a few well-written articles about creating a great forum over at vbulletin:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116213
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=239053

I think it takes a lot of fake posting by admins or at least paying many people to do your posting for many months because the internet is so saturated these days. The big forums are so well established no one wants to try a new small one.

I have only had my forum for a little over five months. I am about to give on on how to get members to join and post in the forum. I don't make money from it. It's just for fun. We have some very good members but I'm afraid if I don't start attracting other members, I'm gonna lose the members that I have now.

I have tried many directories. I have tried posting the site in my signature on other forums. I have tried link exchanges. I don't know what else to do??? Any ideas?

I have a bunch of forum sites... but one in particular I'd like to promote. I noticed the website review forums are always full of people, so I thought, why not one more review forum, then I expanded it to different types of reviews.

www.nospinster.com is the site. I am running a promotion for a free year at hostgator hosting (where I host - separate account, directly through HG) - but aside from posting to forums and putting it in my signature, how else would you promote that? I already have some google advertising.

Tessa: Would you spend some money on it? Even just a little? flirtingshack.com is an easy one. Get $45 and find a business card maker that will make you like a couple thousand cards but only 100 of each with different members URLs on them (link to their gallery). Since you need to sign up to see the gallery, people will join to go and talk to people. They will post because you need 50 msges to use PMs. You could probably do more with a joomla installation, adding community builder and a ton of functionality.

Anyway, those cards, find 10 cute chicks to go and hand out the cards at bars, clubs, malls, whatever. Each one hands out 100 to interested guys (for a cute girl that can be done in 2 days) and I bet out of 100 guys they hand them out to, 30 come to the site and at least5 10 sign up. That would be a total of 100 new members in a week or two - almost double your current membership.

Also, if you'd be willing to spend a little more money, buy lighters with your website. Or matches. Place them in bars. I hate to say it, because it's profiteering, but bars are havens for lonely people. They're looking for something that helps them meet someone, even just someone to talk to. -- just a thought.

Originally Posted by cjvj

Hey. I just remembered that i wrote something about forum promotion some time ago.

Its a bit simple but answers some common questions

Might as well post it here

Thanks for the info