What steps do you guys usually take to help build your forum's activity? Do you engage in post exchanges? Do you tell your friends to help you post new threads and post on exisiting posts - or what? What's the best way to build up your communities' activity?
When I first started my forums I always created several identities and started a lot of discussions with myself (no, I don't have a split personality ). I also made a lot of advertising in other forums with my target usergroup. Either I posted as one of my identities that I found a new forum blabla. Or I posted as me and asked the admins first for permission, explaining my idea to them and why I want to introduce my forum. Link exchanges, link directories and so on...
You have to be innovative. It depends on your forum's niche. On my Writing Forum I added blogs, author interviews, an ezine, new look, and am constantly adding new features. These and many other features I've created are things not offered by my competition. Find something your competition doesn't have.
Well, blogs aren't really innovative - neither are interviews. It's all about the activity of your community members - and if they're active, then you can go far.
I usually post exchange with other forum owners at the very start, then I do lots of advertising on web directories, advertising on other forums, and so on. I try to target the same market as my web directory, gives good result Friends usually also help me doing a couple of posts in the start, trying to build a community based on a few members, from then it all depends on your threads/posts do they really offer something, do they encourage a user to reply? - Meti