Which would be better to start with. For example, would it be better to start with a blog and use the profits to make a forum or vise versa? Which one would make the money faster?
The problem with a forum is it is a lot of work because you will have to put up a lot content to attract users to post. A blog is not dependent on the users, using a forum is. So personally I would go with the blog if you have something to write about that people will listen to.
Blogs are much easier to develop than forums. The key thing to remember with forums is that they take a lot of time to build. They're more of a long term investment. Maybe you could build a blog, get traffic, and then put a forum on your blog? You'd be killing two birds with one stone, and if you have enough readers you could potentially populate your forums very quickly.
Well, I don't know how that could work. I was thinking of making a blog with no particular niche, just random things that I find interesting, so how could I add the forum in there?
Well if it's just going to be random stuff, is it going to be the sort of things people will want to talk about or will they just read it, enjoy it and move on?
Yeah, sounds like a blog is the best way to go then. If you end up getting a lot of discussions starting up in your comments, then you could look at adding a forum as well.
I set up a few automated blogs, one of them has started to make a buck here and there. They are not much work.
Forums are a labor of love. They require a lot of work and expect at least a year before you get any serious traffic. If you start a blog, you can later add a forum and use the blog as a portal. A blog will be a lot less labor intensive and you will have a lot less stress. Then use what ever money you make off the blog to buy some good forum software like Vbulletin.
I'll go for forum, as you already have hundreds of reader as if you start with a blog, you'll need to find them..
Definately do not make a blog without a Niche. Otherwise, why would people go to it? More specifically, why would people return to it once they saw it? Blogs are MUCH less time intensive that creating a forum. You can do decent work on a blog for as little as 30 minutes a day. The more time you invest the more it will take off. My recommendation is definately to start with a Blog, but a focused one.
Making and maintaining a forum takes a lot of time and pressure. I suggest you make a blog first then later on if you want interaction with your readers, start creating a forum.
I think the better to start with blog...It requires less time and efforts. What's more it can be a source for attracting the people on your future forum!
Blog then forum. Bring them in with info , then keep them with forum... Show its worth while for them to come and stay . If you build a forum from scratch , will take a while...
I think i ll agree with everybody else here Blogging is the way to go especially for you since your making a start. I did the same not so while ago.