1000 posts... how long?

I'm pretty happy so far with how the freelance writing forum at www.allfreelancing.com is going. But I have no idea whether it's actually "good" or not in a general forum sense.

It's looking like we'll break 1000 posts today. We haven't used any paid posters. Only 4 posts were made in the very beginning from a fake account. And it was only launched 2 1/2 weeks ago.

How long is "normal" to get to that 1000 post level, w/o buying paid posts? Is there such a thing as "normal"? The benefit is that the members are all writers, so they obviously like to write, which makes for longer and better posts and discussions. I'm just trying to guage whether we're doing alright, or whether I need to seriously kick things up a notch.

 

there isn't such a thing as normal. completely depends on the niche.

that said, usually getting the first 1,000 posts is a lot harder than getting the next 9,000

 

It seems quite good. How did you spread the word?

 

I would have to agree. There is not such thing for normal. Forums can be slow at first or take off in a flurry depending on the niche. If you are almost to 1k of posts kudo's. The thing is not to get disappointed in lull's either.

Btw - kudos for getting where you are in not using a paid posting service. If so many can be so lucky.

 

Actually, we've been yapping so much in the time since I posted this that we already broke the 1000 mark. Yay!

As for how I spread the word, it was easy. Because the forum was for writers, and I run a small writers' network, we discussed it there first (especially b/c we're running a Challenge, and wanted somewhere to be able to chat publicly about it other than on the blog). So a few of them jumped right in, and since we're all writers, discussions picked up quickly. We have a private marketplace and post daily writers' markets there, so people are registering just to be able to see those too, which is helping. So far I haven't had to spend a dime, so that's always good. I'll be putting more things in the private area as incentives probably next month. I just wanted an idea if I needed to really push harder, or if this was already ok discussion-wise. Glad to hear we're not flopping completely or anything.

 

very difficult initially to reach 1k posts.
it should take around a 15-30 days , later probably more quick, next 9k shd come in about 2-3 months
active and regular members could drive the forum well..

 

Well it sounds like we're off to a good start then. Thanks. Solid numbers will at least give us something to strive for.

 

just ensure that the activity is there every day
atleast like 10-15 new posts daily
that would drive people to reply them and interact more

 

i think you have success about getting first 1000 post. i have opened a forum but it didn't get first 1000 posts yet

 

We easily get more than 10-15 posts per day. A few of use are probably doing more than that daily on our own - as in each separately (not over the holiday... but otherwise).

 

There's definitely no such thing as normal. It all depends on the target audience and niche, however you seem to be expanding healthily.. I had a forum that peaked 1000 posts in 7 days which I also considered to be quite healthy. You might want to take a look to see if the posts are coming from the same members or via a broad range of users. By the way, how many members do you currently have?

 

When I made the original post, 29. As of this morning 38. Most are active, but the mods and myself post the most out of the bunch. And speaking of which, we laid low over the holiday, so I need to go light a fire in there today.

 

Congrats, it's easier to get a lot of posts early when you're passionate about the topic.