So I've been running with the idea of creating a website/community for some time now and have finally decided to jump into it. After months of researching, organizing, and listening and learning I have come up with- The Order of Men (orderofmen.com). I've been online for about five days now and already have a small group of good poster that seem to enjoy the content, but I want to make sure I get the critical number of people using the forum needed to make sure it doesn't die out. I have been doing a number of things such as sigs, referrals, and contests which I have yet to see them really working. I've managed to get $200 together and have decided to use it to market/promote the website and get those critical members I need to make sure it is a success. Basically I'm asking anyone and everyone for advice on what to do with this money. As I begin the marketing campaign, I will report back every few days with an updated number of posts/members so everyone can see how the strategies are working. Appreciate any and all help everyone Current Stats DEC 28 - Members: 37 Posts - 827 Better stats as soon as analytics works
First of all I'd have your own website, not that portal - to grab better search engine traffic. Cost: $0 I'd then google for relevant websites and look for cheap advertising or link exchanges for them. I wouldn't really go down the adwords route just yet, as it's a little to specific to describe in the small space they give you.
I was considering it, but I don't feel like I know enough about website design to do something like I wanted and alsothe portal system was the easiest way, atleast for me, to have the homepage really connect with my forum.
Can anyone recommend any members, services, etc that possibly help market my website? Should I use a forum booster or possibly buy ads on other websites? Anyone here interested in helping me promote? I will pay.
Put aside at least one hour every day to contact members of message boads out there. Tell them that you like their comments, butter them up, and tell them that you have a discussion going on over in your board, and you would "value" their opinion. Make the thread a good one! A hot topic that really gets people talking. You've seen such threads. Start several over time under different usernames. Advertise the threads, not JUST the board. Talk about it in social networks. Create an article derived from that and submit them.... Do this enough times, one hour a day, and keep at it, and you should, SHOULD have a good list of posters who will come back, time after time. And don't forget word of mouth. Put a "send to a friend" form underneath your board. Make it easy for your members to tell a friend. Think outside the box! Don't do contests. It is a waste of money. There are too many moochers who will take it and not come back. You are going to need that for REAL advertising that works; that brings in people who will come back, time after time.
I'd spend the $200 to have a designer / coder make the site look less like a forum you setup in 5 minutes. It doesn't even look like a website, it looks like the forum for a website.
More or less, the website was suppose to be almost completely set up around the forum. I am by no means a designer / coder. For the kind of people I'm targeting, I don't think it will matter to them that I used a forum/portal system. And yes, I do see where you are coming from, but most of the largest forums on the INTERNET are poorly forums. Heck, most don't even have a homepage/portal.
Google 'css templates' Download dreamweaver Edit in the 'design' view = easy to make a website I'm sure displaying posts on your homepage is also a copy + paste of code, check out vbulletin.org to see if there are any - or google it.
Wow, they are on a budget of $200 and you advise them to go and blow $400 on a cr*ppy piece of software, which wont help the OP gain more posters.
Hi Mike, i just started my blog too and it's hard to get off the ground. I would follow Perry's post and just work on it. if you need help, I'll help out.
Are you saying that forum site does not work??? Most sites now days has to have a forums even myspace has a forum. What frontpage site do you recommend?
Sorry, forgot to say use the 30 day free trial. 30 days is more than enough to make the website, after than find something free to edit it with. It's just that it's easy to use if you know nothing.
well, first of all, you should try to use something open source, since IMHO it is the best out there because it has a support team of thousands of people, I have a successful website and I only spent 9.99$ on the domain, got a free host and grew from there, haven't spent one more cent on it, it pays for itself, I was able to do this with open source and it saved me hundreds of dollars by not buying a license, that is the first tip I can give you. If you decide to stick with vbulletin, and vBadvanced, then there are hundreds if not thousands of themes out there for you to choose from, many of them are free, that will help you a lot and will hopefully improve your user's experience. Then, come to this forum and make a "I need a header + logo design" and spend 15-20$ on a good logo that people will remember! That is very important as well!
Don't spend a penny until you've spoke with a respected, profiting, talented webmaster that you know is making a lot of money and willing to help. And don't look at it as a dream...dreams aren't real...dreams are things you wake up from. Look at it as a plan. It only fails if you don't follow through. "Everything is never its best" - Idea God
Really great information Perry. Have a couple question though. Can you tell me a little more about social networks. Also, how would I go about making a link at the bottem, "Tell A Friend". I really like that idea
Really appreciate all the coments guys A little update Stats Members: 115 Threads: 308 Posts: 4,492 150-200 visitors per day Well, we've been online for alittle over a month now and are moving along alright. Still think we could do better and are having a little problem with activity and new discussion. Over the last month I have been using facebook and activily posting in other forums with my signature. I'm having luck, but still looking for other ways to gain traffic. I have also started an aggressive link exchange program and have already gained about 10-15 good inbound links. Could really use some more help, you guys have anything else you could recommend to increase traffic/members? Should I focus on some more targeted seo or meta/keywords?
Sorry, Mike, but I meant bookmarking sites, like del.icio.us, digg, fark, shoutwire.... I'm going to assume that you already know about these. JohnChow.com got his site going partly through many DIGG submissions, along with click ads. Find a really kickass article or a small piece that you can talk about in your site, and then copy and paste it in these bookmarking sites. Also there are a lot of content sites looking for free content to fill their pages. You could also advertise them both on and offline. If you want to try these bookmarking, networking sites, as not to get banned and or be seen as a spammer, don't put in your url until after a half a dozen or so submissions. And even then don't make your link live. "Live" meaning they click on it. Have them copy and paste it. If they like your stuff, they will do it. If they don't, it doesn't matter if your url link is live or not. Also put your name next to your url. You want to give the impression that you are there to help people, to share good stuff, while nonchalantly giving your name and url. As for the "send to a friend" forms. You've seen the ads in between the posts in this board, right? Do the same, but using the forms instead. Try to find a cheap college student who knows how to do it. I found one who did the programming for this for me... http://www.thelist.fm/Quick-Dating-Tip.shtml Although your verison should be more narrow, and more across from left to right, like the ads here in between the posts. Don't over do it, though. Use them for only the good threads, the ones that your posters comment on the most. You could put it off to the side and leave it there, but many visitors tend to ignore it after awhile. You want to put the form right in front of their faces now and then. Or, just use them in both spots.