best way to start a forum

I'm starting a new project, a forum, and wondered what the best way of starting a forum is?

 

A forum from scratch is hard, you have no traffic so no posters. It will cost you some money if you want it successfully (pay for post). You could also start a blog first and expend after some months when you got traffic and active visitors.

 

Just make sure you have something unique and interesting which makes visitors join your forum. First few months are the hardest. You will need to personally invite people and also if you want faster result then hire forum posters.

Dofollow signature links usually attract people. Just you need to have some rules and a good control to stop spamming. Make a fan page in FB and join groups related to your forum.

 

use Vbulletin or phpbb

 

What do you mean?

I have my forum for almost half a year and it's dying.
There are users that join it almost every day but nobody is posting.
I think I'll finally hire forum posters like you said.

 

i think Vbulletin is better than phpbb.

 

I am just starting a forum and just the cost of VBulletin and VBSEO has killed my budget. I suggest offering a certain number of top posters special privilages. I have been told that private sections with useful tool, info, etc., can be good.

 

Alright, well the best way to start a forum is to plan it out. Don't rush the process and take your time. It should be appealing appearance wise aswell as content wise.

Once you have those two under control, the next step is to advertise, advertise, & advertise.

For a more detailed guide, visit my "10 Tips to running a forum" thread: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1916004#post14829701

 

All you need is Dedication, Hardwork and a gang of people who are intrested in the niche you are running on to !!

~ExP~

 

thanks guys, good info

 

i hope my forum does not die out. I am the only person running the forum and have no money for forum posters.

 

true, this is what u need........

 

how could you hire forum posters for the first month or so?

 

You could advertise @ various places that people can make money by posting on your forum, like 0,05c per post.

 

I'm starting a new forum from scratch and am considering hiring article content writers from elance and the likes. My thinking is they'll contribute high-value content that visitors will actually want to read rather than people just posting random crap. I'll also be allowing do-follow links after a certain amount of posts to reward members for contributing.

 

I have unique contents for exchange you may come to softnwords com

 

The best way of starting is respecting supply and demand.

If there is demand then provide the supply (platform).

Everything else is a matter of learning and improving!

 

As a member and administrator of forum communities for over a decade I will tell you what i have learnt about this. Save your money--paid postings are worthless. Start the forum about something you love with a passion and won't mind chitchatting about daily for as long as you keep the forum going. Because yes it is a daily job keeping it going. If you don't love it, it won't last.

Start your forum with few boards. If it is a simple discussion board, you can probably do well with 4 to 8 boards out front to start with on whatever subject it is. {Yes, start a niche forum, general forums are next to impossible to get off the ground!}

Now, invite a few friends that you know online who share your passion for whatever subject or hobby or whatever this forum's about and off you go! Start topics regularly on the board. Everyone will look to you to do this since you're running the place. Lead by example. Don't expect it to explode over the next few weeks, most forums start very small. They slowly do pick up if you keep it going and show you have heart.

 

I agree with him, but don't hire forum posters unless you REALLY need to- rely on friends and family

 

Forum posters are not really useful (most of the time) most times they really do not post anything of
interest; hi, poster here, its nice to see you back on the forum again, then they expect to get paid for that.
not all posters are bad, but is rare that you find someone that will post something real, and not a post just to get paid.