I'm researching the idea of offering forum design and management services to companies who might benefit from owning one. An example would be for a company who wants to offer in-depth customer service for their product (as many already do), a tourist town who wants to generate enthusiasm to possible vacationers by discussing attractions, restaurants, etc. or for a topic-driven board like "movies" but sponsored by RedBox or some such company. I'm having trouble pinning down the kinds of businesses who would see owning a forum giving them an online marketing advantage. I realize building a forum is just a small part of process. It's the management which is key for it to grow and be effective. That would be the focus of my business if I were to try this. And, though there are many very successful message boards out there, is use on the decline and companies now focusing on Facebook for their online marketing? I wanted to see if anyone here had some thoughts on industries who might be interested and discuss the future of message boards in general as far as online marketing.
it is a great idea, I have had discussions with friends for nearly the exact same thing, and they didnt go ahead with it which is a shame as the last time I checked, noone seemed to offer proper forum services. I am certain it can be profitable to sell forum maintence packages (to new and existing forums) where you offer xx hours of forum moderation, support etc for $xx monthly. I mean, it doesnt take much to find small forums that are attacked by spambots and these existing businesses that have forums, are potientially losing money as they are unable to maintain them. I believe that there is a market for people to offer services such as, installation, basic theme changes, logo design (and or other custom graphics) as well as training and support. However, I think that you should put more focus on finding existing forum owners, and offering them to help run their forums, and or train support staff for a small monthly fee (make it scalable based on amount of work required per forum), and I am certain that if you do this, promoting yourself and what you can do that others interested in starting a forum, (but reluctant to based on getting started / moderating) will be likely to contact you for help. As to the discussion of the future of forums? In general, i think sites that have a forum and nothing else are pretty much dead, just very hard to get new signups. Though, business forums are a bit different as they are primiarly for customer support. To be honest, I am tired of having to join forums and or sites, but I personally like it when I can find someone elses question already asked on a forum, be it pre-sales, or technical support, and find the answer that solves my question. Potentially, forums can save a business on customer support related questions, as the answer is open for others to read, but I think the real important thing is having more content on the site, can potentially help with SEO, which helps gain users, which helps convert more sales and the cycle continues.
Thanks for your reply. I had not thought about approaching current forums. That's an interesting idea.
rofl, just found this thread: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?p=8740981#post8740981 Just looking at that thread, and what you are wanting to do, that site might be a big leg up in *almost* the right direction. (disclaimer, I am not associated with anyone or anything in the link above)