Hi, I have a forum that is new (about 3 weeks its been up) though no members/posts. I've done the following: 1. Created a contest (financial reward) which I ran for a week though didn't garner any interest. 2. Created a twitter account. 3. I've also began posting on my own forum. Though I can post so many times and create so many new members. My main question is that I need to populate the forum and with out members/posts most new visitors won't join. So I'm wondering if anyone who has there own forums has ever used any of the following software or services: Xrumer by botmaster labs - What is your opinion on this software? Would you recommend it? PostLoop: Again, what is your opinion on this service? Would you recommend it? Your opinions are greatly appreciated!
Hello, I would suggest you try it all. If you don't get a reasonable number of posts and comments going, it will be difficult to get new users to engage and even stay engaged. Contact friends Contact Facebook connections Contact your Twitter connections Contact your LinkedIn connections Use automated systems (short term) You can let them know that you are asking them for help to start populating the forum. You may want to ask one group to post....then another group to comment on those posts. Not sure if this is what you wanted to hear, but if you're running a forum not sure there is a short cut. Plan on building this out over the next 90 days and be patient. Hope this helps.
I think it depends on the niche of your forum. Some are very hard or nearly impossible to get popular. However, there have to be a lot of fake members to interact and stay active on the forum to get the ball rolling. For me, I would not join a forum that has low number of posts. It is just my 2 cents. I hope it helps you.
The things you have done so far won't help much. Creating a content only works if people know bout it...what did you do to let people in the niche, both authorities and your average person, know about it? Creating a twitter acciunt is well and good but until you build up your audience you've no one to promote to. Tap into other peoples already built audiences across various platforms and get your ads and content out there. Get involved in high traffic forums, blog comment, guest post, get involved in the big social media groups etc. Posting on your own forum won't help. The key for any website is to figure out who your target audience is and where they already hang out then go about getting your contenr and / or ads in front of them.
Right now, you're facing the classic, ages old quandary that every forum owner has; how to get members to make posts, when you don't have any posts now. Some forum owners are lucky enough to have owned previous forums and can easily invite members from the previous forum to the current one. But, let's assume you don't have this option. So now, you need new posts and have no or few members to make the posts. Forget bot software that will post illiterate sounding content on your forum. This site is your investment, so take time to create discussions your ideal member would want to read and respond to. Just posting discussions as the owner/admin is a good start. Then you need to invite a few people onto the forum that you might know from other forums or Facebook. Let your friends know that you need their help if just for a day or week to get responses on the forum. As for postloop, you will likely get substandard results. Why not hire a professional writer to do the posts for you? There are many available and the cost is usually reasonable. Post a wanted ad for a quality writer on a promotion or writer's forum asking for someone knowledgeable in your niche to create posts on your forum. Just a few ideas and hopefully one helps you get the good start you want.
Thank you! very helpful. I was considering using postloop though was on the fence about it. After reading your thread, I'm definitely not going to use the service. Best thing that I can do is to begin posting on the forum myself, hire a writer to create posts and ad more content.