Hey, I just started a guitar forum and was wondering if guitarists among DP could give me ideas on how to promote it? Im running a contest where 3 members will win $10, $25 and $100 but that doesnt seem to be working too well to attract visitors. (In case youre interested in joining that contest my forum is this.) Anyway thanks in advance, H.Hashi
Well, I'm not a good guitarist, but I've got a few ideas for you. 1. You should try to appeal to independent musicians ... a lot of guitarists in the crowd who love to talk about themselves and what they do. Make a new section or something allowing them to promote their work, and you'll attract artists much easier. 2. Also try to appeal to a younger age group just learning by offering tutorials and such. You do have a section for it, but it's empty. Why would people come back. They won't likely submit their own until you build up a resource first a bit. If you can't do it yourself, see if there's something available you can use from an article directory or something just to get one or two pieces in there - definitely preferable to do your own though, or hire someone else to. 3. The colors look really business-like. You're not going to easily appeal to artists that way. Darker and bolder would probably be a good place to start. 4. Use Myspace.... and I don't mean mass bulletins or spamming people or myspace whore trains. Look around for guitar-related communities there and start getting active. Include a link when you can (and when permitted) to your forum. You'll have a good chance of reaching a targeted group that way. 5. Heck, just even set up a myspace profile, and include info on the guitar, then link heavily to your forum. Any band would happily befriend you, and you might find a few experienced people that way to participate and share advice... again, you'll up those chances if you give them a place to promote their shows and such. Jenn
MySpace works pretty good when it comes to promoting music websites, that's what I do with my site bandoftheweek.com. I agree that you should change the template though, might want to make it more grunge, or whatever type of genre you wish to attract.
Hey thanks for your replies Anyway yeah I totally agree with you about the look of the forum. I will change it asap but Im off on a short trip so thatll have to wait... Also I tried MySpace - so far only one person has expressed any interest. I'll add some content to the forum as you suggested Also about people being able to promote their band / own music etc... I will setup a new section for band promotion etc.. Thanks again
Once you have a new template up and a section for bands to promote themselves, start adding bands as friends instead of waiting for them. They want as many fans as possible, and you're giving them another outlet. It's a win-win and not likely to upset anyone. Jenn
my site has a section for people to promote their band. they can put up their music so people can listen to it also, for free
Thanks for all your replies - youve all been very helpful! I'll get down to adding that section soon but I'm going to be away for 3 nights so it'll have to be after I get back ebrawl -> I'll definately consider exchanging forum links with you once I get back. jenn -> I'll add the promote your band section, and change the template to a more trendy / younger one soon. hobbit & keith -> Thanks!!!!!
Actually if i were you id collect many guitar tabs and chords and give it for free.Then id market my site. Everyone joins a forum for a reason...and i dont see why a guitarist wudnt join your forum if they can find a nice vault of tabs and chords of the most popular as well as all time hit songs.
rezx -> I recently added a tabs section and I had a chords section from before. I will add more tabs though in other formats because I only host tabs of a tab program called guitar-pro right now. Just came back from holiday so havent got around to sorting out the forum like you guys have said but I will very soon! Oh btw does anyone know how to make people mods in phpBB?
I changed the style of the forum - the logo still needs to be customized though (I'll do it once I get back laptop back from repairs). What do you guys think of the new style? I personally like it... I also added the section for bands as you guys suggested so that they can promote their work. I tried promoting on MySpace but that didnt work at all!
Obviously custom is always best, but I really like the colors and such. If you post articles and tutorials, you can post links to them for free in the articles section of the indie music directory I launched on Sunday. www.IndieGuru.com I just added a general forum section, so you can add a basic link to the main forum page there too: http://www.indieguru.com/cat/148/ Good luck with it, and keep plugging away at Myspace. A few days won't help too much. Be persistent, and try the "groups" there instead of through your own profile (if that's what you did). There are tons of music groups. Just keep looking for guitar-oriented ones (there should be lots; I get invites for them all the time), indie music ones, general music ones, music education ones, etc. Jenn
The design is really nice isnt it? Anyway thanks for all your advice and the links. And thats what Ive done on MySpace btw - I joined the guitar groups and posted in the forums. No success there though as I mentioned but I will keep trying.
Maybe post some tutorials or tabs on your site, and then post about the specific resources like that in the Myspace groups. Since the groups are already forums, maybe they just don't see a reason to go elsewhere. Give them specific things they can only get from your site. Jenn
Yeah you're right! Btw I just added a new logo to the forum - check it out... I'm not very good at designing stuff so it's good knowing my poor ability!!! Lol Still can't get the hang of making the text look nice though... Oh well I'll learn with time.
I like the Template better than the other one Hodge, it now fits on my Screen without having to scroll to see the right side... You could send me the Header Banner *Without* the Text and let me play with it in Photoshop to see what I can come up with... Leave the guitar in...
I send the photoshop file to your gmail account! Thanks for offering to try and make it better - I appreciate it