I've put a forum on my pet project: http://www.swollenpickles.com/forum The objective of the forum is just to be fun and have some where to chat about the stuff that interests me. I'm getting tired of chatting to myself though Any tips on getting good active members?
i love the name of the forum, I welcome you to visit my mark8t wikilinks and add it--new directory section for forums.... I too have a forum and what you ask is hard. Word of mouth thru friends seems to be the best way...They tell their friends, and their friends tell their friends etc...you know seven degrees of separation. Joining non-competitive forums and adding a link to your forum in your sig, while still being a good member works too. Best of luck
Lol I love the name too! Im having the same problem even with a forum contest running. Like jamesplato said signature links are a great way to get the word out there. Have you got a blog? If so blog about it! Good luck with it!
forum contests are hard....i have one going too... and I'm learnign the hard way they don't really work unless you're giving away a car, a game system or really expesnive stuff....i hope eventually if I get enough members I can offer free food...who doesn't love a free meal
Tell friends about the forums, maybe get paid posters, write some tutorials or guides about something and utilize social networking to get them out, post in other forums with the link in your signature, and try to build SE rankings.
Best way is just hire some friends for 0.10 cents a post to get it active then more people will join because its active!