How to Market a Forum?

I really do think this forum of mine could be a very useful tool for a lot of people, but it has not taken off as big as I would of liked.
I am relying on word of mouth at the moment, and I have placed a few posters out and about, but with no interest
I have zero money to promote it, so I will be doing everything myself.
Any tips or ideas you have will very much be appreciated.
TheFactoryForum.com

 

i think i would get a list of unions and see if you can publish your site in their ezine or website.

GL,
Aaron

 

Just hire some people to make fake posts..it works best gets you listed, then you can market your site on other forums. For me, forums are the most difficult to start.

 

try adwords , use tell a friend script .

 

or make an imotional appeal to send your forum to their friends

 

Managed to scrape the money together to place a advert in the local press for my forum... still little interest.
Any ideas guys? Hey I am getting a lot of spam emails though!!!!

 

You need to firstly Brand the site, it needs to smell of authority, create a logo, a life style and some small adverts to suit. Its worth a small outlay, to create a good trusting site.

Next you need to market and optimise the site online, have you read the seo book? thats great reading.
Think of a clever marketing campaign to attract suitable users.

Have you checked to see if myspace provides relevent details of people to contact?

 

Contact the local factories in your area and see if they will promote it for you. I mean, that is who you are catering to in the end is it not?

I love forums, but honestly, I'd not join one for my day job, I'd fear I would get fired for mouthing off in the wrong way about the company.

 

Thats the beauty of this kind of forum, you cannot get fired for having your opinion about your work place, because no one will ever know who you are!
It isn't just targeted at factory workers, it is a forum for anyone in any working environment to discuss issues affecting them.

 

Well, work with the local businesses, I think they are your best bet. Make half sheet fliers and ask if you can put them on break tables. Ask the nearby cafes and coffee shops for the same (places people may take breaks at). You may also consider a "want ad" section for new jobs... temp agencies will likely jump on that.

Though still, I am pretty much the same online as I am off, it would be hard to NOT know who I am, especially if you knew where I worked

So keep a light hearted approach to it all, and give a few limits on company bashing. You just may find a few more long term members *smirk*

 

i think you can try social bookmark sites to get some free traffic

 

The site needs more of a custom feel. It just feels to default right now and that may be part of the reason no one is joining. Some people who are coming to your site might not be the most tech savy and used to forums such as people on here since its targeted towards webmasters and SEO's. So you should make the register and log in more prominent and maybe unclutter the page some.

I think advertising in local press is a waste of money at this point, you are better off trying to find people who are targeted for your website through other websites and send fliers to your local factories or take them their yourself and put them in a place such as the break room where people will take a look at them. You can get professional fliers for free just pay shipping at clubflyers.com which shipping to most places is under $30 and it is 1000 flyers so you are not paying much at all per flyer

 

Go to freebies corner and make a lot of exchange stumbles, digg and etc..

 

A lot of Digg will get you banned....just FYI

 

You need branding for your forum. Something that makes it stick out from the crowd or be memorable. Try using a template different from the standard default SMF one.

393 members is good though!