Hi all, I am in a bit of a stand-still ATM, as I am looking to create a marketing strategy & plan for my writers forum: WritersHall Again, the niche is writing/writers. I have been receiving a couple members each day, but I haven't been able to really reach out to the writers on the internet. So, I know I shouldn't be focusing solely on number right now, as the forum/site is barely a week old, but hopefully you have some ideas. Any resources, websites, etc. that can target writers (new or professional) will be greatly appreciated.
You might want to condense the number of forums you have until you are larger and can support them. Just an idea.
I'd certainly try going to other forums in this niche first and obtaining a few interesting members from each, through your forum sig. Also writing 20-30 articles and uploading them to EZA? Many talented writers on there. Avoid Social Bookmarking as it attracts swarms of Spammers!
No, go after social networks... Also post some articles on Digg.com and put your forum URL in your signature.
Well make sure you have the right security measures in place, otherwise you'll be there for hours each day deleting fake accounts... I'm not saying going down the social route isn't powerful.
Thanks everyone! I started a twitter account, targeted bloggers and writers... but the conversion rate is too low. I mean, I'm picking up a couple members a day, which isn't bad considering the forum is still brand new. However, I found that most people in other niche forums have 'old dog' syndrome -- that is, they are happy with the forum they're on. So, I think i'll attempt the EZA / digg route. Hope the conversion rate will be successful with them.
You can try linkreferral.com and add your forum to the correct category. I got a lot of traffic for my sites from there. You can also submit your forum to forum directories. Good luck!
Make your forum strongly indexed like the very same digital poin forum... Include teh thread titles in the forum URL so taht it may get indexed by google and in turn results in more traffic for you
Besides the usual traffic generation (SEO, links etc.) - I'd advise taking the viral approach as well. Maybe some youtube videos, free reports etc. Since a forum like this can grow greatly by word of mouth and reputation.
Thanks for the idea -- I actually have been working on content for the WritersHall show (via Youtube) I have been making the preparations for about a month now, and I am eager to launch it ASAP! To everyone: thanks so much for the ideas and resources... this helps me out 110%!
You may want to have a new template on your site too, other than the default template for SMF. It'll be more enticing for people to join.
Check communityspark.com for some excellent advice. PM me and I can probably get you some more valuable resources.