I've recently launched a new site in my network, www.weightloss-team.com/forum. From what you can is its aim is to provide a friendly community for the people who try to lose weight. Sometimes having someone to talk to can do wonders, this way they can share their stories and find much needed support. My idea would be to help the forums pick of speed by having a contest. I would think a 'referral' contest would be a good idea. I have done this in the past and I know its shortcomings too, but even then (4 years ago) IT WAS A SUCCESS. It really helped the forum pick speed and some of those members stayed. My goal was to populate it and also get some members and I achieved this with no problems. I am aware that I'll have to closely monitor IPs and content, since I am not looking to fill my site with spam. What I wanted to ask you is if you have any other ideas or advice. I am thinking of having the contest for 1 month and having 3 prizes: $100, $75 and $50. I know it's not a lot of money, but still it's OK for someone to just get few friends on the site. Any hints would me much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Contest will bring sign-ups but you may not expect the valuable posts Rather than this you can use following methods Find the forum posters who posts the responsible posts ( Find it with Fiverr.com,Microjobs.in or any other Gig sites) Run PPC campaign Buy Adspace from the niche blogs and other forums Ask blogger to write about your forum Try article promotion Facebook pages,yahoo answers,Groups and associations