How to Build a Forum That Doesnt Fall Apart Two Months Later, Part 1

If you can get a big enough following from customer lists and newsletters you might want to start your own forum. But I always see people trying to start a forum and it falls flat on their face, mainly because they make it too big and they never promote it.

The main reason is because nobody eats in an empty restaurant. Don't setup a "multiple topic" forum like phpBB where it allows you to partition the thing off into different subjects. You have to start small, get enough traffic to that forum for THAT type of forum to become self-sustaining before you build bigger.

By that I mean start off with a blog.

This blog (and eventually your message board) HAVE to have a niche. You can't just have a general purpose hang-out message board, or have it based on something really vague like "Marketing," or "Finance," or "Computers." Instead go for something specific like a Copywriting message board. Or a message board about home loans. Or a message board about digital video.

You supply all the posts, and any user "posts" will just be comments to this journal. Don't require any sort of signup in order to post.

Give people an option to sign up for e-mail updates but DO NOT use the autoresponder built into the blogging software. Instead use a separate autoresponder script. Why? Two reasons:

1.) You can write a quick teaser message that will entice more subscribers to read your posts than any boring automated notice could. 2.) This way it will be easier to move subscribers over once you graduate from a blog (keep reading).

(WordPress works great for this and is free.)

Start off allowing anyone to post, but once you start getting traffic to that page and the blog spam starts rolling in you will either have to require approval by you for a comment to go through or require the poster to type in a code to prove they are human (you've seen the kind).

It will be easy to get SOME traffic to the blog, if you keep most of your entries to it in article format, because then you can submit these articles to ezines and the article directories with a link back to the blog.

Keep the blog format going, be SURE to post regularly and if possible write content in advance (Post To Future) so that if you miss a week your content will still be updated as if you never left. If you feel ambitious setup RSS feeds for the blog and submit to the feed directories.

Continue posting until you reach the point where after you make a post, you receive comments from 10-20 different people within a day or two of the post. This 10-20 has to happen without any e-mails being sent out, or any kind of active promotion.

Until you reach this point stay with the blog, it means you haven't reached critical mass yet and any attempt to change over to a more complex kind of site will never work.

Once you've got those 10-20 spontaneous posts you can go ahead and make the move from a blog to a forum. But be very very careful. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, especially if your forum doesn't "unfold" properly, which is a technique I'll discuss with you in Part 2 of this article...

Free (humorous) video for you about how to promote an affiliate program without seeming spammy. Take a look: http://www.affiliatebattleplan.com/Rewrite.ht ml

In The News:

Community forums scheduled for three district merger
Herkimer Evening Telegram
Speaking during Wednesday night's board of education meeting, interim Herkimer Superintendent of Schools Gary Tutty said community forums will take place on June 6 at Jarvis High School in Mohawk, July 25 at Herkimer High School, Aug.
State approves three-school merger study in Herkimer CountyWKTV

all 6 news articles »

Cobb candidate forums kick off campaign season
Atlanta Journal Constitution
By Janel Davis The Cobb County NAACP and the East Cobb Civic Association will host candidate forums next week for county candidates running for office in July. The NAACP forum begins at 7 pm on Tuesday at the county government building, 100 Cherokee ...

and more »

Assembly candidate impersonator ruffles feathers at Marin forum
San Jose Mercury News
By Jessica Bernstein-Wax, Marin Independent Journal Activist Jonathan Frieman ruffled some feathers last week when he participated in a forum for the Assembly, congressional and Marin supervisors' races, proclaiming himself to be a write-in candidate ...

and more »

Fifth Astana Economic Forum opens in Kazakhstan
Gazeta.KZ
"The range of discussions of the Astana forum has expanded, since Kazakhstan has become a retransmitter of wide Eurasian look. This became especially important with the creation of a customs union," the president said. This year the Astana Economic ...

and more »

Forums Set for Keokuk Supt. Search
Tri States Public Radio
By Jason Parrott Keokuk residents have several opportunities to weigh in on the search for a new school superintendent. The school board has hired Ray & Associates to help the district find a replacement for Doctor Lora Wolff.


WFMY News 2
Greensboro Holds GPAC Forums
WFMY News 2
Seventy-five people showed up at two forums on Thursday to hear the pitch in person, a third took place later in the day. The performing arts center or "GPAC" would have 2500 to 2,8000 seats, and is being proposed for downtown Greensboro.

and more »

WTSP 10 News
Education public forum tonight in Tampa
WTSP 10 News
Tampa, Florida -- Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson will be in Tampa tonight to meet face to face with parents and teachers as part of a series of public forums regarding the state of public education and the higher standards set for ...
Education officials unveil website, blogs for parents in wake of low FCAT scoresThe Florida Current

all 140 news articles »

Diablo 3 Forum $65 Weekly Contest | Win to Buy the Diablo3 Game
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
The weekly contest involves people posting on the forums and whoever posts the most quality and numerous posts wins $65 to buy the Diablo 3 game. Northridge, CA (PRWEB) May 22, 2012 Diablo 3 is a great game but some people can't afford to play it.

and more »

Forum confirms school tax proposal is not supported
Examiner.com
Over three hundred people showed up on Monday night for an early forum of School Superintendent candidates at First Methodist-Ocala. Attendees learned that not one candidate dares to seriously support the proposed tax measure.

and more »

HNN Huntingtonnews.net
Coal Forum kicks off statewide events
Daily Mail - Charleston
The West Virginia Coal Forum held the first of three statewide events billed as "Stop the EPA's War on Coal" in Charleston Tuesday to encourage more public action and support for the industry. "We all need to elevate our game," said Chris Hamilton, ...
Charleston hosts one of several Coal Forum meetingsWOWK

all 30 news articles »
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