How do you populate (get new users) a forum?

[IMpossible]

Hi guys,

how do you populate a brand new forum when there are no users/threads yet?

 

[bartosimpsonio]

Community building is not easy. You should probably have a circle of friends and/or interested parties who share your interest.

 

[IMpossible]

Community building is not easy. You should probably have a circle of friends and/or interested parties who share your interest.

I know what you mean. But what if you don't have that specified group of users that you can invite to your forums?

 

[divok]

I tried making users register to view "gem threads"/spoilers etc . When i stopped producing those HQ posts , forum went dead in a month . long story short :- don't try to fake it . And yes as barton said running a forum is not a single man's job .You need atleast 3-10 experts in the niche who are willing to give atleast half an hour daily to the forum for it to become a success .

 

[bartosimpsonio]

I know what you mean. But what if you don't have that specified group of users that you can invite to your forums?

You should probably create something that'll attract the users....give them something and they'll come.... Why should I join your forum is the question you should ask. But you should also think of black hat ways to do this...there must be some way

 

[HerpDerpSlerp]

build social media sites first and then funnel that traffic to a tier 1 site. when there is enough traffic make a SMALL board. Use social sign up buttons and try not to make it look to much like a "forum". It is still very possible.

 

[Porridge]

Don't create a forum immediately. Create a site about the subject your forum is targeting and get it to the top of google first. Once you have good traffic, create a forum subsection on your site and pay people for posting to populate the forum initially. The people who come to your site via search will see some activity on the forum and might join the discussion.

 

[IMpossible]

Don't create a forum immediately. Create a site about the subject your forum is targeting and get it to the top of google first. Once you have good traffic, create a forum subsection on your site and pay people for posting to populate the forum initially. The people who come to your site via search will see some activity on the forum and might join the discussion.

That's what I'm about to do! Thank you!

 

[Maria1988]

You can't expect visitors to create all the posts on your forum, especially when it is first starting. Therefore it is up to you to create some of the initial interesting, controversial, or otherwise provoking posts that will make people want to respond or make a comment on the topic.

 

[Derpinard]

If you have the money to spend, there's places like the infamous postloop (I believe you can submit your site to them for a fee), or you can hire some freelancers from oDesk/Elance (preferably ones who are genuinely interested and knowledgeable in your niche) and pay them to set up a few accounts each and have neverending conversations with themselves/one another.

However, as Porridge rightfully suggested, it is probably not a good idea to really push forums before you have a loyal viewership visiting your site.

 

[HerpDerpSlerp]

Fuck postloop. I had dealings with them before. Complete garbage

 

[okiedokie]

get 10 morons to moderate the forum and ask them if you wanna stay as a moderator you gonna make at least 10 guys refer to it .

 

[PrinceVisi]

Offer them a free Iphone 5S.

People would kill for one

 

[Execute]

Well try and populate it yourself with information that is relevant to your niche/pay someone to do it. Then post on other forums but be careful as the admins probably don't want people to rob their visitors lol.