How you succeeded with your Forum?

[TomBran]

As far as I know, forum based sites (like BHW forum) are most difficult to maintain, populate and keep them live for a long period of time because they need much resources to stay alive. How do you succeed with you forum? What strategies and methods you have used for making your forum famous. How much time it takes you to get first 1000 real and active registrations?
Just need some idea.

Thanks in advance.

 

[WatchWho]

I don't have one as big as BHW. I run a couple small paid membership forum/communities. I have one newer one with just over 500 members paying $70/mo. So I don't have the 1000 yet but will within the next 2-3 months.

Here are 3 quick tips with private forums...

1) balance of good content - not lots of content. Too much will overwhelm users and they'll leave. Too little/not high quality will make them leave.

2) Salting the mine! until you reach over 50 members, it'll be quiet. You'll need to create the conversation and you'll need to have a few "ringer" accounts that make it look more active. After you reach a good number, this'll be good on its own.

3) Limit number of topics. It is tempting to want to have 10+ topics. Don't! Stick to no more than 3 sections at the start. Any more than that, your forum will look like a wasteland! Expand topics after it makes sense.

As for promotion. I have a good list and do content marketing. Nothing magic.

I will say that in my promotion, I close and open enrollment. It is not just open all the time. Every few weeks, I open it up for 3 days and close it. Hope that helps a little...


Cheers! And Good Luck!

 

[TomBran]

I don't have one as big as BHW. I run a couple small paid membership forum/communities. I have one newer one with just over 500 members paying $70/mo. So I don't have the 1000 yet but will within the next 2-3 months.

Here are 3 quick tips with private forums...

1) balance of good content - not lots of content. Too much will overwhelm users and they'll leave. Too little/not high quality will make them leave.

2) Salting the mine! until you reach over 50 members, it'll be quiet. You'll need to create the conversation and you'll need to have a few "ringer" accounts that make it look more active. After you reach a good number, this'll be good on its own.

3) Limit number of topics. It is tempting to want to have 10+ topics. Don't! Stick to no more than 3 sections at the start. Any more than that, your forum will look like a wasteland! Expand topics after it makes sense.

As for promotion. I have a good list and do content marketing. Nothing magic.

I will say that in my promotion, I close and open enrollment. It is not just open all the time. Every few weeks, I open it up for 3 days and close it. Hope that helps a little...


Cheers! And Good Luck!

Thanks for your suggestion.

Just curious on "not lots of content. Too much will overwhelm users and they'll leave." How? Everyone says that you should have more and more content on your website, then how more content will make them leave? Can't understand it.

 

[WatchWho]

If your intent (early on) is to onboard paying members, if you have 100 hours of video or reading for them to go through, here's what'll happen...

1. They'll get in and say "wow"
2. After the "wow" they'll start getting frustrated with "where do I start"
3. They'll stick around for a month or so and tell themselves "I'll get around to it"
4. They'll see that recurring bill after a couple more months and question whether it's worth it.
5. They'll cancel

If you have actionable content and every month they have more to look forward to, they'll stick!

 

[Purush]

great points to share.

 

[soulcollector]

As far as I know, forum based sites (like BHW forum) are most difficult to maintain, populate and keep them live for a long period of time because they need much resources to stay alive. How do you succeed with you forum? What strategies and methods you have used for making your forum famous. How much time it takes you to get first 1000 real and active registrations?
Just need some idea.

Thanks in advance.

First, ignore everything you know about membership sites and follow one rule only. The member who pays for his membership must be able to make double or nothing back from your site directly. This can't be $97 ebooks claiming you can make $1,000s just using a bot on social media. That is wrong, doesn't work, and is a expensive waste of time. If you ignore the only rule to success then you will fail 100% of the time. If you think its great content or awesome "offers" its not when it comes to money. It's simply this: Membership I paid needs to come back double or nothing in real hard cash.

 

[flying_dutchman]

I don't have one as big as BHW. I run a couple small paid membership forum/communities. I have one newer one with just over 500 members paying $70/mo. So I don't have the 1000 yet but will within the next 2-3 months.

Here are 3 quick tips with private forums...

1) balance of good content - not lots of content. Too much will overwhelm users and they'll leave. Too little/not high quality will make them leave.

2) Salting the mine! until you reach over 50 members, it'll be quiet. You'll need to create the conversation and you'll need to have a few "ringer" accounts that make it look more active. After you reach a good number, this'll be good on its own.

3) Limit number of topics. It is tempting to want to have 10+ topics. Don't! Stick to no more than 3 sections at the start. Any more than that, your forum will look like a wasteland! Expand topics after it makes sense.

As for promotion. I have a good list and do content marketing. Nothing magic.

I will say that in my promotion, I close and open enrollment. It is not just open all the time. Every few weeks, I open it up for 3 days and close it. Hope that helps a little...


Cheers! And Good Luck!

good information mate.

 

[Young Padawan]

1) balance of good content - not lots of content. Too much will overwhelm users and they'll leave. Too little/not high quality will make them leave.

think this tips is superb..

 

[DunDidIt2X]

My advice.... If you're just starting out, building a successful forum isn't the best thing to start with. It requires a lot of time and effort. Many newbs may find this quite overwhelming. Perhaps start with something a bit easier, like a Q& A site if you're interested in going this direction.

 

[Fery Bagja]

pasien dengan penuh perhatian ya Dunia

 

[rezzer]

This debate can go on and on, depends what niche and your competition for forums for that niche.

You biggest job will also be keeping spammers away, keeping your forum clean

Forum can take years to build and to get a good start will require some heavy advertising.

If your going to give a forum a real go, I suggest you have very good plan in place!

 

[JohnLuther]

I have one newer one with just over 500 members paying $70/mo. So I don't have the 1000 yet but will within the next 2-3 months.
Cheers! And Good Luck!

Thanks for all the tips. I am very glad to find you because the online community I have in mind will grow to a size of max 3,000. I don't want a community beyond that size or else it will defeat my purpose. Can you please answer these:

• How will you know if some shady shit is going on in the PM section? Anything outside the PM (email/Skype/Whatsapp/FB/KIK) is not my problem as it has no direct connection with my community.
• I saw a couple of WP social media plugins. Are they any good? Do you recommend vBulletin or a social media plugin?

I want PM monitoring because the law enforcement at my place is tricky sometimes.

 

[trafficsaurus1]

Invest in content marketing and SEO and supplement with ads if you have to

Invest in content marketing and SEO and supplement with ads if you have to

 

[greenhatshortcuts]

I don't have one as big as BHW. I run a couple small paid membership forum/communities. I have one newer one with just over 500 members paying $70/mo. So I don't have the 1000 yet but will within the next 2-3 months.

Here are 3 quick tips with private forums...

1) balance of good content - not lots of content. Too much will overwhelm users and they'll leave. Too little/not high quality will make them leave.

2) Salting the mine! until you reach over 50 members, it'll be quiet. You'll need to create the conversation and you'll need to have a few "ringer" accounts that make it look more active. After you reach a good number, this'll be good on its own.

3) Limit number of topics. It is tempting to want to have 10+ topics. Don't! Stick to no more than 3 sections at the start. Any more than that, your forum will look like a wasteland! Expand topics after it makes sense.

As for promotion. I have a good list and do content marketing. Nothing magic.

I will say that in my promotion, I close and open enrollment. It is not just open all the time. Every few weeks, I open it up for 3 days and close it. Hope that helps a little...


Cheers! And Good Luck!

Good info. Do the basics well and you will succeed. Thanks