Forum advice

[Jordy3738]

So as I had mentioned in a previous post I started a forum for the women in my home town. It has been around a month ago. I was able to get two of my friends to make a couple of posts but they have no interest in staying because there are no other members to interact with. I passed out fryers in many places, created business cards, and have been posting in Craig's list regularly and still no real interest.

I have a Starbucks $20 gift card that I am giving away if members just make a 50 word post. I thought that surely that would do the trick, everyone loves Starbucks. Still no takers yet.

I just added a category where businesses can advertise for free in the forum, maybe that will attract a little content generation.

What do you guys think about having Ad revenue sharing in a forum, would this help attract more participants?

I basically started the forum as a source to generate content and income.

Jordy
Sarasota Womens Forum

[lisa]

Hi Jordy

I've heard of a lot of forums doing the ad sharing thing and it seems to work, but I guess my concern with yours is that it still sounds like your traffic is low to get the activity you need. So whether you give away a Starbucks card or allow businesses to advertise, it's all going to be tricky without the traffic flow. Have you tried your local chamber of commerce? Some webmasters go there when trying to get local businesses off the ground.

[Jordy3738]

Lisa, I have not considered contacting the local Chamber OF Commerce.

[ssmorgan]

Jordy,

I think contacting the Chamber of Commerce is a great idea

Also, if I were you, I would do a little bit of research about women groups in Sarasota. Are there groups of women who already get together for a specific purpose? Can your forum appeal to their interests?

So, I would list a few places/groups where Sarasota women already get together, and figure out how your forum would be a great place for them to hang out... that way, you get in touch with 1 group of women, and you may get 40 or 50 new members out of it.

On a slightly different note, you mentioned that you started the forum to generate income, which suggests that there is no motive, core reason, passion, or niche you are targeting.

For example, it's not a forum for Sarasota women (or parents) who home-school, who are single moms, pregnant, or those who are stay-at-home moms, etc... if you target a specific niche, people may be more excited about joining, but if it's general forum with no defined focus, people may wonder if it's worth their time. Of course, a sense of local community (i.e. because it's dedicated to Sarasota women) may be appealing enough to join your forum regardless of how general it is.

Hope this helps.

Sherif

[jbzcc]

Hello Lisa please can you elaborate on meaning of doing the ad sharing thing.

Originally Posted by lisa

Hi Jordy

I've heard of a lot of forums doing the ad sharing thing and it seems to work, but I guess my concern with yours is that it still sounds like your traffic is low to get the activity you need. So whether you give away a Starbucks card or allow businesses to advertise, it's all going to be tricky without the traffic flow. Have you tried your local chamber of commerce? Some webmasters go there when trying to get local businesses off the ground.

[lisa]

I don't know the specifics involved but I've heard that the owner of the forum shares the revenue generated from ads with the members. DigitalPoint does it. Here's their explanation http://forums.digitalpoint.com/faq.p...evenue_sharing