How would I advertise

[cobra@pulse 0]

Hello there.

Just a question. What do you think is the best way for me to advertise a forum?

Please help, because its running low on members.

cheers:

Cobra@Pulse

[Nathanz 0]

I would post it on as many websites (news, forums etc..) as I can.

[theavonlady 2]

Just a question. What do you think is the best way for me to advertise a forum?

Free beer?

[cobra@pulse 0]

Quote[/b] ]Free beer?

lol, may be.

[Skewballzz 0]

supply and demand. If people dont need a forum, they will not go.

There is also a thing called a "tipping point". When you get a certain amount of people coming back and posting, it will come to a point where people will sign up because of the large community.

I for one wouldnt sign up for a forum with less than a 100 people unless it was something i really liked.

[SpeedyDonkey 0]

There are tons of forums. Think why you have your forum, why you want people there and most importantly, why people would like to register there. Once you know the answer to that tell them it in an informative way by posting messages on news sites and other forums.

Edit: balzz was way faster then me. I'm typing whilst working and that makes everything so slow.

[Winters 1]

I wouldnt worry about the amount of members on your forum. I have very few at the Pubs' forum but the Pub itself has over 2,200 hits since its inception in late Feb. People just want to download the missions, if the mission sucks or they are having trouble with it they will then join so they can post about it.

Now sign up on my forum DAMMIT!!!!!

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

A: Increase traffic by melting together the many different subforums you offer. Noone needs "offtopic, Troubleshooting, Multiplayer, Feedback..." if you have only a few threads anyway

Create one forum for all topics

B: Increase frequency by developing one CORE COMPETENCY. If you got any special material on many different subjects then exchange them with other forums so they might give you some stuff in return. Like that you can become the BEST in one specific area.

C. Dont advertise, try to publish! Whenver you want to make valuable advertisement on the net then do it with hard work that shows your qualities. Write a short article and publish it on a forum (with your adress at the bottom), or publish cool screenshots...

[cobra@pulse 0]

Cheers everyone, thats really good advice. Now I'm off to think of something original....hummm...Anyone want something?

lol

[Munk 0]

Anyone want something?

lol

Quote[/b] ]Free beer?

[Colossus 2]

No damn pop-ups thats for sure, but I totaly agree on the free beer  

Best way to do it is to come with an offer, like....err....hmmm...

[SpecOp9 0]

I have plenty of forums, and I don't care if they are used or not.  As long as they are there for people to use, I'm satisfied.  

basically you need to give it time.  Forums don't get busy off the bat.

I'm the promotion master, but forums are very hard to promote.  (they only offer discussion, and nothing more)

Sometimes if you do a good job at what you do, things will promote themselves.

[IceFire 0]

Well for us to better help you, you need to give us some information.

What is the forum about?  Have you decided yet?

That is the main thing.

I don't really go to forums to simply "discuss" things.

I go to forums and websites as a way to gain knowledge and information about any subject.

That is the main purpose of any forum.  

Now I am not a technology person.  But I still have to admit(even though I hate to admit it) that the internet is an invaluable research tool.    And you can discuss, research virtually anything you can possibly think of.

I have alot of projects going on in my life and therefore like to gather alot of information on different subjects.

I also know alot about a certain subject and therefore share it on certain forums.

If I need to know how to do a certain thing, and can't find any information on any websites about the subject, I ask on a forum where there are other knowledgable people who may know.

There is no point in creating a forum unless you are personally interested in that subject yourself.  

If you are interested in making a forum on a subject you are personally interested.  Then do your homework.  Try to find an already existing forum or website on that subject first.  

If you cannot any forums, but do find websites, then this is good.  That means that there is definite interest in the subject, and therefore a forum is useful.   If you do not even find any websites devoted to your subject.  Then you need to start from scratch.  You should first start a website on the subject.  Do your own research on the subject at the library.  If you get alot of good feedback from fans of your site and subject, then you know you have good opportunity to create its first forum.

If on the other hand, you research your topic on the web and find numerous sites and some forums.  Then you need to revaluate your option.  Do people need your forum?  Is it any different from others?  Will yours have more topics and be better in any way?

You should join the forums you do find and get a feel of how they are.  Then try to make a new one if you wish.

You can always advertise on the forums if they allow it.  Or on your own site.

But remember, there are a so many forums for so many subjects that you wouln't even believe. Want to know how to build your own jetpack or build your own HAM radio or grow your own cannabis? There are multitude of forums for all of these subjects. (Ofcourse the last one I mentioned is something you can learn with friends and/or books, or atleast start off)

There are tons of topics I know for sure that are underserved.  Especially those not as well known to the general public.  Some you cannot even find in libraries.

I have never created a website or forum before and do not know anything on the subject.  I am just saying this from a logical perspective.

Good luck.

[cobra@pulse 0]

Thanks everyone. Well, if you want to have a look, the forums here.

Forum

Its mostly to do with our site and soem (hopefully mroe soon) OFP missions. We also write games reviews, which are taking ages and should have them up on there. You can also post your own reviews, game ideas and gaming experiences. We are also trying to add a technichal support side to as many games as possible for it.

See what you think.

Edit: There are no pop-ups on it!

[Pathy 0]

Building up a membership of core posters is often what a forum needs.....if there is only a post once every day or week, people arent going to bother to check for anything new, whereas, like in BI forums there is (usually) always something new to see or talk about. Hense people come back more regularly......more posts generate more posts.

[IceFire 0]

The site is nice.

But I think you may want to change the overall look of it.

Generally I have found that forum sites with bright. clear colors and simple block text and directory are more popular.

It is cleaner and easier to read.

Dark colored backgrounds makes it look less inviting. Look at these forums. It is VERY inviting. All the clean colors and simple interface.

If I see a forum with too much rubbish, ads, and things are not simple and clear, I will take a quick look and then leave.

Try putting all the forum topics in one linear list. Not several brackets. That makes things more confusing.

Use clear and straightforward categories.