how can I help my new forum to grow in the early stages when there are no users?

Question

i just made up this forum a week ago or i need to have some good posters for my new forum or any other ways :)

Answer 1

Forums are strange. Many take a life of their own years, months after they were written-off as a failure.



I can only go by what has worked on the forums that I belong to. First it is important to have great information on the forum. Keep posting yourself with info you know. Tell all of your friends who are interested to visit frequently and post. This will take some time, but hang in there. For example this Fly Fishing forum I go to (westfly.com) is now one of the premier fly fishing forums in Oregon. This was started by a writer who would post his stories. Others would come and read the stories. It took over a year for people to get beyond "great story" to then posting their info and thus making the forum come to life.



The second thing to keep in mind is to make your forum have a focus towards a community, don't be too broad. Another forum I go to revolves around soccer in Portland oregon, specifically the Portland Timbers (best soccer team, BTW). TalkTimbers.com has a focus that brings those who are passionate about soccer in the Portland area under one roof.



Finally building a community. Make yourself the expert and encourage a sense of community in your forum. I always try to find those who post often and feel them out. Eventually you can goof around with each other. This banter is what you are looking for. Because it will make your top posters come back frequently to reread their threads and respond to other people's comments.



Well that is my theory. I recommend just hanging in there and focusing on your topic.



Good luck!



~n

Answer 2

My son has a forum. He puts interesting posts on it and tells all of his friends about it. It's been growing as he tells his friends. He also told his cousins about it, and they all have similar interests, so it's almost replaced IMing his cousins.

Answer 3

Put an ad in a MAJOR magazine dealing with the same topic,

I.E XP, Vista, Mac, RC Modeling, whatever.

Answer 4

put some interesting stuff in it