Hello;
I’ve started a new computer forum.
I’m trying to drive get new members to the forum. because of this, i’ve started a forum posting contest.
do you think it’s a good idea?
if it’s not a good idea, what are your ideas for a new forum?
Thanks
In a nutshell, I think you’re wasting $100 on the giveaway. Here’s why:
Forums are a great place for a community to come together and share ideas. Duh, that’s why we’re all here. However, a basic requirement for a community to come together is to get the attention of that community in the first place. If your website is just simply a forum I don’t think you’ll have much luck in luring a community over to your website. Especially since there are loads of other computer forums online. What makes yours better? Why should I use yours? (Aside from the chance to win $100)
In my opinion, you’re skipping the first step. You should first build a community around your website and then introduce a forum. Start a blog and offer some really creative and useful articles. Instead of offering the traditional comment area, you could link the comments into the forum and each comment is actually a new response to your blog thread. This will drive targeted visitors to your site with your blog content and it will entice them to use the forum as they comment on your articles.
When you have a decent community you could open the forums up to the community and you’ll have a much better chance of it taking off.
Best of luck,
Jeff