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Need Ideas/Brainstormin

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jivens
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I have a LLLLL.COM domain name with pr 3 and lots of inner pr that is very brandable and likely to be related to gaming when it is heard. I've thought about getting a vbulletin license and creating an online community but I don't know how profitable forums can be? Also should I make a site front or just make the whole thing the forum? Ive got a loooooooooot of reading to do :p. I don't want to make it cheesy looking or cheap so I'm going to spending a lot of time on it and I'm going to use handwritten articles/whatever I write instead of crap like wp robot. Any Ideas? Also, I'm Not bashing wp Robot, it's just not my cup of tea.
#ideas or brainstormin
  • Profile picture of the author WillR
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    How long is a piece of string? No one can really tell you how profitable your forum could be. Take this forum as an example. There are plenty of Internet Marketing forums out there that would be making next to nothing. Then there are forums like this one that would be pulling in (one would think) 1-2 million dollars per year. But a lot of that income would be coming from the WSO section, War Room memberships, banner ads, etc.

    So it all comes down to how smart YOU are about running your forum and whether or not you are able to turn it into a desirable community hangout for your niche.

    My best advice to you is to go and search and study some of the best forums online and see the sorts of things they are doing and what makes them so popular. Try and think of unique features, such as the War Room and WSO section on this forum, that will help your community stand out above all the others in your niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author jivens
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    I feel like for the first time I'm really motivated. I plan on making this a long project and probably a JV at some point. I am even selling a personal collection to raise capital to get this thing started.
  • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
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    What's your plan for getting the forum community started? Do you have a way to create an instant community? (A list of gamers would be a good start).
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
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    Another thing I will recommend to you is a paid forum posting service. Some people might turn their noses up at this but I don't care. I have used some great ones in the past and they really help to get things going on a new forum.

    What they will do is come and look at your forum and then create a certain amount of new users and will add relevant posts and threads to the forum, over time, to help get things started. The company I used to use for this was great but they don't seem to be around anymore.

    Just search for 'Forum Posting Services' or something like that. As you know it's very hard to get people joining or posting on a forum that has nothing on it. You need to add that first bit of social proof to help get things started.
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  • Profile picture of the author jivens
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    yes i have a list of gamers that would be happy to join my site because I plan on making one of them a paid head moderator and he is a very avid gamer with years and years and years of experience. Thanks for the advice Will, that initial crowd is what I was pondering over the most!
    • Profile picture of the author WillR
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      Originally Posted by jivens View Post

      yes i have a list of gamers that would be happy to join my site because I plan on making one of them a paid head moderator and he is a very avid gamer with years and years and years of experience. Thanks for the advice Will, that initial crowd is what I was pondering over the most!
      Hey,

      I found the company I used to use for this. They did a great job when I used them. Was relatively cheap and all the comments and threads were very relevant and on topic.

      They used to be over at forumbooster.net but they now appear to have renamed as ContentCurrent.com. Just send them an email and see if they still offer the service and at what prices.
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  • Profile picture of the author area51backlinks
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    If you decide to start a forum, one thing I rarely see forums do is to sell sticky's. There are tons of people who would want to buy them, depending on what niche you're in and how popular your forum becomes, of course.
    • Profile picture of the author jivens
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      wow what a great idea on selling stickies! and thanks will i sent an email their way! I've been jotting my plan down in my journal so that I can be constantly reminded to work on this project
      • Profile picture of the author JimWaller
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        I've dabbled in forums a little, and one thing I can warn you about is spam and porn posters. I lost a pretty sweet hosting plan due to a forum I had started that got WAY out of hand due to inappropriate posts and violated my TOS. It was all very upsetting. Of course, there are tools to help reduce that problem such as blacklisting ip addresses and emails, but it's still hard to maintain. I was trying to moderate it all myself, and that just doesn't fly. Lesson learned: you can't do it all yourself, it takes many people to be successful.

        As far as monetizing a forum, there are a number of possibilities. The main thing to do is consider your target audience.
        • Would they be willing to pay to be members of the forum as a whole?
        • Would a special paid section be a better choice (Similar to the War Room)?
        • Would paid stickies be a better solution?
        • As a gaming related site, are there in game items that you can sell in the forum? (Such as a special armor or weapons)
        • If there are in game items, would an auction section be a possibility with the site/forum getting a cut of the sales? (Think a few cents per auction like eBay)
        • Would a storefront selling game related software or hardware be a good idea?
        While there are many possibilities for monetization, you can't be all things to everybody. If you try to be a "one stop shop" and go overboard, you can appear cheesy.

        Something that might be helpful to get initial members is to make it worth their while to be a "founding member" of your forum. What that looks like depends on the niche. Free access to a paid area for the first X number of members or promotion to moderator or other special status might be possible incentives. (This is the equivalent of a call to action, "Act now or lose the opportunity forever".)

        I hope these ideas are helpful. Good luck and keep us posted as to your successes.

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    • Profile picture of the author jivens
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      My biggest hurdle is if I should use some type of blog as the front? Maybe like a game review blog or something of the sort?
  • Profile picture of the author JustinDupre
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    Nice going with the forum and having a team. sell sticky's, downloads sections are all really nice ideas. You should join other game forum and blog to keep yourself updated and ahead of the game too. List building is huge!
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  • Profile picture of the author jivens
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    I don't think I would like to monetize it from the very beginning so that I can keep it "cool" at first then monetize it later on to keep it running
    • Profile picture of the author JimWaller
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      Originally Posted by jivens View Post

      I don't think I would like to monetize it from the very beginning so that I can keep it "cool" at first then monetize it later on to keep it running
      I agree.

      If you saw the movie "The Social Network", part of what made facebook successful was its original exclusiveness which lent to its coolness factor. Additionally, they intentionally didn't want ads or any obvious monetization. I know I'm citing a movie for something that is real world, but it is what really happened, too. Some friends of mine who were in college at the time have verified this to me. The exclusivity led to a perception of coolness. I'd say that in the gaming niche, coolness definitely plays a part. While facebook isn't the end-all be-all guide to wealth, the numbers don't lie either.

      How all of this applies to your forum is really up to you. The monetization methods/ ideas I mentioned in my previous post can mostly be implemented at a later date. However, some are not good to delay. If you choose to make access to the whole forum a paid thing after initially being free, you'll probably lose a number of potentially valuable contributors in the transition. If paid access is in place from the start, your initial subscribers may feel it is not worth the price of admission. With this forum, the fact that it is mostly free has been great for a number of beginning marketers who might not have had the cash to pay for it otherwise.

      It all boils down to knowing your niche and what they will and won't be willing to pay for.

      HTH,
      Jim
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  • Profile picture of the author CPA Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author veritas99
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    i guess that would depend on content no? do you have an idea what the topic will be?
    anything can make money if you focus on a niche and not use a broad brush approach..
  • Profile picture of the author ElysiaB
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    Interesting...

    I have a friend who had a forum in the weight loss industry and found it extremely hard to monetize.

    Perhaps you should experiment with a blog first. If the domain is aged and has a solid PR it should be easy to rank some product-centered posts that you could incorporate aff links into to test the waters. If that model is profitable then you might not need to dip your toe in the forum pool at all...

    In terms of monetization I'm sure a blog model would be the most hands off way to capitalise on the domain vs a forum which has no real guarantee of revenue and yet requires a whole lot of time invested on your part.

    Anywaaaay that is my 2 cents ;-) Let us know what you decide and how it goes!
  • Profile picture of the author jivens
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    theres a certain new game out there that is HUGE right now and NEW but would it be dumb to go broad and have a section for every game? Or maybe I should just go with the genre that this particular game is in because theres also another HUGE game in this particular genre.

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