[Mike]

I remeber vaguely a thread somewhere about forums but cant find it so thought id ask

I have a forum, a small one atm I admit, and Im struggling to get it "self sufficient" (www.organiclinker.com/forums)

does anyone have any general tips? tricks advice?

Im sure many members would/could benefit from the advice, and also id be pleased too

Thanks all

[Alvin]

Hi Mike like the site and the idea behind it.

I can only advise you work on the SEO side.

Sure there are other's on here with much more helpfull advise.

Alvin

[Scottscd]

You need to make the forum artificially self-sufficient until it becomes self-sustaining.

What this means is that you have to create an active community and then begin marketing to receive targeted visitors who will see the active community and sign-up to participate. If you don't do this then it doesn't matter how many targeted visitors you send to the forum because once they see the community is dead without active discussion, they will leave.

Round up as many friends/associates and family members as possible to actively participate in the forum. Once you have a stable base of activity you should then begin actively marketing it via direct marketing methods, member referral systems, word-of-mouth etc. It's an uphill struggle but persistence is key.

Hope this helps.

[Mike]

Thanks both, appreciate the time to have a butchers

[Dotwhack]

Might be worth you contacting a member on here caled Chubster - he's recently launched a pet forum. He must have encountered these problems to begin with...

[Mike]

thanks, Ill try and find him and give him a poke