What it takes to create and run a successful forum

Ok, I bet a lot of people are wondering how it is even possible to run a successful forum. Well, one key word that I would like to throw out there is dedication. I'm not sure if you guys know what that exactly means, so let me explain it for you. Better yet, let me explain it to you and incorporate it into the process of creating and running a forum.

The first part of this process is coming up with an idea. An idea that you have an interest in, and are willing to dedicate time to create. Now, when I say dedicate time to it, I do not mean spend many hours on, but rather time that fits your schedule and is substantial to get the job done. Lets say the forum you want to create is about basketball. Does that mean that you just set up a forum on basketball right away and decorate it with all basketball stuff? Sorry, but no. You have to make it so you can attract a large community. This takes time people, it's not something that can just be done in one day (like homework ). You first have to come up with a name that you think will be memorable, then see if there is an interest in it, then get some people to help you run it (this step is not necessary, but I suggest it), and finally you can create your forum. Don't worry about decorating your forum until later.

So once you have this idea, you have to actually create the forum. But like I said above, there are steps you should take before you do this. After you followed those steps, you can create the forum. Now I know some people, like me, are tempted to add like 30 forums before anyone else even registers. There are also those people who are too lazy to even do anything. Well, what you need to do is create as few forums as possible (like 5-10) so that all areas are covered. This way, you are prepared for if the posting in your forums becomes "off-balanced" (meaning some forums have like 1 post while others have 30). When you create the forums, be original and don't just copy the format of another forum because that never works (trust me, I've tried). The skin you should have first should mainly be generic, but you should add like a banner which does match that skin. Also, when you design the forum, make sure it looks professional. If that means you have to get someone to make the banner, images, and skin for you, so be it (yet make sure they will do it and not leave you hanging...annoy them until the task is done). Another thing you should do is set the member groups. I'd keep it generic, but you don't have to. And don't expect a lot of people to join just because you have 100 member groups (really, it's not worth it...very few people care about that stuff unless they get something out of it). The last thing you should do is that your forum is ready for the people. That means delete the default post, make sure the general settings are all fixed, etc. After you have done all of this, now you are ready to officially get your staff.

Your staff should consist of people who share the same amount of interest as you do. They should have an exceptional amount of knowledge as well as be dedicated enough to be active on the site. I find this part one of the hardest because it's not easy to do this. A lot of you will just post in a support forum and expect to get staff members in days. Hahaha, I wish that did work, but it doesn't. You have to communicate with these staff. I suggested earlier in this post to have a few people to help you out with creating and running your forum, and here is why. Those few people should be, to a great extent, in contact with you (like every day). They can help you get more people. You have to go onto other sites and/or meet new people who have an interest in this kind of stuff. From there, you should be communicating with them frequently. This is a very time consuming process, as in it may take weeks or months even, but it's worth it. I suggest you get them all together in like a chat room or something to talk to all of them as a whole before you start your forum. Oh, and the number of staff you have shouldn't be a lot, but enough in your opinion to get the job done and no more. Once you have done all of this, you should feel really close to being done. And you are.

The next step is to have what I call a "preview opening". This means that you have to get even more people who share an interest in what the forum is all about. Now what's makes this part easier than the previous one is that these people don't have to have an extensive amount of knowledge on what the idea/theme of the forum is, but they should have some interest. That way, they can start posting and make it look active. Staff members should make a few posts total to "break-the-ice" (meaning the entire staff should have made no more than 5 posts). You should get at least 50 people (the more, the better). I suggest like 75 people, the vast majority being very active. Yet how to get these people is the tricky part. You aren't opening this forum to the public yet, so don't even think about advertising. Just find people who would be interested in being a part of your forum community. Also, don't make your main method of obtaining these other people by pming other people on other sites or posting on other sites. Just do it using by getting your staff to ask their friends if they are interested and tell them to spread the word through this "friend network". Friends are always the way to go in my opinion.

Now, after there is actually an active community, where there is a significant amount of posts per day (15-20 at the very least), then you can start publicizing your forum. Get some advertising images and affiliate images made. Spread the word. Do what ever will attract more members. I consider this the fun part because it only gets easier from here. One suggestion I want to make here is to not go "over-the-top". This includes: advertising more than once on a site, trying to get yourself on your local news advertising your site by a well-known place, etc. Nothing crazy like that. Just pace yourself. Patience is key. You will know that this will pay off after you have like 500 members because from then on, members will be coming to your site automatically (such as they may have found you on a random search or something). Just keep that in mind.

Now that you have gotten this big forum, you should feel happy. Yet that doesn't mean the site will run itself for many years. No way. The first year or two are the preliminary years, meaning that it's the time when the forum is hot. Yet, there will be times in the future when you will experience a time where activity won't be as high anymore, and that could be due to a numerous amount of factors. My suggestion here is to update (meaning add something new to let your community know that your forum is still at it's prime) your forum every so often. Going back to my first paragraph where I said that dedication is important, I mean that you cannot take shortcuts. You must stick with your forum the entire time. I know you have busy schedules, but this really should not interfere with your schedule anyways. You should be doing this at your own pace (yet not too slow). Motivation always helps in that you, your staff, and your community won't get bored of the site. Time is important because rushing into things won't accomplish your goal of creating and running a successful forum. You must be able to set some time to do all of this. But if you are limited to a certain point where you don't think you can do this by yourself, have a co-administrator. Keep this in mind, and hopefully you will have a successful forum if you don't already have one.

Other tips:

• Originality doesn't hurt. Anything from the forum skin to the name of the forum is better when it is original
• Finding out what the majority of the community/staff would like as you are updating your forum will let them know that your community is definitely worth being a part of.
• There is such thing as forum manners. What it does is that it makes your forum run smoothly with as little problems as possible. Make a set of rules that the community, the staff, and you of course, should go by.

Well, hope this helped you guys. This is really the only advice I can think of right now. And this is not my last blog post. My future blog posts may not always be about forums and stuff though. Please comment!