Well, after reading all the blog posts out there of all the successful forum owners there are, I feel confident that I know just about everything you need to know to start/run a successful forum. The reason why I don’t start one myself is 1; I don’t have the time needed and 2; it just doesn’t seem to me as an ‘easy’ way to earn money. I mean forums are great, but if you’re looking to earn a quick few thousand bucks per month in under a year, then it just isn’t the right thing for you. However on the other hand, if you do have the time, and is willing to work hard, then be prepared for an amazing income. Lee Dodd is making 5k PER DAY off of his forums. Why can’t you?
Finding your ‘Niche’
The first step of starting a new forum is finding a good niche, or ’subject’. Look for something that you enjoy and have an interest in. It can be a hobby, an object, or just about anything. Make sure that you narrow down your niche the best you can.
Example: Basketball > NBA > LA Lakers > Kobe Bryant
The lower you get, the better. This is so that you don’t have that much competition to go against when creating a new forum. Of course, you will always have competition. It’s your job now to analyze your competition after you have selected your niche. If your niche doesn’t have competition at all, then go back a step and find a more general niche.
Top your Competition!
Go on Google and search ‘[niche] forum’. Find your competition. Now, once you have found the forums that you will be going against, you have to pick the strongest one (normally the one with the most members/posts) and just explore it. Take a look around and find out what they offer, and what they don’t. Look for things such as:
- member benefits/restrictions - do they allow you to PM others? signature size(if any)? avatar size (if any)?
- moderators - are they nice, or are they strict? do they do their job? how many are there?
- contests - are they running contests constantly?
- etc, etc
Find out the negative points and the positive points. In order to top your competition, all you have to do is have everything that they have, and more :).