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I have started two forums recently with one more that I am going to get started on in the near future.  I have learned a few important things too along the way, so I think that I will share them with my faithful readers.

The first and most important thing is be sure to start a forum that you know a lot about the topic.  This is a mistake that I made right off the bat with www.theebayforum.com, I didn’t realize how little I really know about Ebay when people started asking questions, and when I was trying to start threads.  It has gotten to the point where it is a huge chore for me to continue posting on the site, which is why I have decided to sell the site.  It is no good owning a site that I don’t have FUN participating in.

The second thing is that if you don’t post in your own forum no one else is either.  You HAVE to be the top poster in your forum, especially when the site is just beginning.  It is no good for you to just sit in the background and mod the site.  Who is going to start threads?  The only way for a new forum to get going is if you start the conversation and continue it.  When you start threads make them easy to reply to, and when you answer someone’s reply ask for clarification or be genuinly interested in what they said.  Try to get them to keep going.

Third ensure from the start that you have a clear TOS.  If you have a set of rules that everyone knows it is much easier to moderate the site without people getting pissed.  Nothing is a forum killer like a mod that is percieved to be over-zealous.  And once you set the rules allow for NO exceptions.  This will help you be percieved as someone who doesn’t play favorites.  Make sure that your staff knows this also.

Finely patience, you will need patience.  A forum needs constent care and attention if you are ever going to make it self-sufficient.  You are going to have to work with it every day until the point comes where you have reached a critical mass of members.  When that point is reached your forum will start to gain content with little intervention on your part, that is also the point that you will be finding more of your time will be spent behind the scenes making the site work.  Every forum has a different Critical Mass, maybe you will get 10 members right off that are posting machines and will bring all of their friends, or maybe you will have to be the main poster till you reach the 500 registered members mark because 90% of the members have made only one post.

However Good luck to everyone, and if you have the chance register at forums.bluarcade.com or www.thepartylive.com I would be happy to see you there