If you were going to start another Xenforo based forum...

[Beverly Johnson]

... what would the niche or specialty of that forum be? Would you stay in the general niche of what you are doing now? Would you branch out and try something new?

How do you pick a niche for your forum(s)?

 

[Stormraven]

Hi Beverly,

My current website is dead, so I'm conspiring starting up a new site, which will be a general talk community it'll be on XenForo or course a general talk community would be something new for me as my current site is a development site, so it will be a change

 

[Vincent_imported]

Well, I'd imagine that if I had plans for a new forum I'd be not telling it

 

[Beverly Johnson]

v

Well, I'd imagine that if I had plans for a new forum I'd be not telling it

Fine! Whatever! Be stingy with your secrets.

Hi Beverly,

My current website is dead, so I'm conspiring starting up a new site, which will be a general talk community it'll be on XenForo or course a general talk community would be something new for me as my current site is a development site, so it will be a change

Oh right! OK!

Yup! Me and you will be in the same boat for forums then, considering mine is general chat.

I was talking with another forum owner the other day and he was saying how hard a general chat board is to manage.

And, i don't find that to be true.

It's just that NO ONE wants to join.

More than anything, i think the reason is that the person joining needs some over riding reason to join and post on some regular basis.

For me, the experience of being a general chat forum owner is fun but exhausting as i have to be there on the board for anyone to come by and post.

It's like they're all waiting to talk to me and that's not a real surprise cause i really do try to make a connection with each person that joins my forum.

So after awhile, it's more like a bunch of friends hanging out rather than a forum where everyone is talking at each other.

Anyway, best of luck with your venture.

Just a heads up. When i first got back into forums about five months ago, i joined two other Xenforo software based General Chat forums, both are now defunct. Both forums died for lack of real members. They had been solely relying on Postloop to get posts and that doesn't work long term. Just saying, work hard on getting real members, whatever you have to do.

For me, the forum is a full time job and that's in addition to anything else i have to do to earn money. Not easy work, but very rewarding and fun.

I've made more close personal friends than you can imagine and wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world.

 

[CycleChat_imported]

Funnily enough I've got another two forums all ready to go - XF licenses and domains acquired, server hosting setup, styling done, logos created, etc. - but I just don't have enough spare time to get them off the ground at the moment ...

I'm moving my largest forum to XF from IPB and hoping that over the next 18 months I can make my largest forum much more active and potentially earn me enough to run forums full-time. Then I can get my second forum working much better, and finally launch the third and fourth that are waiting in the wings.

I have to balance my current paid full-time job with my family commitments and running the forums. It's difficult doing all of them all of the time and I have no real downtime, but I just enjoy running forums so much and if I can make that my "living" I'd love it. (Of course trying to convince my risk-averse wife it's a good idea is an altogether different job ... )

I think that Facebook has covered the ground that "general" discussion forums once held, so nowadays you need to focus on a particular subject and dedicate your forums to it - but the key is to do it for something you know or have an interest in, or to get people on board who have a passion for the subject so that they can bring out the best in your new forums and welcome and talk with people in a knowledgeable way.

Don't forget to have a bit of fun with your forums too ... it can be hard work dealing with trolls, and spammers, and disruptive members - but remember that most people are on your site because they want to be there and they like the feel/setup. Those are the people you are working for and you can pretty much guarantee they will appreciate all the effort you put in.

Right, that's enough rambling from me - in summary: pick a subject and put the hard work in.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[iTuN3R]

Depends . I always do my homework before making any plans specially when it comes to opening new forums . It needs lots of work .

First of all i always look around the internet see the activity going on for the specific board i want to run ,demand for it,interest of people for it .

At certain part if i see atleast 40% chance of market in that subject i will step in and start working on contents first before jumping in to start forum . I would talk to certain people who might be able to help me around with few contents then give it a shot .

Also i give atleast amonth or two for little research about the forum that i am about to start .