Gilberto Cintron On Starting A Forum

Have you ever visited an forum online, one that is active and the members are very engaging. One that you liked because of the sense of community you experience while there?

Have you ever visited an online forum where everyone seemed to be trying to one up each other, where there was no sense of community and everything seemed chaotic?

Have you ever thought about running your own forum, and now you think you may be ready to take the plunge?

Online forums are very popular, and for good reasons.

They are a way of
• acquiring new members or customers,
• good advice,
• solid information or support,
• they are a great place to market your products and/or services.

But, have you stopped to think about what it takes to get a forum up and going? To start a forum is one thing, anyone can do it. However, to set up a successful forum, one that people enjoy comming back to, where they sort of feel at home, a sense of community, that requires planning, patience, research, and more patience.

Ask anyone that runs an online forum if it is or is not a satisfying or profitable venture and inevitably they will answer yes. Running your own online community can be very fulfilling and, if done right, quite lucrative. However, launching an online forum is also a very difficult thing to accomplish. Most visitors to "just launched" forums will not stay to engage or become members to what they see as a quasi community without any consistent movement.

There are at least five basic reasons why people seek out online forums:

• to ask questions or seek advice
• to answer questions or give advice
• to get support or gain recognition or status
• to collaborate with others on projects or to play games
• to drum up business or acquire new customers (or subscribers/members).

If we consider that these are the main reasons that forums exist, then we can understand why no one stays - no one likes taking advice from themselves. While the majority of online forums continue to be free, there are more private, paid membership type forums coming online every day. So the million dollar question becomes, how does one launch and establish a sustainable, thriving online community?

A forum is, after all, a community and starting a new community, online or offline for that matter, takes time to build up. But, while it is true that a forum is a community, a community is not a forum.

As stated above, people tend not to join "empty" inactive forums. In fact, one of the key factors in having a successful web-based community is, ACTIVITY! Since there are so many forums on any given topic online these days, people have plenty of choices. Why would they choose to join an empty or inactive forum? The logical thing is for them to join an online community that they perceive to be successful. In most instances they join the forums that have a larger membership base, are much more active, and have a greater number of interesting posts. Remember, people seek out forums because of a need; either they are searching for a specific resource, they want advice, or they need support (emotional, or otherwise).

The bottom line is that no matter the reason, a successful forum requires human participation and interaction.

There are many good forum software packages available today. Most are free to use, others require payment- (click here for a list.)

Additionally, there are many plugins (i.e., software designed to extended the capabilities of the original forum software package), and themes, (i.e., templates to change the look and feel of your forum) to make a forum just the way you like it. Contained within this site are articles, blogs, and forum post made by others that address just about every aspect of starting a successful online community/forum. Please peruse these pages to find the information you need to help you decide if starting a forum is right for you. Feel free to use our tools, read our resource list, and join our community.

Forum Starters is here to help you get your community started in the right way. There are additional resources available in our blog. Use it to post your experience, both positive or negative, with starting your forum. Please we especially want to hear from those that have attempted to start an online community forum and just could not seem to get it going.

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