I love forums. I love to par tic ipate in them, and even more: I like to start them. If it weren’t for forums, I prob a bly wouldn’t have ever got ten into web devel op ment, let alone blog ging. I have ran forums in the past, and I take part in a few just about every time I go online.
The only thing with forums is that they are so hard to get an active com mu nity going with it. A lot of blog gers will have a forum as an addi tion to their blog in hopes that it will cre ate a bet ter com mu nity, or just have a forum to make them look bet ter. While a forum can maybe add a cou ple extra points to your pro fes sion al ism, they are also things that should be well thought out, and released on time.
Too many blog gers who have forums have a dead forum. Just because your blog gets a 10 or more com ments a post doesn’t nec es sar ily mean that you will get all of those com men ta tors go to your forum. I have some tips for blog gers inter ested in cre at ing a forum for their blog, because it just doesn’t help you much man ag ing a forum on top of a newly begun blog.
1. Under stand that to build your forum, you need a steady going blog
Your blog needs some traf fic; an active user base. That’s very impor tant too, because what’s the pur pose of hav ing a dead blog and a dead forums? Forums are by far one of the hard est things to pop u late online, and if you’re still at the early stages of your blog then what hope do you have for your forum? Don’t try to do both at once, take it slow and easy. Just remem ber, as I had said above: 10 com ments a post is fan tas tic, but how many of them do you hon estly think will join your forum?
2. Think of a future forum as a lifeline
A forum attached to your blog can actu ally be very use ful if you really think about it. The forum would serve as a sec ondary method of com mu ni cat ing with your read ers, and that’s an impor tant thing to have between you and your read ers. What can your read ers do for you though?
Well, con tent of course!
Yes, a forum is full of user sub mit ted con tent. While you’re away, or sleep ing, your forum mem bers will be writ ing posts on your forum. They could be ask ing you questions, or even writ ing arti cles them selves. While this is pretty unlikely for a start ing forum, it is still all some thing that can hap pen. Even if they’re not writ ing things pertain ing to your niche, they are still doing a very impor tant thing:
Cre at ing a bet ter community
Blogs have a great sys tem for the way peo ple to talk to each other, but if you were to com pare user inter ac tion on a blog against a forum, you would find that a forum beats the liv ing day lights out of blogs. Com ment ing is the main way users get across to each other on a blog, and com ment ing is really just lim ited to what cat e gory your file your post in. Then there is a forum that has really no lim i ta tions and can have any topic in it you want in it. You can get a lit tle more for mal with each other by cre at ing pro files, and get ting to know each other bet ter than you ever would through a blogs com menting system.
So, besides users hav ing a bet ter time on your site, how does cre at ing a hap pier environ ment for your read ers help you as a blog ger? The answer is pretty sim ple: with a great com mu nity comes great trust. Like I said, con nect ing with your read ers is so vital for you as a blogger.
3. Keep ing the two sep a rate: Ask your self these 5 questions
As hec tic as things can get on the Inter net, doing what’s best for each com mu nity can be a tough choice to make. Just know one thing: your forum and your blog are two totally dif fer ent things, and while one thing can be bet ter for one of them, it may not be so good for the other. I will not answer these ques tions, but you are free to answer them and post them in the com ments. I will def i nitely reflect on your answers in the comments.
How can you evenly con tribute to your blog and forum?
The obvi ous answer is to post on your forum a few times a day, and maybe your blog once a day. But believe me on this one: It is MUCH eas ier said than done. Sure, maybe 10 forum top ics and one blog post a day seems like a doable thing at first, but over time you may just start with 8 forum top ics and 1 blog post a day. Once you start that, you’re bound to keep slip ping in the numbers.
What will you need to do mar ket ing wise?
Mar ket ing a forum and a blog can require two dif fer ent mar ket ing schemes as they are dif fer ent sites. But you will find that they are not too dif fer ent, and you can in fact pro mote your forum through blog com ment ing, or your blog through forum posting.
How can you man age two dif fer ent com mu ni ties?
A blog and a forum are two dif fer ent com mu ni ties. They need to be man aged dif fer ently than each other, and one can prove to be tougher than the other. Just be able to have the patience and tol er ance to run them both (yes, tol er ance for the moments where you want to rip out your hair).
How will you con vert blog com men ta tors to forum posters, and vice-versa?
It may seem sense to you that if some one com ments on your blog, they will most likely want to join your forum. I think it is more likely for a forum poster to com ment a lit tle on your blog, but not as com mon for a blog com men ta tor to join your forum. It would pretty nice to have every one take part in both, but sadly it is a dif fi cult thing to do.
Can you find inspi ra tion from each com mu ni ties?
Do you think that hav ing a forum will help you come up with bet ter blog posts? Do you think writ ing on your blog will help you and your read ers post bet ter on the forum? It’s def i nitely pos si ble, and like I said above: A forum can be your lifeline.
I would love to hear your answers to those ques tions. Feel free to write them in the com ments and I will do a reflec tion of your answers.
4. The life span of your forum
Do you think your forum will be there for a while? Or are you just mak ing a forum as a “test ‘n see” kind of thing? Like most web pio neers, you see this new ven ture as the one that make your name huge on the web. You have so much con fi dence that your forum will be around for ever, you are just too excited to see the real ity of it all.
Your forum will prob a bly last as long as your blog, and it maybe it won’t. It’s kind of unpre dictable with things like them. But if you can get at least 3 or 4 peo ple com ing back to your forum, then you should see that adding a forum to your blog was not a bad idea.
Some thing to think about
If you fol low big blog gers like John Chow, or ProBlog ger you will notice that they don’t have a forum. They’re two very influ en tial blog gers with thou sands of sub scribers. With a com mu nity like theirs, why do you think they don’t have a forum? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one.
My opin ion is that they don’t need one. They are doing things very well already, and adding a forum to such a large com mu nity of read ers would just add to the already large work load. But that’s just me, what do you think?
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