May I pick your brain Lori??

[Anonymous]

Hi Lori,

I have some questions that I would really like some answers to.

First off, I am very interested in starting my own forum which brings me to my main question.
How do I start a forum?
Do I need to have a website before I can create a forum?
Are there any free forum sites out there like Eblogger for blogs?
How did you start this forum?
How much work do you need to dedicate to this forum per day to keep it going?
I assume that you might have some helpers or moderators to keep track of some topics?
Are there any hints, tips or tricks you could share with me?

Hope I don't overwhelm you so I think I should stop at that for now although I still have so many more questions.

Thank you much!!!
Cindy

[Lori]

Hi Cindy,

You sure can :) The forum that I use is called PHPBB and it is open source and free. Most good website hosts have it available to install with a simple click.

You do not necessarily need a website to have a forum. There are forums that just stand alone. It really depends on what you want to accomplish.

I would say that I spend about an hour a day on the forum. But most of my time is spent optimizing and promoting FreelanceMom in general. Without traffic, it wouldn't matter how much time I spent working on this forum... So you need to take that into consideration.

I do have some moderators but to date I really do most of the work here. I have one moderator who really actively looks for spam type posts and notifies me. That is a big help.

The first step for you would be to choose a domain name. Then you will need a website host. Setting up the forum is a small learning curve -- but worthwhile.

Let me know if you decide to move forward and if you have specific questions I might be able to help you with as you go along.

Thanks for joining us Cindy!

Warm Regards,

Lori

[Anonymous]

Hi Lori,

Thanx for all the info.
I did go ahead and create my forum using PHPBB as well, although I spent only a maximum of 3 hours on it, but it is at least on its way!

I do have some more questions for you though.
First of all I was wondering how you spread the word about your forum?
It certainly looks like you did something right and I only hope that I can one day do as well as you have!!

How do I promote my forum? And how did you get people to actually come and visit your forum?
I am so excited and nervous about getting my first member!!
Can you give me some advice and pointers on how to go on from here?

I was also wondering if you would mind reviewing my forum and share your opinions on what else I need to add in there.
I do still need to put more work into it and make it more inviting and personalized.
Which brings me to my other questions:
How do I get rid of the ads and forumer banner? I do not have my own banner yet and was wondering if I could just create my own and put in there instead?

I have so many more questions but I do not want to overwhelm you!! :lol:

Here is the link to my new and empty, lonely looking forum!! :oops:
http://criel2000.11.forumer.com/

Thanx a bunch!!
Cindy

[smbwallace]

What's an aboriginal business community? I love the look of the new forum and would love to join, but I wanted to make sure what it was for first!

[smbwallace]

I joined anyway and made a few posts because I love the look of the new forum! Congratulations and I hope you get lots of traffic!

[Lori]

Hi Cindy,

You did a great job! Congrats! :banana:

Networking is definitely key. Include the link to your forum in your signature line when you post in other forums. Include it as a sig on your email... Build up some back links so that you can get ranked on the search engines... You might want to start a blog that links over to your forum.

Basically, stay active, network at every opportunity and don't lose hope! It can take awhile to build traffic... After your first 100 members it seems to increase very rapidly. I had heard that and definitely found it to be true.

For tech stuff, like adding your own banner - etc... go to: http://www.phpbb.com. You'll find all the support you need there.

Also -- Remember to upgrade whenever an upgrade is possible. I've been hacked a few times :(

Good Luck!

Lori



Hi Lori,

Thanx for all the info.
I did go ahead and create my forum using PHPBB as well, although I spent only a maximum of 3 hours on it, but it is at least on its way!

I do have some more questions for you though.
First of all I was wondering how you spread the word about your forum?
It certainly looks like you did something right and I only hope that I can one day do as well as you have!!

How do I promote my forum? And how did you get people to actually come and visit your forum?
I am so excited and nervous about getting my first member!!
Can you give me some advice and pointers on how to go on from here?

I was also wondering if you would mind reviewing my forum and share your opinions on what else I need to add in there.
I do still need to put more work into it and make it more inviting and personalized.
Which brings me to my other questions:
How do I get rid of the ads and forumer banner? I do not have my own banner yet and was wondering if I could just create my own and put in there instead?

I have so many more questions but I do not want to overwhelm you!! :lol:

Here is the link to my new and empty, lonely looking forum!! :oops:
http://criel2000.11.forumer.com/

Thanx a bunch!!
Cindy