I've gone through this at least five times, and I think I might be trying too hard to force it into something it's not. To explain, when I embarked on this journey in the early to mid-2000s, I believed that building a community would be straightforward. However, I've come to realize that it's far from the easy task I had envisioned. I once had a somewhat successful community, but after losing all the data, I never recovered from that devastating blow. The question then is, how would you manage such a situation, and how would you promote a site after all its data has been lost?
Virtually everyone had to start their communities from scratch following the Zetaboards-Tapatalk fiasco years ago... even I was caught up in it after creating a forum (The Lightweb) months before that announcement from the backstabber that was Brandon. However, I took a different approach and made a new community instead, which is what I have now.
Every time I start a community, I dive deeper into customization, development, coding, and everything in between. With each new project, I learn something more on the technical side. Community management, on the other hand, tends to follow familiar patterns, but now and then, I pick up a new insight that proves useful. I’m not without my flaws, and I’ll be the first to admit it. But I’ve learned that this work requires dedication. You have to be passionate, or you might struggle to keep going. It’s not easy, and every day brings its own set of challenges. What makes the difference is surrounding yourself with the right people, seeking support, and pushing beyond your comfort zone. Ultimately, it’s the daily grind and persistence that keep things moving forward.
Oh man this is such a great question! I haven't owned my own forum in over 10 years and LOTS has changed with forums so there is a lot that I would do differently.
Firstly, I would take a lot more time in the set up phase. In the past I was so eager and excited to have my forum up and running that I didn't spend enough time setting it up or preparing.
Secondly, I would promote it more frequently. When I had my forum years ago, social media wasn't as predominant as it is now. Not only would I promote and advertise on more platforms, I would promote and advertise more often.
Thirdly, I would create activities, contests and events a lot more frequently. It really does help encourage members to stay active and it makes non-members want to sign up to be part of the fun =)
I would set up a high budget and hire good content creator to create topics on my forum. If I have good topics, I might be able to encourage people to join and also get search traffic. I will start by investing in content development
