Is running a forum worth it?

[bensd]

Found a gap in the market for a forum and also found a suitable domain.

Would appreciate any advice/tips from users who run their own forum(s).

 

[Admin]

You would have to be mad, don't do it.

It can be a thankless task and it's not a good way to make money relative to the time and effort inputted. In my opinion, it only makes sense if its a niche you have a strong and direct interest in yourself. It will more likely be a labour of love than anything else so it really depends on what you mean by worth it... if you mean will you get sufficient financial rewards for the investment of money and time you put into it...probably not! Sorry! In addition to that it is phenomenally difficult to start a forum from scratch and create critical mass (exceptions are when you start it in a niche that has pent up demand and has no current forum provision).

 

[tifosi]

It's tough going. Had a popular music one we sold a couple of years ago. Needs dedication and not a little technical expertise to make a go of it and even more to make it pay for itself.

It's a bit like having a dog...

 

[Adam H]

Depends on what you consider "worth it" , it has its merits but ultimately it depends on what you wish to get out of it. There are two sides to financial gain when it comes to forums, you're either building for a future sale which is sometimes handsome and is what I personally focused on over a monthly profit....... or your doing it for the monthly revenue from the outset with the vision of keeping it long term and building a "community" with the prospect of harnessing that community to make another site profitable.

Both would have different plans from the get go on how to construct and tackle certain obstacles, not only that but how you present your self as the face of the site. Bear in mind the glory days of huge sales of forums are a couple of years behind us now, they still happen but its few and far between and the forum networks have really slowed their purchasing down to specific niches instead of free for all purchasing.

If you've never ran a forum before and you chose to do so then id strongly encourage you to do it in a niche and topic you are passionate about because it will fast become a burden if its not giving you any kind of return, unless you've got decent funds to throw everything at it but then you run into the situation of regaining those funds in a reasonable time scale.

Its harder work, more time involvement from yourself and more expensive to run and maintain (especially if you consider your time expensive) but if you like it.........it's worth while and worth the effort.

 

[bonusmedia]

Is there a forum for forum owners?

I've tried and failed to build a few forums/communities, it's bloody hard work and probably harder now than ever when comment sections and facebook and twitter integration are everywhere.

I think you need a really motivated audience of people who are either mildly obsessed or professionally interested - Admin is probably onto a good thing with Acorn because there is a real commercial angle

BTW I have ForumSoftware.co.uk going cheap

 

[spiderspider]

Is there a forum for forum owners?

Yeah, not sure if Admin would appreciate me mentioning one here.... but 3 letter smaller name of the Tasmanian Devil should give you a good start on Google.

Starting a forum is an absolute balls ache. You either need to have loads of contacts in a niche, or have loads of post ideas to get it going. Then there is the on going hassle with spam account, people falling out, keeping the forum active...... Imagine you have to start afresh every single day, that's roughly the first year.

When starting form new, consider do you do all the posts as Admin, or have a load of accounts that you post from, and interact with? Do you buy in posters, or let it build organically?

The other option is to buy a forum. Even if its not for sale, unless and admin loves the forum, they have a price. However, being a new Admin is never easy, look what we did to Steven in his first few days but I think we've educated him now

Personally, sold all mine, or let them drop. However I am still looking at a few that 'may' be for sale..... getting the itch again after not having one for a few months.

 

[Adam H]

Personally, sold all mine, or let them drop. However I am still looking at a few that 'may' be for sale..... getting the itch again after not having one for a few months.

That itch never seems to go away, Ive sold off a couple of times now and every time I get tempted by something thats either too good to refuse or the desire to cause myself a headache