The,Free,Forum,Guide,How,Start DIY The Free Forum Guide: How to Start an Online Forum

When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in

Toget this project started, you'll benefit by having a clear plan laidout for each step of the process. For this illustration, we're goingto assume a very limited budget where most tasks, if not all, will beperformed by you. The steps you may consider mapping out are asfollows;softwareselectionfindinga hostsetup& configurationcontentcreationforumcustomizationforummarketingsupportSoftwareTobegin, you'll need to choose a software solution for your forum.While building an online discussion community can be an empoweringexperience, it can also get unnecessarily complicated. Howcomplicated will depend largely on the software you choose. Assumingwe're working with a tight budget, there are basically two options;either use “open-source” forum software that will still requireinstallation, configuring and hosting, or, find a reputable freeforum hosting service. Themost popular open-source software applications are probably phpBB andMyBB; SMF also deserves a mention. While these are excellent productswith a wide variety of designs and options, the fact remains theymust be downloaded, installed, hosted and configured before you caneven use them.Keepin mind, with limited resources, the key to building a successfulforum is to stay focused on the most productive tasks. If you're moreinterested in building a thriving community than sharpening yourprogramming skills, then a reliable, free forum hosting service isthe more practical choice. Theprimary benefit of using a free forum hosting service is that all thebusiness of managing, updating and securing the forum is done foryou. You'll never have to deal with database issues, security issues,debugging issues, hosting fees, etc. Moreover, in choosing a forumhosting service, the “setup & configuration” responsibilitiesmentioned above will largely be reduced to making a few customizationtweaks to your new forum. ContentWiththe setup issue addressed, let's talk about content. Content is thelife-blood of every forum and, in the beginning, every new forum is adry lake bed of content. If you've created relevant, original contentin the past for other purposes, consider “re-tasking” it andposting it to your new forum. Topical research, blog posts, articles,newsletter contributions are all fair game for re-posting.Further,any research you've done can be of great interest to others and canalso have significant Search Engine Optimization (SEO) value.Consider posting the results of relevant topic-specific research. Any time you spend searching for answers on the web, take note ofeverything you find (links, facts, statistics, etc), and post that ascontent. These hard-earned tidbits of information can often be ofgreat value to others. Later, as your forum gains momentum, the soloquest for new content will diminish as your community will naturallythrive.CustomizationTypically,once you've set up your forum, it is easy to customize. If you'vecreated a forum using one of the solutions mentioned above, findingan abundance of free “skins” and themes to personalize itshouldn’t be difficult. Forum themes are easily applied to mostpopular forum software and installation instructions are usuallyreadily available. MarketingWiththe recent updating of Google's search algorithm (Panda/Penguin),content has become synonymous with marketing. Good content = goodmarketing. Keep in mind, to be SEO friendly, content should bekeyword rich. Beyond good content, marketing your new forum willrequire reaching out to the community. Send invitations to everyoneyou know who might be interested (but don't spam!). Also, considerasking experts in your field to participate in relevant threads. Iftimed correctly (when thread participation is high), experts willoften jump at the chance to share their views and promote themselves.Experts are often a big attraction and you might be surprised by thenumber of people who stop by your forum to chat with a “celebrity”in your field. SupportTheone indispensable aid every aspiring forum administrator needs is afriendly, knowledgeable support community. In fact, the expertise andhelpfulness of the support community should be one of the keydetermining factors for choosing the right forum software solution.Regardless of which software solution you choose, be sure to visitand spend some time in the support community forum before committingto your decision. For a sample of a highly regarded, well establishedsupport community, visit http://support.proboards.com,create an account and navigate through a few threads. Remember, eventhe most experienced forum administrators sometimes have questions! SummaryTorecap; building an online community takes time and planning. Whendone correctly, it can generate tremendous satisfaction and benefitto you as the forum owner. Whether you follow all the steps outlinedabove or not, do yourself this favor; plan before you build. Having aclear picture of the objective before you begin will dramaticallyincrease the probability of realizing it.