I opened a forum back in may for local events, and such, and well, its going no where.

i tried an adsense campaign, but it wasn't pulling enough ROI, so i killed it.

i tried contacting a local radio station about avertising on their website, but they never even returned my email. i guess they thought i didn't have the budget they would want, or could possibly be a traffic stealer.

the site is http://ctforums.com a site for Connecticut residents.

it's basically turning into a flop.

i'm looking for ideas and suggestions on how to improve it before i can the whole thing.

appreciate any feed back.

thanks

Hi---Brian:

At first glance i notice you have alot of boards within your forum, maybe cut that down abit. Besides the radio station and adsense where or how do you currenty promote your forum?

Missy.

If I were you, i'd wait until the election season was over and buy several signs and post them at busy intersections - I've seen signs on the way out of Wal-Mart like "Flag Football League - whatever.com" and I checked it out when I went home.

Maybe you could print some business cards while you're at it and place them in newspaper boxes in your neighborhood. Maybe hire some kids to slip them under windshield wipers and under dorm room doors.

Flyer sporting events and concerts, let the city know you're there... all it takes is a few dedicated members and the rest will follow.

ALSO: this may be decietful, but make a few bait accounts and get some fake conversations going on... People are MUCH MUCH MUCH more likely to sign up to a forum if they think it's active...

ok I think that's all this time :P

i currently don't promote it at all, except in sigs on some sites i'm on, and through a myspace account that i never use. lol i racked up 300 friends, but maybe 3 or 4 joined the site...

Originally Posted by chris_

If I were you, i'd wait until the election season was over and buy several signs and post them at busy intersections - I've seen signs on the way out of Wal-Mart like "Flag Football League - whatever.com" and I checked it out when I went home.

Awesome idea! I think I'll try this for my forum.

Brian, one thing I did for my local hip-hop forum was organize a hip-hop show at a local club. I got one local newspaper to run an interview with me about the site, and even had MuchMusic cameras there taping )which ran on National TV a few weeks later).

I have to agree with Chris - I ran a similar website in the past and had a lot of good luck with the road side signs as well as having flyers passed at your local shopping centers/malls. Thing is you'd probably want to pass out the flyers at the malls after school hours as that's when the younger crowd will be there. Also around any college campus's that may be near by worked very well for me as well.



-Michael

Well, college is out of session right now, so that's not going to be very helpful. There's no one there, save for a few summer classer's, but no one really living on campus. I'd like to get a local who is still in college on the inside to help me out, but i'm having a hard time finding anyone. All my friends are old. lol

As for the signs, we have a lot of ordinances around here about signs. We aren't even allowed to hang tag sale signs on poles or anything. They are city/state property and you can/will be fined.

All election signs must be on private property (not the 2 foot strip of grass between the sidewalk and the road either--- in the owners actual lawn)

So, i don't think the sign deal is going to work so well.

I'd love to promote an event like you did with the hiphop show, but I don't really have anything to promote... I'm just a general discussion forum. What can I host? Anything, sure... but it doesn't go with the site really at all.

I don't know, i'm stumped.

Off-Line. Get some flyers out there.

i need to buy a printer.... lol

Originally Posted by briansol

i need to buy a printer.... lol

no, you need to go have them made. It is actually cheaper on you when you look at doing a bulk printing.

you mean like go to a kinko's?

I love local forums, I think they're easy to get them going. I would do it but there is already a major board in my town.

I suggest you make t-shirts and give them out on your site, maybe a contest for shirts as well. Since people will wear them, locals will see them and go to the site. Offline advertising is probably the best solution here, just post a bunch of flyers everywhere.

I also noticed that you have a music section, why don't you make a gig? It can be sponsored by you. That is probably the best way to get a local forum going because everyone is going to get their hands on the flyer for the gig, and they'll see the 'sponsored by http://ctforums.com/' and they'll probably visit.

EDIT: One more thing, make a business directory or something. I'm sure a lot of businesses from your town will submit it and start posting.

The business directory is a great idea

I am running a contest, 500 posts gets you a t-shirt. no one is even remotely close... not even me. lol

I like the gig idea... i need to get hooked up with a local band....

Stickers. This is guerilla warfare man, get those bastards! heheheh, okay but seriously. Simple stickers, find a company that can do some decent ones online, have your logo/url and just go nuts. Any public place with the most traffic you can think of. As for "the man". It wasnt you, you gave out stickers at an event it could have been anyone!

I really want to try this idea but havent had a "localized" idea built yet. I have some in the works, but my list is so long right now im still prioritizing

i used to own www.jaxforum.com (which has since gone way downhill since I sold it). It is a local forum for Jacksonville, Florida. I built it up by 100% myspace promotion. Just type in your zip code and hit search within 20 miles depending on how big your city is and add everyone like crazy. Build a specific myspace profile for your city. People will add you just because its where they live.

Advertise this website in local areas.. coffee shops, restaurants, local hangouts... etc..