Hi, I am looking to start a new forum, I have many ideas for the forum but theres only one thing I can't get my head around, how do you get the forum started? When it is complete and online, sure it will have topic areas and maybe a thread or two, but with no members, how does the community form, what makes the first few people register and give their input and post threads?

Ideally you need a few like minded and interested individuals, friends, family, acquaintances, customers etc.

Starting a forum in an already over-populated area without a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is a recipe for failure of course, but starting a forum in a area that isn't well served can be a good thing.

Be prepared for spending LOTS of time nurturing it for little or no return on the investment as well until it finally gets established.

I thought that when I had the idea, thanks for the advice.