How does my forum get members?

[timeman]

My forum doesn't get many members, I have advertised it and customized it and I have read the Discussion: Your ProBoard topics and I did what a successful forum would do but I don't get members, I only have 4 members at the moment.

[Former Member]

Well, I affiliate with other people's forums, advertise here, put a link to my forum in the signature of other forums (that allow it), and I personally invite some people. So far, only the signature and personal invitations have worked, so I would recommend those. Don't spam message strangers, though.

[timeman]

Mar 11, 2016 14:44:56 GMT -8 @xandalf said:

Well, I affiliate with other people's forums, advertise here, put a link to my forum in the signature of other forums (that allow it), and I personally invite some people. So far, only the signature and personal invitations have worked, so I would recommend those. Don't spam message strangers, though.

Thanks!

[Former Member]

Be careful messaging members at other boards for joining. That is considered spamming and can lead to banning.
Its hard work to get members. If you don't join and post at the affiliate board it usually takes a long time before a forum grows. Speaking from experience.

[Star's Legacy]

timeman,

[timeman]

Mar 13, 2016 14:58:17 GMT -8 charly1 said:

Mar 11, 2016 14:19:46 GMT -8 timeman said:

My forum doesn't get many members, I have advertised it and customized it and I have read the Discussion: Your ProBoard topics and I did what a successful forum would do but I don't get members, I only have 4 members at the moment.

Well thats the magic question when your running a free forum. I dont advertise, and as someone mentioned sending PMs out where you hang out will never work. I have 9 members being open for about a month now on PB. One of them is a buddy of mine, so he stops in on occasion to play the games real fast. I have no idea who the other ppl are. I guess they came from this forum. So just keep posting and stay active.

Overall, just be patient and have a bit of fun. Don't get all worked up and upset. Plug on and just be you. Don't be afraid to interact with your members. I am sure that once they get to know you and understand your personality they will make a choice as to if they wanna come hang out with you.

Don't obsess about it. Say calm and relax. If your not having fun whether you have 10 members or 1000 then you can always tweak out your format. If you belong to any Social sites and are active you can also throw your link up in your profile if you want. Thats free advertising. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to the wind. Give it time.

I had a site that had nothing for months, then all of a sudden I was getting members like crazy. I sold the site because it was more work that I wanted. Be you is the best advice I can give. People feel at home with a person that they can have a bit of fun with. A least I do. I don't like uptight Mods. Its a turn off to me if cant have fun with them. Mods are just regular people also, and if they think other wise they are on a trip and will kill a board fast.

Good advice, thank you. I only advertise on the advertising boards and I got 2 members!

I only had the forum for 20 days so I wouldn't expect so many members

[Matt]

I have a general chat forum and It's doing pretty well actually, I think it was the right choice for my forum because a General Chat forum can reach out to everyone from everywhere where people could talk about anything, I've seen some of the most popular forums being general chat forums and that is one of the reasons I thought being a general chat site would be best for my forum.

[Mandoli]

Regarding the advertisement you posted: I think the biggest thing one needs to do in their advertisement is explain what the board's about. Seeing the first sentence, timeman, is great. But what kinds of games do you talk about at your forum?

I had to look at your board to get a sense.

Instead of telling us how you're in need of members, try explaining the details about the board. "It's a recently-opened board where you can talk about video games of all sorts, and consoles of all decades." Then expand on that. I'm not saying that you have to use that, but it catches my eye.

What I said isn't meant to be rude, obviously.

[timeman]

Mar 14, 2016 17:05:16 GMT -8 Mandoli said:

Regarding the advertisement you posted: I think the biggest thing one needs to do in their advertisement is explain what the board's about. Seeing the first sentence, timeman , is great. But what kinds of games do you talk about at your forum?

I had to look at your board to get a sense.

Instead of telling us how you're in need of members, try explaining the details about the board. "It's a recently-opened board where you can talk about video games of all sorts, and consoles of all decades." Then expand on that. I'm not saying that you have to use that, but it catches my eye.

What I said isn't meant to be rude, obviously.

Thank you!

[blitzen]

Offer something unique. I too run a gaming board and struggle with members and activity as it's to common a theme for forums. Affiliate with like boards and boards totally different from yours. Make sure to have new topics in all boards for new members to reply to. Add interesting plugins. On some advertising sites you can do post exchanges; that will make your board look more active for prospective members.

[Tiffy-Bean]

Apr 5, 2016 12:22:32 GMT -8 blitzen said:

Offer something unique. I too run a gaming board and struggle with members and activity as it's to common a theme for forums. Affiliate with like boards and boards totally different from yours. Make sure to have new topics in all boards for new members to reply to. Add interesting plugins. On some advertising sites you can do post exchanges; that will make your board look more active for prospective members.

I only have 9 members but they're quality members..and since my board is a RPG forum..they usually have more then one character.  Honestly, I don't know why having too many members is much of a concern.

[blitzen]

Apr 5, 2016 13:30:32 GMT -8 Tiffy-Bean said:

Apr 5, 2016 12:22:32 GMT -8 blitzen said:

Offer something unique. I too run a gaming board and struggle with members and activity as it's to common a theme for forums. Affiliate with like boards and boards totally different from yours. Make sure to have new topics in all boards for new members to reply to. Add interesting plugins. On some advertising sites you can do post exchanges; that will make your board look more active for prospective members.

I only have 9 members but they're quality members..and since my board is a RPG forum..they usually have more then one character.  Honestly, I don't know why having too many members is much of a concern.

When you're a small forum active members are a god-send. RP forums are different and can survive with few members due to the multiple characters thing. Bit different for non-RPs where you tend to only have one account per member and if you don't have any active members then the forum is pretty much dead apart from Admin posting.

[Former Member]

I guess there are a few options:

• Affiliation
• Promoting on social media
• Advertising (guest advertising = advertise your site on another forum, and they return an advertisement of their own.
• Telling your family and members
...

I'm not really sure what else.

[William]

Be a good forum and advertise and be nice

[GingaLord]

Be patient, advertise a ton, maybe affiliate with other forums, and make sure your advertisements aren't always talking about wanting members and so on, that may irk people. I personally just learned this myself and will take it into consideration, but based on what I have been hearing, this is probably the best advice.