Starting a webforum: technology, time, and monetization resources

[robert slack]

I am considering creating a forum for technical writers but I have some questions about what I should expect.

My aim with this forum is not to make a lot of money. I think of this forum primarily as an opportunity to build my network and to create an audience for some ebooks I intend to write.

With that being said, I do believe that I can improve on the discussion boards that already exist.

To help me figure out if it's going to be worth my time, I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on the following:

• Technology: Can anyone recommend user friendly tools for managing a web forum? I am at the very initial stages and would welcome even the most basic advice.
• Level of effort: In your experience, how much time should I expect to devote to routine maintenance? Again: this effort is primarily about marketing. My time is limited and I need to be mindful of my opportunity costs.
• Monetization resources: You can find a lot of advice online about how to convert eyeballs to dollars, so it makes sense to talk to the professionals (you!) for advice on who to trust.

Any help you can provide would be most appreciated!

 

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[treinjapan]

Hey man! Good on you to get something started. I haven't done any research into whether or not those kinds of forums exist or not already, so I can't say whether or not you have a good audience or not, I'll leave that up to you.

As for forum software, this forum, and most big forums use vBulletin. I'm in the process of starting my own forum as well. I'm far from technically advanced, but I've found out that vBulletin is more customizable and flexible, though you have to pay for a license.

Regarding maintenance, it really depends on how big your forum is and what kind of servers you're running on. When you're still small, you'll be able to get away with cheaper hosting on a shared server, but once things get big and out of control, you'll need your own servers, and you'll need to know what you're doing on the technical side, unless you're willing to pay to have people running things for you. IMHO, the time expenditure will come in developing your forum's culture and moderating posts and threads and stuff.

The general consensus on monetizing, is that you should avoid the big Adsense-type banners and stuff. Most people are perplexed by their processes, and prefer to work out an agreement on their own with a company that would be willing to buy the ad space for a monthly fee. That's not to say money can't be made with adsense, it's just not very much in your own control.

Traffic is the most important ingredient though!

 

[PatrickP]

Getting a forum up and running can be done by paying some a fairly small amount. Less than $100 for sure. As for maintenance just about zero.

Monitizing, hard to say without knowing more about the forum.

As far as getting people on a forum well it is just like a business IS there a NEED for this forum you are thinking about? The vast majority of forums fail to even get 1000 members and die off within a year or so.

 

[robert slack]

Thanks for this information! It's really helpful!

 

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