Steve, how did you build such a HUGE forum?

[neilward2]

Hi Steve,

Quick question...

How did you build up such a HUGE forum?! I mean, the amount of members and threads that you have is incredible.

Can you give me any tips for creating a high traffic forum offering lot's of value to my members? And how to keep my members there using the forums once they are in?

My position: I'm losing a lot of custom to PUA companies due to their huge forums, (and not to mention their huge marketing budgets too) and considering I offer coaching as opposed to training that's integral, honest and WORKS without manipulation - I really want to get these clients across to my service. I have been told that a forum will work wonders for this purpose as it will show the caring nature of what I have built and what I am still building.

I really want to revolutionise the dating industry and bring the integrity back through my company offerings. I have 4 great coaches at the moment and we all share the same vision.

Thanks for any tips as always,

[ssandra]

Neil,

Just as an FYI, Steve isn't frequenting these forums anymore.

[taylor]

The answer is obvious imo.

Ridiculously huge traffic to his blog.

The answer to how he got so much traffic: amazing well done original content given away for free.

Content is king.

[danas]

Originally Posted by taylor

The answer is obvious imo.

Ridiculously huge traffic to his blog.

The answer to how he got so much traffic: amazing well done original content given away for free.

Content is king.

I actually think its the other way around. People come to his site more for the forums than for his blogs. At the end of the day people are mostly interested in... themselves. And yes, the great blogs are what got people here originally, but the forums, with these particular categories are what got people hooked.
Without the forums I suspect his traffic would go down by 2 thirds Im guessing.
I for one dont read anyones blog but his. And I only do because I come to the forums. Im so glad though because the blogs have been life changing for me.

[SatvikBeri]

Originally Posted by danas

I actually think its the other way around. People come to his site more for the forums than for his blogs. At the end of the day people are mostly interested in... themselves. And yes, the great blogs are what got people here originally, but the forums, with these particular categories are what got people hooked.
Without the forums I suspect his traffic would go down by 2 thirds Im guessing.
I for one dont read anyones blog but his. And I only do because I come to the forums. Im so glad though because the blogs have been life changing for me.

The forum only has 46,000 registered users, total. That's what, .5% of the traffic the blog gets every month? And most of those users aren't even active.

Even if every single registered user stopped checking the blogs if Steve killed the forums, that wouldn't make a dent on his blog traffic.

Or in other words...we are the 1%!

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by SatvikBeri

The forum only has 46,000 registered users, total. That's what, .5% of the traffic the blog gets every month? And most of those users aren't even active.

Even if every single registered user stopped checking the blogs if Steve killed the forums, that wouldn't make a dent on his blog traffic.

Or in other words...we are the 1%!

I think you are confusing users, with views?

[Vaganova]

Originally Posted by ssandra

Neil,

Just as an FYI, Steve isn't frequenting these forums anymore.

Sadness! Why?

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by Vaganova

Sadness! Why?

He said he wanted to take the time he was spending here and use it off-line.

[Dimitri]

Originally Posted by neilward2

Can you give me any tips for creating a high traffic forum offering lot's of value to my members? And how to keep my members there using the forums once they are in?

I don't think you should try to make any members stay and use your forums once "they are in". Members come and go all the time, even more so on popular forums. The difference with a popular forum is that there's more traffic, which means that the amount of people who do come and go are 10x more.

It helps when the forum is a spin-off from a website or blog, like Steve's. That gives a more solid framework on which members can build upon, rather than just a bunch of empty boards that invite people to talk about different topics.

There really isn't any forum that comes pre-loaded with lots of value for its members. That's called a website, or a blog. Forum members share value between each other, which gets indexed, and to which visitors (potential members) get referred to through search engines.

Ask yourself if the world needs another forum about niche x. It sounds like other companies have already established forums in this niche, so naturally search engines are referring new visitors there.

[neilward2]

Hi Dimitri,

Thank you for your reply.

Yes this forum is definitely needed! You're right, othere forums do have this covered but as I said, there is no integrity there. I read a thread only a few days ago, entitled something along of the lines of: How to get a woman to have sex with you if she's in your bedroom and resisting/says no? Then came all the tips and tricks that some of the members had used successfully.

I find these types of threads disgusting, yet all the big attraction forums allow this to go on. Another thread was something like: would this be classed as rape or not? And loads of guys were jumping in saying, well it's risky, you'd have to claim that she agreed, etc - I see this day in and day out. Hence why I want to create my own forum based on my ethical teachings.

And I understand that threads like those mentioned above serve a purpose, mainly education and to put the initiator right, but I don't think they should be allowed - But that's just my opinion...

[wstein]

Good delegation skills and gullible but high quality moderator candidates.

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by wstein

Good delegation skills and gullible but high quality moderator candidates.

Wha ?????

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by moonrambler

Wha ?????

He means the working for free, volunteering for a for profit business, part . He did also say high quality tho.


With that said they didn't accept me.