Is it bad to build a forum on a genre that is overused?
Welcome to my first article. I am going to tell you about myself as I hope to become a regular blogger. I am a web year old web developer, that loves the color blue hehe! I am 23 an I live in New Zealand.
I have run many different forums in the past, and I too have had trouble trying to create forums that are on overused genres. So if you're wanting some tips, just reply to this blog post. :)
Many a day I have seen people ask questions which typically refer to building a forum on a over saturated genre. I am here to tell you my thoughts.
Is it a bad idea?
If you have no experience - yes. If you do have experience, then the more the merrier. If you have the right ideas and have a way to make your forum stand out, then it will have a higher possibility of working, and may get even more active than bigger forums in the same genre.
Many think that using a specific forum software will help. This is not the case. I have seen XenForo forums die within a short time. That is hundreds of dollars down the sink.
I have also seen a lot of free forum software built forums get more active, because they have a decent theme, or may have a team of volunteers who help keep the peace.
Just because you may not have the money to build a forum using a paid software, does not mean you will end up with an inactive forum. Believe me, if you tell yourself the negatives items, such as having an inactive forum, or that you have not got the right experience, many times your negative thinking will lower your confidence and motivation, and it will be you who will end up causing the forum to go inactive. Not anyone or anything else.
What genres are overused?
Many genres are overused. General Discussion and Promotion Forums are the most overused. That being said, there are allot of really good promotion and general discussion forums out there, such as Wober, Forum Promotion, and more. These owners have the confidence they need, as they do not think of negative things.
How do I promote a forum that is in a overused genre?
Do it the normal, typical way, but word of mouth is the best form of promotion. If you make a Facebook page, invite each and every one of your friends to the page, then run a small contest where someone can get a small reward, by referring the most people to the page. This will only work if you continue to post a decent amount of posts to the Facebook page. Latest topics, news and more often help.
What do I need to make my forum become popular?
First of all, your forum will not become popular overnight. Yes, there will be days where it will seem dead, but if you continue to let it go dead by not advertising it, or trying to start new content yourself, then it will become like many of the other millions of forums in the same genre. You also need to have allot of support behind you - try to get your online friends to back you up. Most of the time your friends will stick by you on the forum more than your new members will, as they want to see your idea flourish. With that, you will need to let it run it's course.
The moral of the story is go for it. If you're not sure if it's going to work, post your ideas to Forum Promotion members on the forum. And just because a forum software is paid does not mean that it will succeed.
