Do you think there are enough promotion forums?

[Katrina]

Yes, a lot of forums have a cash payment option to buy services. However, I do not see a lot of people willing to pay real money to buy services. I am saying this based on my experience as a staff on multiple forums.

I have been paid cash to post on forums by members here on FP. It's not a huge amount, because they have small forums. Malcolm and I are thinking bigger though for some of the services we'll be offering, not just to small forums but to other types of sites. What he does for tech and troubleshooting should be paid in cash since it's time consuming. There are people who can set up a website, but wow, once an addon causes problems, they get kind of lost. Malcolm's the guy to step in and help, for a fee.

A lot of people offer graphics for free and for money. I'm offering do not only do graphics, but also do some consulting. If a member has a graphic that he somewhat likes, but needs a professional to do some fine tuning and make it look more pro-like, I can do that. I can get paid with cash or with our credit system we're using. I'm purposely undercharging for what I'm worth to be of help to others. Back in the 1990s, I charged $25 an hour for my freelance work. Today on PF, I'm charging that same amount because I know people need to catch a break.

 

[Kale]

Yes, a lot of forums have a cash payment option to buy services. However, I do not see a lot of people willing to pay real money to buy services. I am saying this based on my experience as a staff on multiple forums.

Same here. I think some maybe afraid of getting scammed out of their IRL money.

 

[Uncrowned Guard]

I would not say that "too many" is the problem, but the fact that many of them are very small and basically just small groups of users from other promotion forums becomes the problem. Admins don't want to burn hours of time promoting their websites to the same 10 people who are either already registered or probably never going to join. This creates a snowball effect where the lack of admin activity makes it very hard to grow the small promotion forum into a site that admins want to use.

 

[Katrina]

I would not say that "too many" is the problem, but the fact that many of them are very small and basically just small groups of users from other promotion forums becomes the problem. Admins don't want to burn hours of time promoting their websites to the same 10 people who are either already registered or probably never going to join. This creates a snowball effect where the lack of admin activity makes it very hard to grow the small promotion forum into a site that admins want to use.

I just finished writing something to PGen about this, but I'll write it in here too.

As I do my research on sites for Promotion Future, those I find and encourage to post and utilize our services, could very well travel over here to FP as well. That could mean new blood for all. Think about it? FP has a tight group of members who are all on each other's sites, but there are many other forums out there that don't really know we exist. It's a possibility that the expansion of Promotion Future could benefit Forum Promotion as well and help it grow.

 

[Shortie_]

Same here. I think some maybe afraid of getting scammed out of their IRL money.

Yeah, this does seem to be something many are worried about. I feel that if you gain the trust of people and they know you will not scam. It can help greatly but it does take time.

 

[Jay™]

We all know forums are tough as it is especially with summer coming many will spend their time offline and outside, I think promotion forums like PF & FP need to work together to keep forums going.

 

[Kale]

We all know forums are tough as it is especially with summer coming many will spend their time offline and outside, I think promotion forums like PF & FP need to work together to keep forums going.

Honestly doesn't matter what time of year it is IMO. Forums have just slowed down dramatically and it honestly shows on a lot of forums I visit nowadays. 🙁

 

[Uncrowned Guard]

I just finished writing something to PGen about this, but I'll write it in here too.

As I do my research on sites for Promotion Future, those I find and encourage to post and utilize our services, could very well travel over here to FP as well. That could mean new blood for all. Think about it? FP has a tight group of members who are all on each other's sites, but there are many other forums out there that don't really know we exist. It's a possibility that the expansion of Promotion Future could benefit Forum Promotion as well and help it grow.

You have a solid goal and I have no doubt that you can pull it off and I guess my post sounded pretty negative, but that wasn't the exact goal. 😅

Mostly the concern and problem that I see most new promotion forums get into is that it is quite the hurdle to break into that new user group. If it is achieved and with enough dedication it will be achieved, then everything is great! But many (probably most) struggle to stay focused for the long period of slow growth and often collapse before breaking into their goal.

Teamwork is often key, but that self determination to succeed is what often tops everything.

 

[Katrina]

You have a solid goal and I have no doubt that you can pull it off and I guess my post sounded pretty negative, but that wasn't the exact goal. 😅

Mostly the concern and problem that I see most new promotion forums get into is that it is quite the hurdle to break into that new user group. If it is achieved and with enough dedication it will be achieved, then everything is great! But many (probably most) struggle to stay focused for the long period of slow growth and often collapse before breaking into their goal.

Teamwork is often key, but that self determination to succeed is what often tops everything.

I totally agree with all of that! 😀

 

[Reverie]

If it was possible to find new groups of people some how with a different amount of promotion forums I think that would be great... but I think we really just recycle members and at some point it doesn't become very advertise-y but just the same people joining everyone's forum and then disappearing lol.

I don't have a solution to it, but I think 3-4 promotion forums depending on the angle would be enough. If they focused on a certain different area it would be cool and I also think manageable.

- one coming from a webmaster perspective
- a design perspective
- a member base perspective
- packages/posting trades

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I think any niche can have another forum but you need to look at your competition and ask yourself if you can compete.

So FP would be your competition. Could you compete with something like this forum? I was staff here for a little while and I totally understand how dedicated the team is here.

Don’t take this as being discouraging but you’d have to be just as good at your competition and then try to be better after that.

 

[Nomad]

Same here. I think some maybe afraid of getting scammed out of their IRL money.

People have already spent a lot of money creating a website and they might not be comfortable spending additional money for these services. By the way, I do not spend money on software, I use open source, so my starting costs are small. Therefore, sometimes I buy services with real money.

 

[Etini Willie]

Promotion forums are not that saturated. I think in my foray on the internet, have come across only two forums dedicated to promotion. It is a good niche to venture into.