If you're not planning to invest...
- Thread starter The Elite
- Start date
juststeven
Madly Diligent
You think everyone has 500$ just to throw around? Just because you might be spoilt doesn't mean everyone else is.
My main concern would be the reliability and speed of the server used to host the forum. As I have seen very slow ones on paid and free hosting.
There is nothing worse for a forum member, than a slow loading forum or one that is down a lot, regardless of whether it was free/paid.
Using a TLD is far better - but users being able to find your site is more important.
There is nothing worse for a forum member, than a slow loading forum or one that is down a lot, regardless of whether it was free/paid.
Using a TLD is far better - but users being able to find your site is more important.
I have not put 1 penny of my own money into websites, every single thing has been bought from money I have earned online. 🙂
Im not saying that forums cant get anywhere if there is zero investment, quite the opposite but investing a few bucks in a domain name is not much to ask, is it? 🙂
Im not saying that forums cant get anywhere if there is zero investment, quite the opposite but investing a few bucks in a domain name is not much to ask, is it? 🙂
The Elite I respect your thoughts and agree a lot with what you have to say, Although this time 1 and a half years ago I opened a forum on Forumotion, I did no exchanges kept the NAMEHERE.forumotion.com domain for the whole time, It did really, really well for a forum not that old. It got hacked within 6 months but in that time I got 9k+ posts hardly any of them from me and the only thing I did to get that was hard promotion no money spent. I know free hosts and sub domains are not the best and I know that the fact I was on Forumotion caused the hack to be a easy as it was but it did quite well from NO money invested in it at all.
fiona1964 said:
That I have and as I will state again....
I have huge respect for The Elite and a lot of the things he says I highly agree with. He is a massive contribute to the forum world and he is one of the top dog admins at this forum. Although this is one and the only thing so far I disagree with him on.
Jon12345 said:
Bazzinga! Why invest time and not invest $5 into a TLD or $1 into paid hosting.
Fullmoon said:
Lasted 7 years? So, no offence but any forum can last 7 years, doesn't mean their successful. "Not everyone has means to pay for domains, hosting". You're on the internet, and yet you cannot all of a sudden afford a TLD or paid hosting? Don't bring age into this, I started www.runegear.net at the age of 15, just 1 month after I turned 15, look at it now.
StevenF50 said:
That's the difference between you and I, what you see as successful, I may see as failure. Please link me to these "huge forums". Mind you, a successful forum isn't decided by it's post count, it's decided by it's traffic.
Spudster said:
Started is different to stayed. They may have started on a free host, but I assure you, they would have gotten NO WHERE on a free host.
StevenF50 said:
Implying that you need to invest $500.
$8 - Domain
$4x12 = $48 - 1 year hosting
1 year hosting 50% coupon, $24. $32 for a website for a year.
ShadyX said:
Thank you! All the money I've invested ($2k+) is from the money I've earned online/
GAF said:
As you said, you got hacked because you were on a free host. That chance would have decreased if you were on a paid host (a reliable one). Furthermore, what you may see as successful, I may see as a failure. For me, If I don't achieve 25k-35k posts a month on my forum, I will deem it as failing.
Kevin X Dragon
Paragon
Forums without Professional host and TLD could be successful few years ago, but now days Professional host and TLD are the minimum things a forum need to be successful.
Professional host and TLD can cost you $50 (Hawk Host cheapest package + TLD) a year. The lowest minimum wage in the US is $5.15, and even with low amount you can get $50 in about 10 hours.
If you do not have real life job then work online. Average amount of people pay per post is $0.05 and with 1,000 posts you can have $50. If you are good graphic designer then use your skills to get money.
Professional host and TLD can cost you $50 (Hawk Host cheapest package + TLD) a year. The lowest minimum wage in the US is $5.15, and even with low amount you can get $50 in about 10 hours.
If you do not have real life job then work online. Average amount of people pay per post is $0.05 and with 1,000 posts you can have $50. If you are good graphic designer then use your skills to get money.
TheElite said:
Wow, How Ignorant and Arrogant are you!?!
Ever thought that maybe PARENTS pay for the internet?!?!!?
No..... any forum can not last 7 years. It takes patience and most of all a community. The most important thing of a forum is its community.. Doesn't matter if you have paid or have run it completely free. If you don't have a community there is no forum.
Age has much to do with this, so I will bring it into it thank you very much.
Parents pay for the internet in most circumstances, then kids use it. Some people don't have the means to pay.
What do you class as successful? How far do you raise the bar? Everybodies idea of successful is different. Personally I don't want to become a forum administrator as a job, my forum is my hobby, My success is in my members, I don't earn a penny out of my hobby do you call that unsuccessful?
Maybe I came into this at the wrong time because when I first discovered forums there was only huge forums around... the official sites and some unofficial sites .... they were the 'successful' ones. They made the money ... I had no intention of making my site like that... all I wanted was a place for people to come and discuss metal bands and the genre. I wanted to meet fellow metalheads. I SUCCEEDED. Success can go as high as you personally make it.
D
Deleted member 7467
Let's cool it down a bit guys. Debating about something is welcome but don't make it too heated :3
Spazmatic said:
I don't have $500 to throw around. I'm on disability benefits, and I have to watch how many hours I work and watch how much money I'm making. If I ever work over my limit on hours, which is 20 hours a week tops, not counting weekends, then I'm in trouble. When we first starting fighting to get benefits at all, the SS people (Social Security) thought that I'd be able to hold down a 40 hour a week job. Fat chance right there. I have a heart condition, so I tire out easily, I was diagnosed with asthma last summer, which brings about more limitations. It's just stupid it's what it is.
The bottom line is, I don't have $500 to throw around as far as running a forum goes. I haven't invested even a penny on my site. In fact, I'm in an affiliation agreement with my host: I put their banner on my site and that's payment enough. Ash has been very thoughtful and generous to me. Not just with the technical end of things, like installing mods and themes, but he's also helped me out financially as well. In fact, he even said that should he decide to close his host, whether it was an expected closure or not, he said he would still back me up financially 100% just like he has been doing. I can never repay him for what he's done for me this last year and I'm truly grateful for it.
So even if you can't afford a thing, as long as you got time, energy, and someone willing to back you up in all aspects of running a forum, you CAN make your dream of running a successful forum a reality. I am actually living proof of this: I don't trust online shopping, and my limitations to how many hours I can work and how much money I earn are tighter than a nail, I'm living proof that even if you can't make ends meet on your own, you still can make it work one way or the other.
Like other posters, I too have seen successful forums in my time that don't have a TLD, are using a free software and maybe even a free host. It's called being grateful for what you have. Some people should be thankful that there are any free hosts to go by at all..Heck, if all hosts were paid, unless people were seriously lucky and can afford such a thing, you sure wouldn't see many forums being advertised, that's for sure.
Sorry, but the financial part upset me, so I had to rant about it.
Also, age is not an excuse either. If you're very young, you just have to convince your parents to open a paypal account. Not even put money into the account, just open one. This is what I did when I was ten. I worked my ass off posting for money, and back then it was VERY cheap labour.. around 1 cent per post. That's how I got a domain name. I even used the money to buy hosts, and host contests. So if your young, it's not an excuse..
Fullmoon said:
There is an alternative. Make a deal with someone, post in his forum and in return he will buy you a domain (You can see lot of such offers in FP marketplace). Find a reliable post 2 host, post and get a hosting plan. Start with a free Forum software like phpBB, MyBB, SMF (which you use for your Fourm).
Do you think its really tough? I don't support Elite's "money investment" concept and i don't support your "start with free host concept". Just put your efforts in it, instead of money. For about 600 posts an year, you can pay for both hosting and domain.
If its so easier, then why should someone go with the lazy way of starting with a free multiforums host? And not trying to offend you, but for a 7 year old forum, you have only about 45,000 posts, which isn't denoting success. Your theme looks nice and your categories selection looks nice. If you started on a proper domain and host on first place, you would have got atleast 300k posts by now.
^ Maybe I want a small community, Maybe I dont want a massive forum. This is my hobby not my life.
I spend maybe an hour a day on HH. Back when I started I was on my own, I didn't have the resources till about 3 or 4 years ago to have a better site.
I may only have a small amount of posts but people like my forum and they keep coming back everyday, They've stayed loyal to the forum even after the recent problems i've had with hackers and other stuff. so to me that is success. I'm rather proud of my 45,000 posts.
I started from scatch and built my way up like everyone else here. All I am saying it that you are successful in your own mind if your achieve your own goals.
I spend maybe an hour a day on HH. Back when I started I was on my own, I didn't have the resources till about 3 or 4 years ago to have a better site.
I may only have a small amount of posts but people like my forum and they keep coming back everyday, They've stayed loyal to the forum even after the recent problems i've had with hackers and other stuff. so to me that is success. I'm rather proud of my 45,000 posts.
I started from scatch and built my way up like everyone else here. All I am saying it that you are successful in your own mind if your achieve your own goals.
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