Out of ideas.
- Thread starter Chadook
- Start date
Some of this is fairly common stuff, but it's most certainly worth repeating.
1- Always post more.
Like I mentioned here, content is the most important thing you can offer.
Contests might be good for a small burst of activity here and there (depending on the contest type) but they aren't going to hold people's attention for very long.
Perhaps where your site (if this is about FTON Online) is geared around your original comic series, maybe you could try some different things if you haven't already? Like maybe instead of a traditional 6-9 panel page you could try a shorter 4 panel comic more like traditional newspaper comic strips.
(If this isn't about FTON Online, then you'll need to look at your content specifically and see how you can try different formats of it. Like if you have a promotion forum you could try offering a service where you write small testimonials for sites they can use. Or maybe every once in a while pick a site and do a feature on it. Interview the owner, get the history of that site, etc...)
2- Re-examine your site.
Take a look at your site and see if you can make any alterations/changes to improve or expand on it. Take a look through your forums and see what kind of topics people are making and where. If you notice that say you have 20 topics about different bands, maybe it'd be worthwhile to have a section dedicated to music. (You can use this as an announcement on your site to help encourage others to post. Plus you can probably use this on lot of promotion sites as an announcement to help show your site is growing.)
And if you do add a new section to your forum... See idea 1.
3- Post exchanges and Post Packages.
Sometimes seeing the same few people post over and over (and over) again gets tedious and people need a new person to make some posts. So even if it's just a short solution, use a post exchange or post package if you haven't used one in a while.
4- Twitter and other social networks.
If you don't have twitter or another social network site, consider joining one. This way you can have an official twitter (or whatever <site name> account you want) for your site.
Then use that to share links from your site. (So if you've posted a new discussion about music then maybe link to that topic on twitter.)
And don't forget to share and talk with others on there. That way people are more likely to follow you or check out your site.
Though fair warning... Social networks are not massively effective right away because you really need to devote a TON of time to build up a following first. But they are not to be entirely dismissed because they can help.
1- Always post more.
Like I mentioned here, content is the most important thing you can offer.
Contests might be good for a small burst of activity here and there (depending on the contest type) but they aren't going to hold people's attention for very long.
Perhaps where your site (if this is about FTON Online) is geared around your original comic series, maybe you could try some different things if you haven't already? Like maybe instead of a traditional 6-9 panel page you could try a shorter 4 panel comic more like traditional newspaper comic strips.
(If this isn't about FTON Online, then you'll need to look at your content specifically and see how you can try different formats of it. Like if you have a promotion forum you could try offering a service where you write small testimonials for sites they can use. Or maybe every once in a while pick a site and do a feature on it. Interview the owner, get the history of that site, etc...)
2- Re-examine your site.
Take a look at your site and see if you can make any alterations/changes to improve or expand on it. Take a look through your forums and see what kind of topics people are making and where. If you notice that say you have 20 topics about different bands, maybe it'd be worthwhile to have a section dedicated to music. (You can use this as an announcement on your site to help encourage others to post. Plus you can probably use this on lot of promotion sites as an announcement to help show your site is growing.)
And if you do add a new section to your forum... See idea 1.
3- Post exchanges and Post Packages.
Sometimes seeing the same few people post over and over (and over) again gets tedious and people need a new person to make some posts. So even if it's just a short solution, use a post exchange or post package if you haven't used one in a while.
4- Twitter and other social networks.
If you don't have twitter or another social network site, consider joining one. This way you can have an official twitter (or whatever <site name> account you want) for your site.
Then use that to share links from your site. (So if you've posted a new discussion about music then maybe link to that topic on twitter.)
And don't forget to share and talk with others on there. That way people are more likely to follow you or check out your site.
Though fair warning... Social networks are not massively effective right away because you really need to devote a TON of time to build up a following first. But they are not to be entirely dismissed because they can help.
You aren't going to get new ideas for a few reasons (mainly because):
1- New ideas are exceptionally rare now (if there are even any new ideas left since most everything has been done). Most things you're going to be told are things that are variations on things you (probably) already know.
2- If someone did have new ideas, they probably wouldn't share them with others... They'd keep them secret until they were ready to use them and then let others figure out after they already implemented them.
So if you're holding out for a fabulous new idea to land on your lap... Sorry, but you'll likely be waiting a very long time.
Instead it would be better to keep trying things that have a reasonable chance of helping. (Like: making more posts/content, having post exchanges/packages done, putting ads on directories, using social networks to highlight your site, maybe getting a new theme done to help liven your forum up if you haven't done one in a while, etc... )
Though it's important to keep in mind that nothing works on it's own. There is no single idea that will guarantee a site to succeed. The only thing that will make a site work is an admin willing to put the time and effort in to do everything they can to make it work. To push through any feelings of failure or hard times and keep going. To trust that what they're doing is worth doing and that others will appreciate it when they find it.
1- New ideas are exceptionally rare now (if there are even any new ideas left since most everything has been done). Most things you're going to be told are things that are variations on things you (probably) already know.
2- If someone did have new ideas, they probably wouldn't share them with others... They'd keep them secret until they were ready to use them and then let others figure out after they already implemented them.
So if you're holding out for a fabulous new idea to land on your lap... Sorry, but you'll likely be waiting a very long time.
Instead it would be better to keep trying things that have a reasonable chance of helping. (Like: making more posts/content, having post exchanges/packages done, putting ads on directories, using social networks to highlight your site, maybe getting a new theme done to help liven your forum up if you haven't done one in a while, etc... )
Though it's important to keep in mind that nothing works on it's own. There is no single idea that will guarantee a site to succeed. The only thing that will make a site work is an admin willing to put the time and effort in to do everything they can to make it work. To push through any feelings of failure or hard times and keep going. To trust that what they're doing is worth doing and that others will appreciate it when they find it.
Try advertising to the right group.
Forum Promotion is only for growing forums; it will NEVER provide you with an active community, only "filling content". It's best you try and get the word out to people that care about the topic your forum covers.
Forum Promotion is only for growing forums; it will NEVER provide you with an active community, only "filling content". It's best you try and get the word out to people that care about the topic your forum covers.
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