Running forum is not as easy as some might think. They start sites and expect them to take off without much interaction from themselves.
There is and will always be a number of issues, problems and challenges in running an online community. Overcoming these issues and keep moving forward is the key.
So, the question is... Do you gladly accept the challenge and work through it and move on to the next challenge? Or does it hinder you from keeping your forum growing at a reasonable pace? If so, what do you think you need to change to not let it hinder you?
I've been running forums for nearly 2 decades now. The challenge has always been there. I've had some successful forums and some not-so-successful ones. I've had a few ups and downs. I welcome the challenge and would consider my forum pretty active these days.
I got to love challenges. I mean who loves them and who is willing to solve things that go wrong. I think that we have to expect to not get high numbers and if you have a create active members base then you be fine to keep that going as much and long future as you can.
I like the challenge but I would also be realistic. If my forum wasn't taking off after, say, a year then I'd rethink the strategy.
There's a quote out there, "If you keep doing what you are doing, you'll keep getting what you are getting."
If it's not working, stop, & try something else.
The thing inhibiting me from growing my forum Crafter Craze...is me. I knew it would be a lot of work to build it up by myself and it's an even bigger job than I expected so my disappointed can only come from me. I don't do enough social media and I'm afraid to bug my friends too much to encourage them to join.
I love the challenge of making and maintaining a forum. It uses a lot of my skills that I'd like to keep sharp, it's rewarding, and it's fun - rather like building a model railroad.
The thing that constantly confounds me is people. I'm very much a neophile: I love looking into new things, poking at them, seeing what they are about. I ask questions and try to understand responses. On the contrary, most random people I encounter treat novelty as if it's some sort of dreadful disease. (Actually, given the reaction to the pandemic by so many people, I might need to find a new analogy.) Between this, and running my trivia game (so I discover what most people actually know), I sometimes just stare out into the street at passersby and wonder how they manage to avoid running into lampposts.
You have to treat your forum like a business. Your content is the product. Your members are customers. Visitors are potential customers. You want to make sure you get new customers (new members) but you want your already established customers (registered members) to return again and again to "buy" your product (content through posting).
If you keep your forum in mind as a business, you can dedicate yourself more to it. But you need to be able to see forum growth and content growth as profit.
