On top of that, you don't have a lot of content in mind. What do you do?
A popular method that I've seen around is to create a few fake members to help boost activity, thus encouraging actual visitors to become registered members. On the other hand, it can be tricky, especially if you can't get into character. A lot of people are very good at analyzing text, and if there are striking resemblances, they may lose trust in you and never come back again.
What else can you do, if faking it won't work? Well, you could try hiring people to post for you, but that may require actual cash or heavy forum participation to fill up your forums with content other than your own.
I think it's much harder to start a forum these days, especially if it's for general discussion or promotion. I'd recommend starting a forum based on a hobby or interest. Even better would be to combine them! For example, anime and JRPGs (gaming) go well together, as evident in FantasyAnime. Another good hybrid example would be combining metal music and horror films. Find a winning formula that makes you stand out from the rest, and then link away to everyone you know!
Faking members or stats in general is a bad idea. Be honest about it.
If you don't have ideas for content right after opening, why did you start the forum in the first place? You need to think about why you are running a forum and what you are in it for. Look at your motivations and really think about if you want to do this.
Hiring people to post is great, but it only lasts while the money does. At some point you have to get off the paid post pacifier and find a way to get some real members and build a real community. That might mean promoting in some places you aren't currently promoting in. Invite some friends. Find other communities (think bigger than forums: Facebook groups, twitter, reddit, etc.) that share your niche interest.
Would you join someone's forum that has 1000 posts and 2-3 active members? Well, the answer is probably no because you will probably have better things to do. This is the key and you will have to offer something that people want in order for them to join. I joined Facebook because all my friends are on there and it allows me to socailise with them. I joined Twitter because I am a webmaster and websites need Twitter pages. I joined SEO Clerks because I can make money there and buy SEO services.
There needs to be a reason for people to join. It doesn't matter how much you promote your forum; if you have nothing to offer, no one will join. Having an active community can be a reason for people to join. People just create websites and expect 10,000 to join but that unfortunately won't happen. The disadvantages with forums is that people can easily see that the community is inactive and therefore, they won't join. If it was a website, then people won't know how much traffic the website gets and they will stay active on there as long as there is good content. The important thing to focus when promoting your forum is "why"; why should people join? If you offer something that is amazing, people will share this with their friends and then more people will join.
There is nothing wrong with starting a forum as a hobby but you need to give other people with the same hobby as you a reason to join. Sharing the same interest may not be a power enough reason. I like Badminton but I am not part of any badminton forums because they don't offer anything I need. Also, from my experience, you need to invest if you want to create a successful website.
I don't think creating fake members is a good idea. If you hire staff, they can just see that the IPs match or i they're smart, they'll most likely find out it's you. I'd rather be somewhere that has REAL members and that aren't just the owner pretending to be people. It would make me hard to trust that person if they did that.
There are plenty of ways you can get temporary activity, like using sites like Postloop.
If after a few months of no activity, you should really sit down and think about if you really want to keep running a dead forum, or if you want to close it or if there are any ways you could try to get new members that are active. You have to put the effort into advertising or it won't work out.
I agree with what has been said already. You could invite some friends of yours that you know to join. If they are truly your friends, they may not mind helping out a little and making a few posts on your forum. Your staff could help out as well by posting around the forum.
You can also do exchanges. Try using the exchange area here on FP and see if you can't find people who are willing to post on your forum in exchange for the same on theirs. It would be mutually beneficial to both parties.
