shellspeare
03-29-2006, 11:30 PM
Promotion for beginners
Promoting your community is vital, otherwise you'll be sat looking at your statistics willing them to magically change.
What you get out of running a community is what you put in and promotion is a grueling task to begin with but the rewards are fruitful.
Where to begin
As well as promoting your new community you are also promoting yourself. The way you conduct yourself on the internet is very important. I find a friendly, fair, approachable and professional attitude works the best for attracting members and business deals such as sponsorship, affiliates.
To start getting your name and community 'out there' the best place to begin is by adding the url into your signature on other forums you frequent and activley participate in.
Check every forums rules on self promotion and comply by these rules.
Post quality posts - you will not attract members by simply agreeing or putting 'lol' - get people interested in you and what you stand for.
Don't spam - respect your fellow admin and the time and effort they have already taken to get their members.
Below is a list of other ways of promotion..
Join topsites
affiliate with other forums
word of mouth
ask friends to add it to their blog, website, sig etc...
Join web rings etc
submit url to as many search engines as possible
submit link to as many directories as possible
make business cards and drop them in internet cafes, university computer lounges, colleges, doctors surgeries etc
Be inventive and imaginative with promotion.
To find topsites, web rings, search engines and affiliates check other forums, google and the boards support forums.
You have to strive to get traffic to your board, it will not just appear like magic, hard work and determination is vital.
Topsites & Directories
Forum Directories
vBulletin Directory (http://www.vbulletindirectory.com)
Forum Directory (http://www.forum-directories.com)
ForumsInfo (http://www.forumsinfo.com/)
vBulletin Links (http://www.vbulletin.com/links.php)
Forum Haven (http://www.forumhaven.com/)
Forum Directory (http://www.forum-directory.com/)
Forum A-Z (http://www.foruma-z.com/)
Forum Showcase (http://www.forumshowcase.com)
Forum Finder (http://www.forum-finder.com)
Forum Topsites
Forum Fight (http://www.forumjunkies.co.uk/topsites/)
Top 100 Forums (http://www.top100forums.com/index.php)
Punka's Topsite (http://punka111.com//index.php)
Forum Topsites (http://www.forumtopsites.com/)
Web Rings
ipb Webring (http://www.ipbwebring.com/)
vB Ring (http://www.davespikey.net/random/vbring.htm)
vBulletin Webring (http://www.vbulletinwebring.com/)
To form your own
Webring (http://www.ezwebring.com/)
Topsites (http://www.ultimatetopsites.com/")
Other
http://www.itch.com
http://www.boardtracker.com/
http://www.forumzilla.com/
Tips for Topsites
At first add yourself to topsites that count hits in rather than pageviews giving you the chance to be near the top of the list where you will be noticed more.
Create a banner for the topsites that is eye catching, professional looking and reflects your board. Host this on imageshack or photobucket so you can access the url easily.
Other promotion ideas are www.stumbleupon.com & http://www.plinko.net/roulette/faq.asp - again, use these wisely, respect the rules, don't spam and contribute ;)
Hope this helps you onto the path of promotion
Promoting your community is vital, otherwise you'll be sat looking at your statistics willing them to magically change.
What you get out of running a community is what you put in and promotion is a grueling task to begin with but the rewards are fruitful.
Where to begin
As well as promoting your new community you are also promoting yourself. The way you conduct yourself on the internet is very important. I find a friendly, fair, approachable and professional attitude works the best for attracting members and business deals such as sponsorship, affiliates.
To start getting your name and community 'out there' the best place to begin is by adding the url into your signature on other forums you frequent and activley participate in.
Check every forums rules on self promotion and comply by these rules.
Post quality posts - you will not attract members by simply agreeing or putting 'lol' - get people interested in you and what you stand for.
Don't spam - respect your fellow admin and the time and effort they have already taken to get their members.
Below is a list of other ways of promotion..
Join topsites
affiliate with other forums
word of mouth
ask friends to add it to their blog, website, sig etc...
Join web rings etc
submit url to as many search engines as possible
submit link to as many directories as possible
make business cards and drop them in internet cafes, university computer lounges, colleges, doctors surgeries etc
Be inventive and imaginative with promotion.
To find topsites, web rings, search engines and affiliates check other forums, google and the boards support forums.
You have to strive to get traffic to your board, it will not just appear like magic, hard work and determination is vital.
Topsites & Directories
Forum Directories
vBulletin Directory (http://www.vbulletindirectory.com)
Forum Directory (http://www.forum-directories.com)
ForumsInfo (http://www.forumsinfo.com/)
vBulletin Links (http://www.vbulletin.com/links.php)
Forum Haven (http://www.forumhaven.com/)
Forum Directory (http://www.forum-directory.com/)
Forum A-Z (http://www.foruma-z.com/)
Forum Showcase (http://www.forumshowcase.com)
Forum Finder (http://www.forum-finder.com)
Forum Topsites
Forum Fight (http://www.forumjunkies.co.uk/topsites/)
Top 100 Forums (http://www.top100forums.com/index.php)
Punka's Topsite (http://punka111.com//index.php)
Forum Topsites (http://www.forumtopsites.com/)
Web Rings
ipb Webring (http://www.ipbwebring.com/)
vB Ring (http://www.davespikey.net/random/vbring.htm)
vBulletin Webring (http://www.vbulletinwebring.com/)
To form your own
Webring (http://www.ezwebring.com/)
Topsites (http://www.ultimatetopsites.com/")
Other
http://www.itch.com
http://www.boardtracker.com/
http://www.forumzilla.com/
Tips for Topsites
At first add yourself to topsites that count hits in rather than pageviews giving you the chance to be near the top of the list where you will be noticed more.
Create a banner for the topsites that is eye catching, professional looking and reflects your board. Host this on imageshack or photobucket so you can access the url easily.
Other promotion ideas are www.stumbleupon.com & http://www.plinko.net/roulette/faq.asp - again, use these wisely, respect the rules, don't spam and contribute ;)
Hope this helps you onto the path of promotion
