Need some Marketing Ideas for Forum Site

[CoronaC]

Hi,
Ive just started a new Vending Machine Forum for venidng operaters to come and talk about the vending industry and sell machines and equipment etc. and im looking for a few ways to get my site out there to other vendors.

So far ive posted an add on ebay and gumtree to promote the site a little to anyone that might search for vending machines on those sites. I've gotten a few more visitors but only a 2 new people signed up and no new posts.
I know I havent got very much content on there right now so thats most likely turning people away from joining and posting.

Another idea ive had is to have a short promo that encourages people to join by offering the first 10 people to join and post a vending machine, equipment or vending run for sale will get $5 for doing so.
Ill edit the adds on ebay and gumtree to promote and also add a new post on the forums to promote as well.
Does this sound like a good idea? Or just a waste of my money?

Does anyone else have a few ideas on how to get people to join and post?

Thanks
Chris

[16k_zx81]

Originally Posted by CoronaC

Hi,
Ive just started a new Vending Machine Forum for venidng operaters to come and talk about the vending industry and sell machines and equipment etc. and im looking for a few ways to get my site out there to other vendors.

So far ive posted an add on ebay and gumtree to promote the site a little to anyone that might search for vending machines on those sites. I've gotten a few more visitors but only a 2 new people signed up and no new posts.
I know I havent got very much content on there right now so thats most likely turning people away from joining and posting.

Another idea ive had is to have a short promo that encourages people to join by offering the first 10 people to join and post a vending machine, equipment or vending run for sale will get $5 for doing so.
Ill edit the adds on ebay and gumtree to promote and also add a new post on the forums to promote as well.
Does this sound like a good idea? Or just a waste of my money?

Does anyone else have a few ideas on how to get people to join and post?

Thanks
Chris

Hi Chris

Actually I think your best bet is phone canvassing. Speaking personally, any unsolicited emails I get these days go straight to spam folder. I get that many (any webmaster will attest to what a hassle this can be, and you probably know it yourself) that I just disregard all of them. They really do just piss me off.

The online businesses I deal with (I own a computer repairs business) - most of them I have either sought out myself, or they have contacted me by phone.

This is going to sound awful, and I will probably get flamed, but unless you have an australian accent this will also be an issue with the canvassing - same reason - I get lots of calls from india and the phillippines - and as soon as I hear the accent and determine its not a customer, they get extremely short shrift.

My take is that like any business, its about relationships. If you sound ok on the phone, and get people's attention they will have a look.

I guess the other part of the equation is SEO. I did a google search for Vending Machine Forum and you had #1 result, so I reckon thats a really good start.

I wonder if it might be worth shooting a few emails to some other specialist Forum admins to see how they got started?

Just my 5c

Best of luck with it.

[NickHumphries]

If you have no content, no one discussing anything and no user base, what's going to make people want to come to your forum??

You need to get a consistent stream of visits, SEO is one method, writing good content that's shareable.. perhaps writing content for other sites and linking back to your own forum!

Good luck

[The Infotainer]

CREATE AN EVENT

get some guru of the industry to do a Q& A session where guests can ask questions from the expert

be on the forum on thursday night the XXX of March for an opportunity to learn how to increase sales etc etc

[Netboost SEO]

Originally Posted by CoronaC

Hi,
Ive just started a new Vending Machine Forum for venidng operaters to come and talk about the vending industry and sell machines and equipment etc. and im looking for a few ways to get my site out there to other vendors.

So far ive posted an add on ebay and gumtree to promote the site a little to anyone that might search for vending machines on those sites. I've gotten a few more visitors but only a 2 new people signed up and no new posts.
I know I havent got very much content on there right now so thats most likely turning people away from joining and posting.

Another idea ive had is to have a short promo that encourages people to join by offering the first 10 people to join and post a vending machine, equipment or vending run for sale will get $5 for doing so.
Ill edit the adds on ebay and gumtree to promote and also add a new post on the forums to promote as well.
Does this sound like a good idea? Or just a waste of my money?

Does anyone else have a few ideas on how to get people to join and post?

Thanks
Chris

Hi I would be happy to guide you with seo and social media etc pro bono
just pm me or email me

[tonyk]

A forum is one of, if not the hardest thing to turn into a sustainable venture. Write good quality articles on your topic and you may attract some visitors.

[dextereugenio]

having just a forum is a hard sell for many reasons.

you could have the forum as part of a blog site and get better seo rankings through regular appropriate content.

i have NFI about the vending machine industry so I could guess and say you can do things like approach companies that sell, fix, refurb or buy them. tell them about your site, benefits to them, possible sponsorship ops (down the track).

i did a quick google search and found some Oz companies that do vending machines. your site could potentially help them.

i dunno.