Alternative Cancer forum, ideas for recruiting users

[VinceG]

Hi people.
I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer back in 2014, and the journey has been interesting to say the least. I feel like I am in a parallel universe. The whole system is broken. We hear how we are "winning the war" on cancer, yet 60 years ago, one in thirty got the disease, and now, they are talking about one in three. Anyway, I have set up a new forum, with the aim of discussing alternative treatments. I have tried to do so on the other forums out there, and because I'm not talking about chemo, radiation or surgery, I got myself banned. This really made me mad, so decided that people should have a voice to talk about their own experiences. I hope to get people who have been diagnosed as terminal, to say what they did to beat the disease.

So, my question is this. It's brand new. https://cancertalk.co.uk how can I promote it?

 

[Alpha1]

The first thing I would do is to add the xenforo resource manager, get access to medline and start adding medical studies about novel treatments. Make sure to post a summary for every file and add tags.

Then add some informative text and references to wikipedia and carefully add a few relevant links to your site. Dont spam. Only add legitimate content or it will be removed.
Start filling your forum with discussions. People will not join an empty site.

Your target group will be using google to find treatment options. Make sure they land at your site.
Join the conversation on the Reddit forums and Facebook groups. Again, do not spam. But you can still post relevant links.
You can also spend money and advertise on google.

 

[VinceG]

Thanks for that Alfa1. When you say start filling my forum with discussions, you mean, make some "pretend" accounts, and post as those?

 

[trapped_soul]

The first thing I would do is to add the xenforo resource manager, get access to medline and start adding medical studies about novel treatments. Make sure to post a summary for every file and add tags.

Then add some informative text and references to wikipedia and carefully add a few relevant links to your site. Dont spam. Only add legitimate content or it will be removed.
Start filling your forum with discussions. People will not join an empty site.

Your target group will be using google to find treatment options. Make sure they land at your site.
Join the conversation on the Reddit forums and Facebook groups. Again, do not spam. But you can still post relevant links.
You can also spend money and advertise on google.

Thanks for that Alfa1. When you say start filling my forum with discussions, you mean, make some "pretend" accounts, and post as those?

Indeed some good advice.
I'd start by adding some of your journey, and adding what treatments you have tried, what part of the system is broken and things like this.
What therapies have friends tried or what alternatives have they.
Do some fact finding.
Join Twitter/FB etc and start promoting that way too.
What alternative methods are out there which you could recommend people consider etc.
Definitely do start advertising on local sites to you or even the local hospital and outpatients.

This is something that will be quite niche and specialised so try to get as many facts as you can to get yourself off the ground. From there she should flourish.
No doubt a worthy cause and should be informative for others, so I wish you luck.
PS well done on surviving what must have been an horrific ordeal for you and your family.

 

[Alpha1]

In regards to fake accounts: normally I would say yes because it's a good method to get initial traction. But for your niche I feel it's not prudent to do so. At least not when it comes to sharing personal experiences.

Try to find a few like minded people who want to help you and keep the conversation going.

You could also consider to write some articles or to invite article writers. Paid or otherwise.

 

[VinceG]

The first thing I would do is to add the xenforo resource manager, get access to medline and start adding medical studies about novel treatments. Make sure to post a summary for every file and add tags.

I suppose my blog is a pretty good resource manager in itself https://goodbyecancer.co.uk

 

[Alpha1]

The site doesn't load for me. Which is a shame because I don't understand how a blog could be a good PDF file manager.

 

[whynot]

The site doesn't load for me.

It does for me:

Having refused all conventional treatments, I am happy to say, I am still here. Unlike friends, that I got to know during my journey, who, no longer are. They were all “treated” by the establishment and this site is dedicated to their memory, and anyone else who has been “Treated to Death” by the broken system.

 

[trapped_soul]

Does here too.

 

[Woujija]

Sorry to hear about your cancer. I'm presently going through radiation. No fun. I think your idea is great. I've often wondered why there's not a government funded website that has hundreds or thousands of questions for people to fill out (over a long period of time). Gotta be some commonalities in our habits, environment, and foods. Pay people to take it. Even those who have never had cancer.

Questions like: (This is off the top of my head)
0 I eat vegetable 7 times a week
0 Most of my vegetables are canned
0 The 3 vegetables that I eat most often are:
0 lettuce
0 broccoli
0 peas
0 carrots

0 I play golf at least once a week (golf courses are loaded with -cides.)

0 Since adulthood, I have always lived alone

A database could be developed to see if there's something that would trigger a deeper investigation.

Anywho, just my 2 cents. If it's a stupid idea, I blame it on the radiation. The best source of relief for me was becoming a Stoic. Read Meditations, it helped me.