is it still worthwhile to operate a Forum ?

[erich37]

I am new to Forums and thinking of starting a Forum with XF-technology (starting from scratch) and thought I might dare to ask a few business-related questions to this community of experienced and professional Forum-webmasters.

Considering the many thousands of forums in existence for several years now, most of them enjoy a huge "first-mover-advantage". Which leads me to the following questions:

- is there still a chance to compete with established Forums ?
- does it make business-sense to operate a Forum ?
- what is the best niche to be in, to operate a profitable Forum ?
- is it possible to make a living off from running a Forum ?
- what are the key-ingredients ? Is it just "passion" or are there any "secrets" ?

If you are not comfy to answer here, would be nice to receive a PM from you guys.

 

[feldon30]

It will be even harder if it's a forum built from the ground up as a revenue stream, instead of a topic you are passionate about. If you don't have your site at least staffed by people who are passionate about the topic, then yes, it will be an uphill battle to grow your site.

I'm sure you know all the basics of administrating a forum, such as start with as few subforums/categories/sections as possible, and be very resistant to adding more until your site really gets popular. Nothing kills a forum faster than a forum home with 25 subforums and 1 new post in each. Most people still look at each forum, instead of clicking "What's New?".

 

[Princeton]

plan for the future

you don't start a forum based on what you can get out of it in the next few months ... you start one because you can get a lot out of it in the next few years

 

[Booth]

Don't forget all those people who run "company" forums too, they are also potential buyers of Xenforo, me being one of them

 

[DSF]

Don't forget all those people who run "company" forums too, they are also potential buyers of Xenforo, me being one of them

That's correct.
2 Forums for private use.
Managing 12 Forums as "company's" forums for internal banking and stock exchange communication around the world.